The Dodgers "could be targeting" Rays Exec VP/Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman as a replacement for GM Ned Colletti, as the club is "laying most of the blame for their underachieving team on the man who constructed it," according to Bill Plaschke of the L.A. TIMES. Ownership is "disappointed with how Colletti constructed a roster that," despite costing a record $240M, "lacked the pieces to compete" with the Cardinals. Ownership liked how manager Don Mattingly "handled a combustible clubhouse and will give him at least another season to smooth out his rough managerial edges," but their "patience might not stretch to Colletti." Under Guggenheim Partners, who "didn't hire him, Colletti is viewed as someone who gives away too much money to older veterans." Colletti "deserves special recognition for winning during the final budget-constrained years" of former Owner Frank McCourt. But in two years under Guggenheim, "despite being armed with baseball's deepest riches, he failed to take the team to the World Series." The Dodgers' payroll is "expected to drop" into the $185-190M range next season to "offset expected financial losses from the unworkable television contract with Time Warner Cable, and ownership could be looking for a new vision" (L.A. TIMES, 10/10).
COMING OR GOING? Mattingly on Thursday said he would be "surprised" if the team did not retain Colletti. Mattingly: "We came in today and it seemed business as usual." As for himself, Mattingly said he was "assuming" he would manage the team next season. In L.A., Dylan Hernandez notes Mattingly's contract "doesn't expire until the end" of the '16 season. A team spokesperson said that Colletti and Dodgers President & CEO Stan Kasten are "expected to address the media next week" (L.A. TIMES, 10/10). MLB Network’s Cliff Floyd said of Colletti being on the hot seat, "When you have a $240 million payroll and you are out of the NLDS in the first round, somebody has to pay the price for it. Something is going to happen" ("MLB Tonight," MLB Network, 10/9).
IS THE GRASS GREENER? ESPN.com's Buster Olney writes of the Dodgers possibly pursuing Friedman, "There's just one problem: Relatively few people see his effort." Friedman in his time with the Rays "must have imagined what he might try to do with more money, greater financial flexibility." Friedman is "someone with a lot of ideas," but in order to "make the deal, he has to leave some of his art behind." He "has to cede control." Friedman "loves what he has, has a strong working relationship with his bosses and thus he would have to leave people who he trusts behind." Friedman with the Dodgers would "have to buy into a leadership group that has veered sharply from day to day." The fact that the Dodgers "still don't know whether they want to keep Colletti, after his years of service, says something about the organization" (ESPN.com, 10/10).
STILL SINGING THE BLUES? ESPN.com's Olney wrote, "The Dodgers were sold 2½ years ago and their club operation has been in hyper-drive since then, as the organization worked to do everything at once: rebuild the roster and the farm system, rebuild the organization's star power, restore the faith of a dormant fan base, rebuild interest and win." For the most part, they have been "successful in doing all of that." The club has been "rebuilt as a power, they've filled Dodger Stadium, their farm system has improved dramatically and they've made the playoffs the past two seasons." But there are "problems, unquestionably, and inefficiencies and waste along the way" (ESPN.com, 10/9).
