DODGERS The MATTINGLY Thread

I'm still on the fence with him. Dude is winning games, albeit regular season games, better than any other Dodgers manger has. And we all want to blame the bullpen on him, but last year he had all shit sans Kenley and this year he has had mostly shit. But even then, putting in guys struggling in big spots still leaves me puzzled. we can use the higher than anyone else payroll shtick, but not this year when like 33% of it has come from players no longer playing for us.

 

How come when the team plays like shit or say gets no hit.. we have to fire Mattingly?

 

Why do people care so much about the manager? That might be the most overrated position in baseball.

I don't love Don, but not enough is considered with the way he can handle the clubhouse. It's probably not as much of a problem as it was the past couple years, but we're winning. Who gives a shit? It comes down to the players.

 

The Mattingly hate this year is the weirdest yet IMO. In the last couple years he'd done things that were clearing anti-intellectual, and I understood and agreed with those criticisms (strange platoons, running arms into the ground, MAYBE the Kershaw/AJ Ellis thing very early this year) but I legitimately don't see one egregious thing he's done this season that warrants the unrelenting complaining. The bullpen, on paper should be competent, and the fact that they've almost across the board underperformed I GUESS can be attributed to misuse, but I can't think of many terrible mistakes in that regard. I think the biggest issue with this year's team to me is that when a couple guys go cold everyone goes cold, which is either bad luck or psychological. They seemingly go games without looking like they'll ever score again and then hit 4 homers and break out of it. Oh and Puig. Him being three wins off projection hurts.

 

Part of Puig being 3 wins off projection was him being out a month and a half, including all of May, which last year, May was the best month of his career (Hit 8 HR's, 25 RBI's, .398/.492/.731/1.224). .

 

Don gets a lot of shit, not all of it this year is warranted but some definitely is. His management of the bullpen, even if the arms are shit, has been poor at best. He benched Guerrero out of his hot hitting (should have played more during that stretch) basic fundamentals like baserunning clearly hasn't been worked on enough and the team often mirrors his lackadaisical attitude during different stretches. However, all of the bullpen outside of kenley being shit isn't his fault and neither was Ryu's injury, pedersons slump, and puigs off year. 3 in 3 for the first time ever would be impressive. That being said, I really think its WS appearance or the boot for him. If you don't win with a 300 mil payroll in this town, you out

 

Maybe if this were the NBA, but it isn't. Please also don't fall into the "$300MM team" BS as a ton of that money is being used to get rid of the past Ned and company mistakes. I could see if it's another first round elimination, but to straight up say WS appearance or bust is a little extreme. Guerrero "not getting enough playing time" when he was hitting for two weeks worked itself out as he's probably the worst player on the roster now. Not to mention Turner was hitting well also.

Hopefully the bullpen gets their shit together and we go on a deep run though.

 

That's what you'd think, but check out the reveal...it's real

 

Not trying for a convert here with you...it really doesn't matter how many people like/don't like DBB...but the key in your post (for me anyway) is the part where you can't blame him for a crap BP, but why does he use them when or before he really has to, is the main reason people think he ...uh...blows. And gets named Donnie dum dum and such.
And it may be very true about a manager not doing the actual hitting/pitching for any given team, but he gets paid to inspire, push the right buttons at the right time, get the most out of his players...etc. And when the team is good enough to go to the post, to actually win some series now and then. and not make spectacularly inept moves. And luck is a factor to...if it's bad, it is what it is. Some guys have great luck, like Bochy.
That's why they fire managers when a team with expectations fails...not the players per se. I think owners are aware that managers don't do the playing on the field.

 

Actually if I remember right, what was pissing a lot of people off at the time of Guerrero's hot streak was that Turner WASN'T tearing the cover off the ball yet and was still getting lots of playing time. It was during the end of that stretch and when Guerrero's time started to diminish more and more that Turner heated up. In hindsight, it was a good move as it got Turner rolling.

