Mattingly and Great Dodger Expectations - Gary Armida's Blog

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Gary Armida's Blog

Mattingly and Great Dodger Expectations Stuck

Posted on December 4, 2012 at 07:50 PM.

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(Nashville, Tennessee)--One of the biggest shifts in the landscape of Major League Baseball occurred during the early part of the season when the Guggenheim Group completed their purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers were under the shroud of uncertainty during Frank McCourt�s final years as owner. Payroll was being cut; the Dodgers were no longer one of the most premier franchise in Major League Baseball. The worst of those years began when Joe Torre retired and handed the managerial reigns to Don Mattingly.

It almost seemed fitting that it would be Mattingly who would lead the Dodgers, a playoff team under Torre, during some dark times. During his time as a player with the New York Yankees, he played in a chaotic environment on some of the worst teams in Yankees history. It was Mattingly who was the face of the franchise and held whatever shred of dignity the Yankee brand still had in his hand. When he became a coach for the Yankees during the mid-2000�s, the Yankees were once again in transition from the great dynasty of the late 90�s. It almost seemed too perfect that his first managing job would be in the Frank McCourt era.

There were doubts about Mattingly�s ability to lead a team. Few genuinely great players can lead a team. But, Mattingly led the undermanned Dodgers club to a winning season in his first season, winning 82 games with a team that was expected to finish near the bottom of the standings. The Dodgers got off to one of the best starts in Baseball in 2012 thanks in part to an otherworldly start from Matt Kemp and the consistent excellence of Clayton Kershaw. They started to tail off because of injuries. Then, the transfer of power to the Guggenheim Group happened.

The group headlined by Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson said the Dodgers would spend big and bring the brand back to prominence. They backed the talk by trading for Hanley Ramirez and by taking on the salaries of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Josh Beckett. Now, Mattingly was the Manager of the team with the League�s highest payroll.

The stars didn�t help the slumping and depleted Dodgers stay in the race as more than half the lineup was overturned within a month. �It was fairly, I don�t want to say tough, but it just didn�t work well. It�ll definitely be good to have a camp to build that foundation in place. It�s important to have that time,� said Don Mattingly, who is entering his third season as Dodgers Manager.

Time was something that the new Dodgers didn�t have. They struggled. They looked out of sorts. The bench players who were accustomed to regular at bats were now taken away. �It took us awhile and it was something I feel we really didn�t until the last week or so,� said Mattingly. The club won seven of their last eight games, but fell two games behind the Giants.

For the first time, there is expectations as Mattingly prepares for another Spring Training. The Yankees are no longer the team with the highest payroll. Mattingly�s Dodgers are now that team. It comes with a new expectation that Mattingly saw developing last season. �In a week we went from hearing one or two comments to after the trade having fans yell �you bunch of overpaid...�. I was like, wow, in just a week went to that.�

Mattingly is familiar with entering the as the favorite because of payroll. As a coach on Joe Torre�s Yankees�, the pressure was to win a World Series or the season was considered a failure. �Any time you have a payroll, you to be able to live up to that. You have to be accountable. I�m sure every article will have something in it about our payroll,� told Mattingly to a group of reporters. �Our guys are going to have to answer those questions everyday.�

The key for this working, according to Mattingly, is Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez has expressed a desire to play shortstop and the Dodgers would like that as well. He was moved to third base when the Marlins acquired Jose Reyes and because he was one of the worst defensive shortstops in Baseball. The Dodgers put him at short because their shortstop, Dee Gordon, was on the disabled list. Now, they enter 2013 with Ramirez penciled in at short.

�Hanley can do anything. We felt that some of his angles were flat. He just has to put in the time. That�s all I�m asking,� said Mattingly. Ramirez is in the Dominican Republic with Dodgers� coaches Tim Wallach and Jose Vizcaino working on those skills. �If Hanley can play shortstop, I�m not even worried about third base. We�ll work that out. If he can�t, then I�ll have to start moving everyone around,� explained Mattingly.

The downfall of the 2012 Dodgers was the offense, which ranked just 13th in runs scored. A lineup that features Matt Kemp, Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez, Andre Ethier, and Carl Crawford should score more than 637 runs. It is a star laden lineup that will challenge Mattingly to balance egos. �It�s all about trust. Credibility with a Manager and a player isn�t based on me being a former player. It�s about developing that relationship,� said Mattingly.

Mattingly warns that payroll doesn�t equal instant success. �We know we are not a perfect roster. There is still some holes to fill.� When pressed on whether or not one of those holes could be filled by Zack Greinke, Mattingly just smiled and said, �well, we cover everything from A to Z.�

With the offense lined up and the rotation beginning to take shape, Mattingly�s biggest tactical challenge will be in managing the bullpen. He stated that Brandon League will open the year as the closer and that Kenley Jansen could close, but he feels that Jansen is �a beast� in the seventh and eighth innings, which he believes is important.

Although the Dodgers have been quiet during the first two days of the Winter Meetings, there is just a feeling that something big is going to happen. His reaction to a question regarding Zack Greinke may have confirmed the worst kept secret in Nashville: Greinke is their desired target. And, judging from the brief track record of the new owners, money won�t be an issue.

With that environment, the Dodgers will now face something they have never faced before. It is, indeed, World Series or nothing for them. An ownership group doesn�t outspend the Yankees to not win the whole thing. Salary doesn�t guarantee a title, but it guarantees title expectations. Matt Kemp and the rest of the roster hasn�t experienced any of that. Mattingly has as a coach. �It�s hard to look at it that way, but it�s our reality even though a lot can happen. Even in the playoffs with a five game series, things don�t always work out. But, it certainly feels that way. My job is to keep it simple, have them focus on doing things the right way, thats all,� said Mattingly.

This will be the first time in Don Mattingly�s career that he will have a legitimate chance at a World Series title. He saw the Yankees through their dark times as a player and their imperfect teams as a coach. Now, he has a team favored to win. From how he handled the first two years with the Dodgers, he is more than prepared.