Colletti insists he won’t go for broke to try to keep his job, to showcase himself for the owners.

I've got to think that a great way to do this is not signing guys like Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt, and Andruw Jones. Every GM makes boneheaded decisions in hindsight, but who makes that many deals that look that terrible on the day they're signed?

I've got to think that a great way to do this is not signing guys like Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt, and Andruw Jones. Every GM makes boneheaded decisions in hindsight, but who makes that many deals that look that terrible on the day they're signed?

The least you can say for the Jones/Schmidt deals is that they were only for 2-3 years. I think those were both defensible signings at the time - clearly, they haven't worked out, and Ned should bear much of the responsibility for that, but it's not as though these are going to keep the dodgers from signing others in say, 2010.

I dont think the Schmidt signing was that bad at the time, considering it was the same offseason that Zito got the huge deal and they had similar enough results and Schmidt got alot less money and years.

Aren't almost all big money free agent signings of non-superstars bad deals?

Aren't almost all big money free agent signings of non-superstars bad deals?

Richie Sexson would beg to differ.

The least you can say for the Jones/Schmidt deals is that they were only for 2-3 years.

That is also the most you can say for them. Schmidt had declining velocity in his final season with the Giants, who not coincidentally had declined to make a bid for his services. He had an extensive injury history as well... the problem with Jones was his plummeting productivity on line drives. His appearance at spring training out of shape was just unbelievable.

I've got to think that a great way to do this is not signing guys like Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt, and Andruw Jones. Every GM makes boneheaded decisions in hindsight, but who makes that many deals that look that terrible on the day they're signed?

The Jones signing isn't bad. They took a low-risk, high-reward shot. The Pierre, Nomar, and Schmidt signings are terrible, though.

The coaches might tell Blake DeWitt something once and might have to tell Kemp the same thing five times,

Which is great for DeWitt's listening skills, but he's hitting .273/.340/.398 on the season which is supported on his unbelievably hot May. Since LaRoche was called up, he's gotten 17 PAs. Maybe Torre should play LaRoche more, DeWitt less, and bat Juan Pierre 8th?

The Jones signing isn't bad. They took a low-risk, high-reward shot.

Low risk? $36M down the toilet is low risk?

Low risk? $36M down the toilet is low risk?

It was just money, they didn't give up prospects or anything and it was only 2 years. I think signing a 30 year old star center fielder coming off a bad year is a justifiable risk. Plenty of guys throughout baseball history have bounced back from a bad year. I mean look at Mike Lowell- he looked far more washed up in 2005 than Jones did last year and he bounced back to have a nice year in 2006 and then finish 5th in the MVP voting last year.

Look at Andruw's most comparable players through age 30:

Frank Robinson
Eddie Mathews
Johnny Bench
Al Kaline
Sammy Sosa

all of those guys had at least 5 more productive years and some of them had many more. It was a smart move, imo, it just hasn't worked out.

scaredduck already mentioned the declining skills of Schmidt and Jones at the time they signed. Pierre's time in L.A. is pretty consistent with his career numbers (with a decline in an already low SLG); he's just one of those anomolies that managers/"baseball people" like who have mediocre numbers. Garciaparra had one pretty good season in L.A., his first in 06. He just hasn't managed to stay healthy, which was a concern when he signed with the Dodgers.

None of these are backbreaking signings, but the totality of all of them is reasonably embarrassing for Coletti.

Maybe Torre should play LaRoche more, DeWitt less, and bat Juan Pierre 8th?

This is the Dodgers we're talking about. I think we're lucky if we don't have a one-two-three punch of Pierre, Jones, and Garciaparra.

His appearance at spring training out of shape was just unbelievable.

Jones got into really good shape for the Braves and didn't hit a lick. I think he thought the weight loss was the reason for it.

Man, how wrong were most people about the NL West. It was supposed to be the best division in baseball and it is probably the worst right now. 85 wins will probably be all it takes to win it.

I thought the Andruw deal was a good gamble. Who knew Andruw was going to crater, Dale Murphy style?
And they did protect themselves by giving him "just" 2 years.

Look at Andruw's most comparable players through age 30:

Frank Robinson
Eddie Mathews
Johnny Bench
Al Kaline
Sammy Sosa

all of those guys had at least 5 more productive years and some of them had many more. It was a smart move, imo, it just hasn't worked out.

That says far more about the uselessness of similarity scores that don't adjust for park/league than it does about Jones.

Career OPS+ through age 30 for those guys:
Robinson: 154
Matthews: 152
Bench: 130
Kaline: 133
Sosa: 119
Jones: 113

So the only guy Jones was similar in quality to as a hitter was Sosa, who has had a unique career path.

Coming into 2008, I have Jones' best comps as:

Rick Monday
Dwayne Murphy
Don Lock
Tony Armas
Tom Brunansky
Chet Lemon
Don Demeter
Rob Deer
Roy Sievers
Gorman Thomas

Coming into 2008, I have Jones' best comps as:
Ugh.
At least, as said before, it's only for 2 years.

Whether the Jones signing was a good gamble or a justifiable move doesn't say anything about the level of risk involved. The risk was that he would continue to suck balls and the Dodgers would get no return on their $36M investment. So far, they have gotten nothing, and I expect them to continue to get nothing. And I doubt that Colletti will (or should, at least) say that, "Hey, $36M is just money" at his next performance review.

So what if it's 36 million? All that means is they don't have 18 million a year to commit to something else. Is there anything worthwhile the Dodgers could have spent it on this offseason? Unless you wanted to committ for five years to Hunter, Rowand, or Fukudome, probably not. How about next year. I guess since they have Jones they won't be able to pick up Sabathia, Furcal, and Ellis but they have the room in the budget to get two of those guys if they really wanted to.

Because the Dodgers have the budget to eat the Jones contract with no ill effects, it was move that had the upside of getting a star quality player with no real downside. The Dodgers probably weren't going to make the playoffs starting Delwyn Young or Juan Pierre all season, and Jones at least gave them the chance to make it.