Dodgers: Rockies GM Tries to Discredit LA’s Sustained Success… and He’s Way Wrong
The Dodgers ended the season with yet another 100+ win season and have made the playoffs yet again. They have absolutely dominated the NL West for many years and have made plenty of deep postseason runs as well. All that has been made possible due to the continous output of competitive teams by Andrew Friedman and the front office.
While other teams have found it difficult to find the right pieces, Los Angeles has found many solid combinations of players to win. Anytime you have sustained success, you’re bound to create haters who will try and dismantle everything you’ve built. The Dodgers are no stranger to that as many have tried to smear their success over the years and that trend has since continued.
This time, Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt, who was recently permanently hired (he had been the interim GM for months) to take the team in a new direction, took some time to try and slam how the Dodgers operate after being asked if he’ll try and retain his top free agents or sign any other free agents.
“We’re not the Dodgers. We’re the Colorado Rockies. We scout, draft and develop.”
Intentional or not, Schmidt seems to be claiming that the Dodgers are successful because of their ability to sign free agents on the open market. That is true, but the Dodgers also have housed one of the deepest farm systems for years. At the beginning of the year, MLB had the Dodgers’ system ranked at 14 while the Rockies were at 27. That should tell you everything you need to know about the two organizations.
While Los Angeles has signed guys like Trevor Bauer, AJ Pollock, Mookie Betts (extension), they’ve also developed much of their talent on today’s roster:
- Corey Seager
- Clayton Kershaw
- Will Smith
- Kenley Jansen
- Cody Bellinger
- Walker Buehler
- Tony Gonsolin
- Gavin Lux
- Matt Beaty
- Julio Urias
- Justin Bruihl
- Andre Jackson
And several others currently on the injured list. The Dodgers have also done a great job developing guys who were otherwise cast off by other organizations like Justin Turner, Max Muncy and so on. In terms of Max Scherzer, Mookie Betts, and Trea Turner, the organization has dished out talent from their own farm to improve the team while the Rockies have sent away their top talent for little in return.
So while the Dodgers can spend money on retaining impending free agents or others on the market, they’ve countered that with a lot of their own homegrown talent to maintain success, something the Rockies haven’t been able to routinely do.
NEXT: Dave Roberts Slams Haters For Calling LA Failures
Of the Rockies two greatest development successes in the past decade, one is already gone and the other one will also be gone not long after the World Series ends, Nuf said.
“We’re not the Dodgers. We’re the Colorado Rockies. We scout, draft and develop.”
He left out the next sentence – “Without much success”.
Absolutely. When he has some success with all that “scouting, drafting and development,” perhaps then his empty opinion may carry some weight….but I doubt it. I do not think its an exaggeration to believe that every team in the Division, even though they did not have a snowball chance in hell themselves, was rooting for the Giants to win. What a sorry lot.
The Padres were also doing what they could to keep Dodgers from the division tie with Giants by being more than willing to role over while playing Giants this weekend.
Since September 6th, the Padres went 4-6 against the Giants, and 0-6 against the Dodgers. If they rolled over for anyone, it was the Dodgers.
The Padres didn’t “ROLL OVER” to the “Giants & Dodgers” they were plain beaten!…However on the last day they failed to even try for some self respect…they failed to make it a contest!
The Padres season turned out to be
a ‘humiliation.’ All talk & no production.
That ‘vaunted’ starting rotation ‘wilted’ in the
2nd half. & their offense all but disappeared. The
swag was non-existent towards the end & that giant ’round
the neck homer chain was put in ‘deep storage!’
I thought this guy was trying to be funny
What free agent would want to play for the perennial second division Rockies? Quality talent looks at Denver as a place to get out of.
It’s one thing when ignorant fans try to claim this but how does someone in the game of baseball think this? What an imbecile and guess what? You’re doing a poor job at drafting and developing there Colorado.
That’s all he is and will ever be a Interim GM for one of the worst teams in baseball. By the All Star break next year he will have a new job throwing peanuts to fans at 3500 feet above sea level .
This guy is BI-TTEEER lol the reason the Dodgers have the ability to acquire all stars like Betts, Bauer and Scherzer (to name a few) is precisely because they scout, draft and develop better than most of the league. And that’s on top of the fact that LA gets a later pick in the draft cause shitty teams like COL get to pick first. Teams today don’t want cash only to part with talent like Mookie, they also want prospects and LA has them in the Top 100 every year. You don’t become perennial by simply spending money, just look at the Yankees.
The green eyed monster strikes again!
I am a life-long Dodger fan but I HAVE been to both Rockies opening day games (my little wifey was from Denver) and the Rockies are NOT what they were or should be! Denver is a city that loves the Rockies but even they are upset on what the Rockies are today. Denver deserves better and just remember how few fans showed up for the last Rockies-Dodger series (half were wearing Dodger blue}-that ain’t Colorado Rockies fans that I am used to! So this statement has no credibilty.
Bill Schmidt showed he has no credibility too himself. What a poor excuse and a disgrace of a GM!
Nothing like making excuses barely before the ink has dried on your official hiring.
Lousy piece of reporting. If you are going to quote someone do it in context: Bill Schmidt said he plans to pursue all avenues to get better this offseason, including trades and free agents. But, they aren’t changing their philosophy. We’re not the Dodgers. We’re the Colorado Rockies. We scout, draft and develop. Those are facts, nothing contentious. The Rockies do not come close to the Dodgers revenue streams and financial resources, they play in a park in which very few ML hurlers want to pitch, and they are not close to competing with Dodgers, Padres, and Giants in the NL West. Their minor league development ranks close to the bottom of MLB — they simply are not in the same class as the Dodgers — fact.
Sounds like he is jealous of the Dodgers and does not know what he is talking about. I do not expect him to be named GM of the year anytime soon!!
Believe what you want but in the end it all comes down to money.When you’re team has a 270 million a year payroll you can afford to get free agents and pay big money to keep the most talented players on you’re team. Baseball will never be a level playing field till there is a salary cap.
I live in Denver, the Rockies are a pathetic joke. Dick Monfort strikes again hiring another unqualified loyalist that he can underpay for decades to focus on rooftop decks, real estate development and taking your money to visit the ballpark rather than investing in the players on the field. Don’t support these clowns.
After losing Arenado, the Rockies, already were playing like they were at least a mile high. Their future definitely is nothing but a downhill skid.. Players don’t want to play there, fans don’t go the the games, what else can the big babies who run the team call out to blame or whine about? This is a nothing story about a nothing person’s stupid ideas, who just happens to run a team that is stuck in the middle and not ever going to get out of it. Someone needs to give this guy a towel to cry in. Whaaaaaaaa.