Coletti became the fifth GM for the Dodgers in the past 8 seasons when he was hired in November 2005. Since Ned’s hiring, the Dodgers have enjoyed some of their best success in a decade or two. They have won two straight NL West titles for the first time since the late 70’s.
The question I have; are the Dodgers winning because of Coletti or in-spite of him?
After the jump I have a list of the major moves Colletti has made while in LA.
Signings:
Here are the notable signings that Colletti has made:
The most notable have to be the Schmidt and Jones signings.
He gave Jason Schmidt $47 million knowing he had a torn rotator cuff. Over a three year span, he got the Dodgers 3 wins. He also guaranteed Andruw Jones $36 million over two years. You might remember that Jones was fresh off a season in which he batted .222. While in LA Jones batted .158 before being released.
I want to trash the Juan Pierre signing but can’t truly do so. Although he might be overpaid, he is still a productive member of the team. In a large market it is a mistake that you can often get away with.
Trades:
There is really only one that needs to be mentioned. It occurred on July 31st, 2008. Colletti pulled an unhappy Manny Ramirez out of Boston while giving up little to nothing.
The Dodgers turn around coincided with the Man-Ram trade, nearly down to the day. I am hesitant to give the GM a tremendous amount of credit for a trade that basically fell into his lap.
Going forward:
The true test will be how well the Dodgers continue to draft and develop their picks. For now the Man-Ram experiment has seemingly given Colletti an extension–let’s see what he does with it.
