Monday, November 23, 2009

Heath Bell Dings His Old Boss

Turns out Padres closer Heath Bell has some opinions on Padres management. From the Boston Herald (via MLBTR):

Personable Padres closer Heath Bell was in Boston recently for a Reebok event and he laid out his hopes for new general manager Jed Hoyer, formerly an assistant with the Red Sox.

“I just would like to know what direction we’re going in,” he said. “I think (Hoyer) and (owner Jeff) Moorad are going to sit down and have meetings about what direction they want to go in and how much money they’ll spend. I hope (Hoyer) has got full rein. I hope he does. I know (former GM) Kevin Towers didn’t always have it. He’d want to do something and the CEO wouldn’t always sign off on it.

“I’d like to see the team say, ‘Here’s your allowance, $40 million, $50 million, $80 million, spend it on what you want.’ Kevin Towers, the last couple of years, it didn’t seem like he could always do what he wanted. He was kind of a puppet.

(Emphasis mine.) It's admirable that Bell is paying attention to his bosses, but where is he getting his information? Does he have an inside source, or is he going off of publicly available information? How does Padres management feel about their closer calling their former GM a puppet? Will Hoyer get his allowance? Dodger fans can only hope the McCourts' divorce debacle won't get as messy as John Moores', but at least Jonathan Broxton will have the good sense to keep his mouth shut.

18 comments:

Nostradamus said...

Everyone's a critic.

MR.F said...

Towers =
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventriloquist_%28comics%29 ?

berkowit28 said...

Broxton's very shy and soft-spoken - doesn't quite know what to say and mumbles. Also he's a junior. Not an issue here. If Jeff Kent were still on the team, it might be another matter. I can't see anything like this coming from anyone on the Dodgers. Blake is not the type, Furcal doesn't speak up much. Juan Pierre - hmmm, just maybe. That would be fun.

rbnlaw said...

So Taco Bell is throwing stones, eh? Tough talk for a guy who threw dead red against the Rockies in one of the most spectacular bullpen collapses of last season (that didn't involve the Dodgers).

Nostradamus said...

I do find the "I wish they'd open up their wallets so they could afford better players than us" angle amusing.

Jason said...

Here's hopping his first entrance into a game at the Ravine is greeted by a nice rendition of the Muppets theme song.

Josh S. said...

Huh. I thought that said "Heath Bell eats Ding Dongs", which is probably also true.

Josh S. said...

I got an e-mail for 2010 miniplans. The schedule lists and Ethier bobblehead (5/18) and something called a "superhero" for Ethier (7/22), Kemp (7/8) and Manny (6/3) each.

Josh S. said...

"an" Ethier bobblehead, that is...

Kyle Baker said...

It's about god damn time Ethier got a bobblehead. I though I was going to have to carve one myself, or seriously re-do one of my Mannys. Good news.

Kyle Baker said...

Just checked that crib video, Josh. Hilarious.

Kyle Baker said...

^ I mean, crib death isn't funny, but your being interviewed was.

Kyle Baker said...

"Each plan includes tickets to Opening Day vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks. The All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger plans each include one Yankee game and the Bobble-Slam plan features all four Bobblehead giveaways and is named in honor of Manny's magical moment on his first bobblehead night in a Dodgers uniform."

From the Dodgers email I received. Hilarious re naming it Bobble-slam. Love this marketing - they had me from the start.

Fred's Brim said...

dammit, Dusty, now i've got the itch again. i've got make it out there for a game next season

Kyle Baker said...

Sorry, FB. I guess that was the genius of their marketing ploy. It had me saying "I've got to make it out there for a game" and I live 8 minutes away.

Also, I dug deeper, using my finely-honed detective and research skillz, and noted that the superhero thing that Josh mentioned appears to be a superhero action figure of various Dodgers as a giveaway. So like a Star Wars action figure, except with Kemp. Although it would be cool to combine the two thoughts so we could, say, see Ethier in Bespin attire or Pierre as Jawa.

Also, they are doing a "55 Since '55" night where one would presume it would be a celebration of the World Champion 1955 Dodgers. I can't miss that for anything.

rbnlaw said...

Glad to see there's an Ethier BH in the works. I had a dream last night that the Dodgers traded him or failed to resign him. . .something like that. Kim Ng was in the dream and she was smiling. A bad sign.

Kyle Baker said...

You seriously had a dream about Kim Ng? Did it involve a sling? Vice grips?

rbnlaw said...

As a gentleman, I never dream and tell.

I really did dream about the Dodgers unloading Ethier. Scary, to say the least.