Frank McCourt appears ... and then, he speaks
The owner showed up for batting practice today. Not sure why. Didn't get a chance to ask him, because I knew he had to run for a conference call about two minutes after I got him, and there were more important questions I wanted to ask him. The big one, of course, was the one I knew he wouldn't answer: Given the way the team has surged into first place, can you say definitively that you plan to bring back all of your key personnel next season? I didn't specify anyone by name, but Frank knew I was talking about Ned Colletti. Anyway, here is his (non) answer
``It would be such a distraction to everybody and everything if I were to engage in any conversation about that right now. That totally misses the point. Right now, the focus is on playing baseball games and winning.''
Read into that whatever you will. And comment as you wish.
Oh, btw, the lineup switcheroo had more to do with protecting Manny because Loney has been struggling hitting behind him, so Joe wanted to put Ethier there. Joe gave us some convoluted answer as to why he dropped Martin to No. 2, saying he is a good leadoff hitter because he draws a lot of walks, which is true, and then saying that batting second won't be that different. My guess is the REAL reason is by putting Kemp in the leadoff spot, with Martin, Manny and Ethier behind him, it might mean Kemp gets better pitches to hit and thus won't strike out as much by chasing pitches out of the zone. Kemp is one strikeout shy of tying the club record, and that's for Brooklyn AND Los Angeles.
Sounds like a no-confidence vote for Colletti. I think it's a given he'll be gone regardless of what happens. Logan White will take over but let's not forget Brian Cashman will likely be available as well.
The important news is that St. Louis is beating Arizona 4-0.
Kemp had 108 strikeouts the first half and only 44 this half and he's still getting crapped on for the K's. That looks like improvement to me.
104 strike outs in the first half*
I wonder if a GM of a team that won the World Series has ever been fired that same winter. That would be the dream scenario for most Dodgers fans, as Colletti has been a disaster.
Cashman from recent reports is going to be back in New York and Theo Epstein recently signed an extension.
Kemp has drastically reduced his K rate (from 28% to 17%) half over half, but he's also not drawing as many walks. That should change with experience.
Tony, last week when you came on ESPN710 you said that Colletti's job was safe "in any case." What changed since then?