 

Good point there. Funny stuff, especially with Chief now supposedly having DBB's back. He curses DBB out more than anybody during games, but now says he's " on the fence " about him? Doesn't add up. I'm pretty sure Chief was calling for Friedman to make the switch to Bud Black. Hell, let's go even more recent...here's Chief only yesterday...

Yup..." Dum dum " and " fucking idiot ". Agreed. And IB goes on to say " The manager position is overrated ", but then says that Mattingly doesn't get enough love for his work in the clubhouse...can't have it both ways, brah. I mean the statement in general could be true in the eye of the beholder, however, if that's the case call up the O's and see if you can pry Showalter away...no chance. At first I thought this little flare up smelled like natural reactions to a Dodger taking shots, but to know that there's a clan that has his back...pretty shocking. DBB better watch his own back if that's the case.

A lot of us get that Mattingly's in the lower tier as a manager and have accepted it for now because the org's makeover is unfinished in general, but win, lose, or draw the position should be upgraded going forward. To spend so much on the team, yet have a goof running it...that dynamic shouldn't even be an option post 2015. I think most of us wanted Maddon to replace DBB at the time when he was available. I remember tons of disappointment when they didn't get him. That's obviously over and done. However, the Buddie Black thread exist for a reason.

 

Looking past his mishandling of the bullpen, we also need to recognize DBB's ability to put out shithead lineup after shithead lineup is stronger than ever. Only AGon and Turner have swung the bat better than Grandal this year, so tell me why Grandal has spent the majority of his time in the 6 and 7 spots in the order? Our all-star catcher only leads all catchers in MLB (that includes Posey) in OPS and wRC+. And how long did it take DBB to move Rollins out of the leadoff spot earlier in the season? I mean good grief, the man was at the .180 mark for more than a minute. Shit, we might still be dealing with Uribe if he himself hadn't requested a trade. Oh, you think not? I present to you Carl Crawford back from the dead and stealing time from a Puig who was just startin to muster up a thought. The point is that a good amount of us shake our heads at these lineups on a daily basis.

As far as Puig goes...unknown rookie Puig saved DBB's job, so if you wanna use a vet Puig that's been figured out to help frame DBB's potential fall I'd say those two are even. Lol Being the 1st Dodger manager to win 3 division titles in a row (with a Guinness Book of World Records caliber payroll) won't mean anything if that ass gets fired after this season and that's a real possibility. If you don't agree with the payroll being mentioned, use the expectations instead because the fact is that he's not led an overachieving LAD squad. This team has been no underdog since 2012. On the contrary, they've been heavily favored and projected by many simulations to win anywhere from 95-100 games and get the ultimate prize. Have to forgive me if I don't jizz over 3 consecutive division titles.

 

Can't imagine that happening...no way.
Most people , human nature being what it is, would probably assume it's a hate word for a particular race. Not knowing the pronunciation and all...
No chance.

 

To say, or feel "WS or bust" is a little extreme ? Really?
Wow...after 26 years of failing and watching (lesser, IMO) teams go on to savor the championship and getting our asses handed to us over and over by the same team...with all due respect, is a form of why we never get there anymore.
I guess it's the uber laid back, "elite" BS...and to be satisfied with just getting in, then losing, and " the future" ( which has not panned out ever BTW), is loser stuff.
Which we will always be, unless there is some kind of heartfelt urgency by this team.

 

Hence the term 'on the fence.' Back and forth, I don't claim to be rational, so mind your own business. It isn't like I was responding to you or anything.

 

Are you writing that for me?? I guess so, since it was ignored by everyone else.
Did you read what I wrote, or just motivated by your impoliteness? I meant nothing insulting at all, jeezuschrist.
OK...got it...I shouldn't respond to your posts unless directed at me. Just making conversation, you ignorant asshole.

 

Maybe you've drowned out your positivity towards DBB with the ample negativity, but don't get all pissy because I called you on it. This all started with you being up in arms about jpl's thoughts on my post, so you could follow your own advice and mind your own business too.

 

No it wasn't meant for you, it was meant for sleepy floyd, who I quoted. I mean, didn't you see me quote him?

 

No...sorry. Apologize. I don't see what he posts. I have keep that in mind.