Rex Hudler

I still think Maddux will end up with the Cubs.

I thought it, but you posted it..... we thinking alike Steff? Is that good or bad?

MLB.com says not so........ Yankees Not Involved with Maddux

LOL

A letter from Dan Evans to Dodgers fans on the MLB Message Board: Dan sent me this message that he wrote for the board: I have been visiting this message board frequently over the past two-plus years, and have enjoyed meeting and talking with many of you during my time as the Dodgers' General Manager. First off, I want to thank Fox, Bob Daly, Bob Graziano, and Dave Wallace for the tremendous opportunity two and one-half years ago. I was honored to have had the chance to be the Dodgers' GM, and I wish we would have had the opportunity to complete our job here. My staff deserves a huge compliment for their work, especially during this very difficult transition process. I know it has been a stressful offseason, and I wish them the very best and thank them for their support throughout. I want to thank Dodger fans, because I have seen and felt your passion for your favorite team. My good friend Don Drysdale used to tell me great things about the Dodgers and their fans, and he was so right. You have been great, and while I know the past few months have been frustrating, the organization will benefit from the work our staff accomplished. I feel good about what we had done in only two seasons -- we inherited the oldest roster, an inflexible one with over $200 million committed, and an organization rated 28th in talent -- near the bottom for the fifth consecutive year when we started. After only two years, the Dodgers are now in the top four in talent as a result of great work by the amateur, international, and professional scouting staffs, along with an excellent, innovative player development staff. As a result, the Dodgers are on the right track for long-term success and you the fans will be the real winners. This entire offseason has been extremely frustrating for everyone in the Dodger organization. The offseason is the worst possible time for an organization to go through an ownership change, since nearly all of the key personnel and financial decisions are made during that period. It has been very difficult and the entire organization was affected during the long process. Everyone in our baseball decision-making group, including Bob Daly and Bob Graziano, knew that we needed to use the increased flexibility obtained in the Kevin Brown trade to the Yankees to improve our offense, and there is no question that we would have accomplished our goal of acquiring a prolific offensive player in his prime -- without giving up any of our prospects -- had it not been for the circumstances surrounding the ownership transition. We always took into account the best interests of the Dodgers, both short and long-term, whenever we made a baseball decision. The fans and the organization deserved that. I knew it was our responsibility to make the unpopular decisions which were actually in the best long-term interests of the Dodgers. We developed a gameplan and adhered to it in order to achieve our goal, and our philosophy had the complete support of upper management. Lastly, I never realized that one pink shirt would cause so much discussion! Best wishes to all of you and thanks. Dan Evans

I just liken dumping a GM after two years, when he made the organization better to firing a college coach after two years and never giving him an opportunity to coach with his own players. I don't think Evans got a fair chance to be evaluated on his own merit. I truly think their coming success will have as much or more to do with the foundation Evans laid, than anything Depodesta does, and that is not a knock on Depodesta at all. And the way he was treated by McCourt is laughable. About as laughable as Texas management making ARod the "team captain" knowing they still wanted to trade him. What kind of credibility does that give you with your existing players? Both situations were brutal!

Those two reasons make perfectly good sense to me. Bringing him back is nostalgic. For him and for the team and their fans. Having a guy come home that fans feel never should have been left, is a feel-good move. If he helps them reach or win the WS, all in life is good for Cub fans. Most people remember how they got their start. There is something to "going home" after doing good elsewhere and in this case, Wrigley can be considered his home. Wanting him to win his 300th win for the Cubs is a great thing for them. It is a milestone that few players reach. To have a player do that at minimum is great PR. Both of these reasons take a backseat to the real reason for bringing him back and that is to help them win. But don't discount the feel-good aspect of a deal like this. It can be a win-win for the player, team and fans.

Man, Jason if you agree with that, then you need to re-think your thoughts on Evans. If after two years, the organization is better than it was before, yet you think he is a "terrible" GM, what do you want? What else can you ask for? I know you are young, but don't sell out into the "must win now" mindset fueled by the media and message boards like this one. Sometimes the long-term approach is necessary and preferrable. I am confident that if you are ever in a position of importance such as Evans was, you will laugh at people like us who second guess your every move. You will find that real life isn't as easy as suggesting a trade or a free agent signing on a message board. Real life is not as easy as playing Monday morning quarterback and college textbooks. I am not meaning to talk down to you here, but just offering a few words of wisdom. There is no way you, nor I, nor anyone else on this board can know everything a Major League GM goes through or every bit of information he processes. No matter what the GM does, there are hundreds, if not thousands of people out there think they know better. You are a bright guy, but please understand things aren't always as easy as they seem from afar.

