This Matt Kemp / Ned Colletti brouhaha has been driven into the ground already, so I'm not going to waste a full post rehashing what has been universally picked up as a very poor series of missteps by GM Colletti, who ridiculously singled out the person who Rob Neyer reminded us "leads the National League in runs scored, RBI and home runs."
But let me add this one point: Kemp, whom just two seasons ago was starting to come under fire for being (unfairly) categorized as a combustible malcontent akin to Milton Bradley, has shown more poise and class in his media quotes than should have been expected from a 25-year old dating a pop star, mashing the ball, and living large off a new (and deserved) contract. Wrote Yahoo Sports' BLS:
Kemp's never going to forget being called out like this, of course, and there might be consequences down the road for him staying in L.A. Further, Colletti is putting his own reputation in jeopardy by his two-faced approach to discipline. It's not going to be effective.
For a guy who got his start in public relations, Colletti is creating quite a nightmare through his comments in the media. Kemp didn't want to comment at first, but later said: "It doesn't matter to me. It's all good. People can say what they want to say. I just work hard and try to help this team win."
Well put, David Brown. Kemp has shown maturity and poise here despite criticism that might be warranted (about his spotty baserunning and fielding), but shouldn't have been public in the first place. And this all just makes Colletti--over twice Kemp's age--look even more petulant than the guy he's claiming he's trying to "motivate".
Go drink some Bigelow Green Tea and calm down, Ned. Then go find us some pitchers.
4 comments:
The problem for me is in the idea that this will affect kemp's desire to stay a Dodger. He is a great talent that we can't afford to lose just because our gm doesn't know what he's doing. There's a fanpost on True Blue LA where kemp's agent speaks about this and how they will remember this in arbitration and free agency, and he brings up the many missteps Ned has taken since he's started here (schmidt, pierre, jones), which none of the players call out. It seems like every decision he has made was terrible, with the possible exception of manny.
I was indifferent about Colletti before, i figured he made a lot of mistakes but it was mainly due to the mccourts, but this is just too much. Not just signing bad talent, but driving away the talent that we do have.
Things would be so much better if we had just kept andruw jones.
Colletti has made some good moves with cash limitations and who knows what the owner subjects him to. Maybe schmidt was Jamie's idea.
Still keep Matt happy!!! Oh and you think Andre is not listening to his GM.
Machete Ned strikes again
I have this terrible feeling, and I don't think it has to do with the losing we've been doing lately, that we are rolling down a slope towards a huge wasted opportunity. This perfect storm of great, young talent, good veteran talent and a spark of energy from the fan base, a belief we can win, has been combined with all of this mismanagement and the divorce and everything that comes with that. First we've lost some of the veteran talent and didn't replace it with anything. That combined with the poor start had really dimmed that spark from the fans. Now they are working on pushing out the great, young talent.
It feels like we've crested the hill with last season and now we're heading back down. I hope that's not true. We should still be climbing, building, but we aren't. In a few years, Matty will be a Yankee and Dre will be in Boston, we'll still be paying Manny and Andruw Jones, and we'll be firing Don Mattingly and finally Ned. I don't want it to end that way. If it isn't corrected soon, it will all be gone. Maybe it already is.
sorry for the rant, i think my brain is still numb from 24 frozen hours at CitiField
I can't believe that Ned is shooting himself in the foot. Not only is Matt a great player, he is a great guy too. Sure, I'm not in the clubhouse every night, but the few times I have met him, he has been really nice. Don't hate the player, Ned.
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