Thursday, September 29, 2011

2011 Was So Much Fun, Let's Shoot For .500 In 2012, Again!

The Dodgers announced Wednesday that they will be bringing back the entire coaching staff, according to GM Ned Colletti:

PHOENIX -- The Los Angeles Dodgers' entire coaching staff is expected to return next season, general manager Ned Colletti said before Tuesday night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

The Dodgers' current staff under first-year manager Don Mattingly includes bench coach Trey Hillman, pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, first-base coach Davey Lopes, third-base coach Tim Wallach, hitting coach Dave Hansen, bullpen coach Ken Howell and instructor Manny Mota. All but Hansen and Howell are under contract for next season, and Colletti said he was optimistic that agreements with both of them are imminent.

"We're working through that," Colletti said. "Ask me in 24 hours."

Look, I commend Mattingly for turning around the kamikaze dive to at least level out at the end, and I certainly credit Davey Lopes for his mentorship of breakout star Matt Kemp. Should I assume Hansen only started talking to James Loney in August and never talked with EugeniO-for-37 Velez, or that Honeycutt is a great mentor to Clayton Kershaw (which I do in fact believe) but not to Ted Lilly (who of course, after I wrote this Wednesday afternoon, pitched a great game Wednesday night)?

I just hope we can build on the last month and a half, and carry that in to next year. If this is the staff to do it, so be it. Let's get to work!

5 comments:

Jason said...

To be fair to Lilly (and Honeycutt, I suppose), he actually was a pretty good pitcher in the second half of the season, especially after July ended. Lilly's biggest turnaround seems to have occurred when Navarro was no longer his primary catcher and really blossomed after he was DFA'd. So, blame Dinner!

I do find Lilly's HR Log amusingly lengthy, though.

Josh S. said...

Here's what I find amazing about Lilly's HR log:

Solo shots: 178
2-run HR: 82
3-run HR: 24
Grand Slams: 2

Say what you want about him, but the guy knows how to limit the damage. 2 grand slams in 13 seasons! That's nuts!

Josh S. said...

Cliff Lee has given up 8 grand slams in 10 seasons, just for some lefty reference.

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

Sax wants Grady Little to return.

Nostradamus said...

Funny you should mention that. Does anyone else see the correlation between the Grady and Torre regimes?

Both couldn't handle a bullpen, and both seemed to tune the fuck out. Maybe that's just the way of all old, apathetic managers.