There is a difference between rebuilding, going for it and maintaining competitiveness while building for the long run. I believe Evans did the latter and had no problem with that. He had two full seasons as a GM and the organization is better now than when he left it. I'll take that any day from a GM.

We can agree to disagree Jason. There are many woulda, coulda shouldas involved in baseball. He could have signed Alomar and Robby could have come out and hit .230 and been terrible and then he would have been looked upon as bad for that deal. I am telling you Everett is an average offensive player. The guy averages 18 HR and 65 RBI for his career even with the good years averaged in. I don't like the acquisition of Weaver either, but if he had to do it to get rid of Brown's contract then I can live with it. Burnitz bounced back last year and was solid for the Mets in a half season. They traded for him and he sucked, hitting .203. Green hit 20 less HR's than the two years before. Thurston failed to win the job they thought he would. As a GM, you can't control everything. I also completely disagree that you need to manage a team to try and get them into the playoffs every year. If things don't go your way or you are on the edge of just getting in, sometimes you just have to go with what you have rather than alter your long term plan. I know fans don't want to hear it, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do and stay the course, even if that is not the popular decision. The bottom line is their organization is now set up for success. Evans had a big part of that, both in what he did and who he hired. The key to being a good GM is hiring a guy like Bavasi who will work with you to run the system to fit into your long range plan. So giving Bavasi all the credit is very narrow-minded. The Dodgers will succeed and they should thank Evans for it.

As soxbadger said, Urbina is out there because of $$. Apparently he is still chapped about having to take a pay cut last year and is vowing not to do it again. He has said that he would be willing to go as far as sitting out this season if no team will pay him what he is worth. I do not recall the dollar figures he is asking for, unfortunately.

Evans strength is on the administrative and people side. He understands the inner workings of baseball operations. Smart GM's surround themselves with good people to help them make important decisions. KW brought in Roland Hemond and Dennis Gilbert to name two. There are otehrs, I believe as well. So anyone that thinks that KW or Evans or Beane for that matter are the only ones involved in such decisions, doesn't understand how it all works.

No, he was the Asst. GM

Jason, here is a time when I disagree with you big-time. Evans didn't panic and make moves that he felt were bad for the Dodgers long-term. The Dodgers have always built from within and promoted a family atmosphere. Evans was working toward getting the Dodgers back to that point. He was doing what he felt necessary to set the Dodger franchise back up to where it once was, not jump in for the quick fix. There is a much bigger picture to being a GM than making that one trade that gets you to the playoffs now. I have no doubt Evans will again be a MLB GM and that he will do well. He has set up Mr. Depodesta quite well in LA.

You mean the Rodriguez that has such a s***ty attitude that the Indians quickly shipped him off to Texas, where he has done squat?? I didn't like the deal at the time either, but he was trying to shore up a bullpen for the pennant chase that year. They didn't win, so it didn't work out, but Shuey wasn't bad for them.

I don't want to get into a debate on specific deals he made or even whether he is good or not, but I will try and summarize some of the thoughts I have read. 1. He inherited a terrible farm system and through people he has hired, brought it back well beyond just respectability. Baseball America will rank it in its Top 5 in MLB this year. 2. He inherited a team with an unhappy slugger who wanted out in Gary Sheffield, and several monster contracts that were albatrosses that limited his payroll flexibility as much as KW's has been limited with the Sox. His first year he got nothing out of Kevin Brown's $17 million. Darren Dreifort has been a huge bust. As was Andy Ashby. There are others, I don't remember all of them. 3. He has acquired several players that have produced well as role players. Players such as Guillermo Mota, Dave Roberts, Paul Quantril, Wilson Alvarez, and Tom Martin have performed well. Others did not work out so well, but it is easy to judge in hindsight. 4. The Karros-Hundley deal made sense at the time. Karros' production had declined big time and was due to make $8 million. The Dodgers had a ready relplacement for Grudz who did not want to be a part-time player. To get rid of those two salaries they took on Hundley, expecting no more than help off the bench. They signed McGriff whose production, even on the decline, was equal to that of Grudz and Karros combined the year before. McGriff had never been on the DL in his career. Unfortunately, Joey Thurston falls on his face last year after hitting .334 the year before in AAA. McGriff gets hurt for the first time ever and doesn't even get 300 AB's. If McGriff stayed healthy and they get anything out of Thurston, then this deal works for the Dodgers. If Hundley comes back and gives then any bench help, it is a great deal. The deal also saved them $3 million. This is a perfect example of seeing the big picture rather than looking at the surface of a trade. 5. Shawn Green's production fell off considerably. They hoped Jeremy Burnitz could bounce back. Many things didn't work out right for the Dodgers, but they weren't stupid moves. I questioned the Paul Shuey for Ricardo Rodriguez trade, but obviously they knew more than I did, because Rodriguez has since been traded again and has flopped. 6. No one is saying Evans was the perfect GM and that all of his moves were good ones. But true Dodger fans have not been lost on the fact that he rebuilt their farm system and through patience and holding onto top prospects he has them primed to win and win soon. They believe that everything he did, he did with the long term success of the Dodgers in mind, not succombing to the win today mentality. 7. His hands were tied this off-season by the sale. He was not allowed to add payroll per Fox. Dodger fans are convinced they had Vladimir all but wrapped up but Evans could not get the go ahead to finish the deal. This was the first I have heard of that, but I do know his hands have been tied when trying to make deals this winter. 8. Lastly, the Dodgers haven't been THAT bad. Their worst record in Evans tenure was last year's 85-77 record, which is more than respectable. The Dodgers now have flexibility for their payroll. They still have Darren Dreifort's contract and I am not crazy about the pickup of Weaver, but they had to take him to get rid of Kevin Brown's $17+ million. Look for the Dodgers to rebound quickly and for Evans to get no credit. Many Dodger fans think that is a shame. Here is a thread on the Dodgers MLB board that echoes some of those sentiments. Of course I have pulled from several different threads to give you the above synopsis, but I think you will get the idea. Not everyone agrees and I don't agree with everything he has done, but I think most true Dodgers fans (of which I am not) see that he was working for the long haul, even when he was under fire. A Letter to Dan

Indianapolis and Louisville are both great parks. Indy was the first of the retro-stadiums in the Minor League building boom. Others such as Memphis and Sacremento have surpassed it, but both Indy and Louisville would surprise fans who are not familiar with the Minors. They are both top notch facilities. I can't help that you read slow!

ss2k, you are right on point 1. Wrong on point 2. I have been reading a Dodgers message board recently and many if not most Dodger fans are sorry to see Evans go. He set up the Dodgers org. to win. Depodesta will reap the benefits of what Evans sowed. Don't just look at the surface of a few deals. It can be very misleading.

that or maybe realize that he won several WS titles when he was listening to his baseball people and not signing every big name free agent out there. If they don't win this year, he'll fire tons of people and make wholesale changes. The Yankees will either then go back to doing things the right way and be a little more patient or they will self-destruct and become the Yankees of the 80's with lots of talent and high priced players and not enough wins.

All of you who missed that need to throw a quarter into the hat! By summertime, we're gonna have a helluva party with the moolah!

Aboz, if we had a kangaroo court on this board, you would either owe us $1 for that post or be banned from posting for an hour!

Don't get me on my hockey soapbox, Fan... LOL

Hey, in all seriousness here...... For all of those that have soured on Major League Baseball, be it because of the ARod trade or for whatever reason, I challenge you to look for an alternate source of entertainment. There is an alternative to MLB for baseball fans and that is quite simply, Minor League Baseball. If you have never been to a game, try one this summer. There should be a Minor League ballpark relatively near almost everyone on this board. In Minor League Baseball, the players play hard and play the game the way it was meant to be played. Not every player is a future Major Leaguer, but there is definitely talent to be seen. The stadiums are much smaller, making watching a game much more intimate. You are closer to the action and the players are quite accessible. The players are generally very friendly and easy to approach. For the baseball purist, I understand you may despise the Dizzy Bat Race and all like promotions, but ask yourself, are they the lesser of two evils when you think about your disappointment in MLB right now? Can you stand ignoring such promotions (go grab a beer or a dog) so that you can enjoy the many other benefits? For the others, I believe you will find the promotions quite humorous. Above all else, the best part of Minor League Baseball is it is affordable. Most places tickets are no more than $8-$10, if that. You can even get dollar beers or cheap hot dogs on certain nights. If you have not gone to a Minor League game, I seriously urge you to go to a few this year. Give it a fair chance and I think you will find it is an excellent experience. Go to enjoy the game of baseball in a more pure form. I have no doubt you will like it. If you have been to Minor League games, I suggest you catch a few more this year. IF MLB wants to shoot itself in the foot, go see the kids play. Although MLB does get a small cut of the ticket revenue from each Minor League team, you are not directly supporting Major League baseball with your money. Thanks for allowing this 30-second commercial.

Yeah, you and the other four people!

The really scary part is that I am making this much sense today and it is not even NOON yet. s***, I should figure out how to make a million bucks today. I rarely even try to think before noon!