Ned Colletti: Dodgers General Manager

Posted on February 13, 2008 | Category: Hall of Shame

This guy is why we have Andruw Jones, Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt, or any other crappy Dodger who has ever underachieved.

Placing this guy in charge of player personnel for the Dodgers was about as smart as waving a metal rod in the air during a thunder storm.

Why would anyone do that?? That's what I thought, until the Dodgers actually lured Colletti away from his position as Assistant General Manager of the hated San Francisco Giants. Colletti may have the reputation of being a decent business man, but what he has done to the Dodgers since taking over for Paul DePodesta in 2006 is pretty much idiotic and inexcusable.

Like letting a kid run free in a candy store, the Dodgers gave Ned Colletti full reign of one of top 5 highest payroll's in Major League Baseball. Instead of spending wisely, like any normal and informed Dodgers fan would do, Colletti handed out some of the most ridiculous and overpaying contracts I have ever seen. One such move, which paid current Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal $39 million over 3 seasons, was so outrageous that even Braves Manager Bobby Cox encouraged his shortstop to leave his team in order to take advantage of the deal. That's how bad the deal was with Furcal, who now as a Dodger has shown that he is way overpaid and puts up nothing better than pedestrian numbers. The Furcal deal was no fluke though, as Ned Colletti has made several other absolutely horrible business decisions which have now culminated to achieve an utterly pathetic product known as the 82-80, 2007 Los Angeles Dodgers.

Colletti has proven to be an expert at overpaying players with big names who no longer have any talent. Besides Furcal, Colletti has signed what I call superstar underachievers, such as Luis Gonzalez, Juan Pierre, Normar Garciappara, Randy Wolf, Jason Scmidt, Derek Lowe, Esteban Loaiza, David Wells, Shea Hillenbrand, Mark Hendrickson and Roberto Hernandez. Once semi-decent, all of these guys are now finishing the downside of their careers as Los Angeles Dodgers. And they're making a combined total of $92,310,407. So, for these 11 superstar underachievers, the Dodgers are paying more than entire Philadelphia Phillies team-- which made the playoffs. Colletti is also nearly paying these 11 guys the total salary of the Colorado Rockies and Arizona D'backs combined, and those teams actually made the playoffs as well. As if that was difficult enough to swallow, the Cleveland Indians, at a roster salary of just $61 million, are now playing in the American League Championship Series after sending the Yankees home in the divisional series. The moral of the story here is: It is not how much you pay, but it is in fact who you pay. Ned Colletti never figured that out, which is exactly why he should be relieved from his duties as the Dodgers General Manager and be sent packing. I guarantee I could run the Dodgers better than he can, without a doubt in my mind.

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Mitch Kupchak: Lakers General Manager

Posted on February 11, 2008 | Category: Hall of Shame

UPDATE: Because Kupchak traded for Pau Gasol, his removal from the Hall of Shame is now PENDING. His status will be determined depending on how he deals with Kobe Bryant when he opts out of his contract after the 2009 season. If Kobe stays then Kupchak can get out of the Hall of Shame, but if not then he will remain here forever.



Remember when the Lakers were a great team and won 3 straight championships from the '00-'01, '01-'02, and '02-'03 seasons?

Mitch Kupchak was not responsible for that at all, in fact, he was handed the reigns as Lakers GM the first year of the dynasty in 2000-- after Jerry West built the foundation of those championship teams. Kupchak had no role in the drafting of Kobe, the signing of Shaq from the Magic, or the acquisitions of Rick Fox, Brian Shaw, Ron Harper, AC Green or Horace Grant--who were all products of Jerry West's genius. Kupchak did manage to get the Lakers to an NBA Finals appearance vs. the Detroit Pistons in 2004, but the Lakers' chance at a 4-peat fell short because he signed a team which self destructed physically and mentally...I guess that's what happens when you put Karl Malone and Gary Payton in Laker uniforms. From that point on it has been all down hill, as the Lakers parted with Shaq and have not made it out of the first round of the playoffs since.

Here is the main reason why Mitch Kupchak needs to be fired: He traded Shaquille O'neal, the most dominant center in the history of the game and future hall of famer-- for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant. If that's not enough to make you throw up, he later traded Butler and failed point guard free-agent signee Chucky Atkins for the former #1 overall pick in the NBA draft, Kwame Brown. After trading away Butler, because he basically lacked chemistry with Kobe Bryant, Butler became an all-star forward for the Washington Wizards. So basically, all the Lakers have to show for trading away Shaq is the fearsome combo of Kwame Brown and Lamar Odom, who are both so injury prone that they cannot even be traded away for better players. And in case you missed it, Kwame was recently arrested for disorderly conduct in Georgia...I'm sure his trade stock is just skyrocketing now.

Let's not examine who Kupchak put in Laker uniforms, but how about who he did not sign? One infuriating mistake by Kupchak was missing out on former UCLA superstar and NBA-all star point guard Baron Davis. Davis was picked up by the Warriors, who became the first #8 seed to upset a #1 seed in the first round of the NBA playoffs, so it truly was humilating for the Lakers to miss out on such a great player, and home town hero. As if that wasn't enough to make you cringe, this past summer Kupchak missed out on signing Kevin Garnett and Shawn Marion. KG was obviously the #1 guy that the Lakers needed to turn their franchise around and help Kobe, but Kupchak did not possess enough talent to make a trade to Minnesota at the time. Nobody wanted Kwame or Odom, so as a Lakers fan that just tells you how much this team is worth in terms of trade bait. Then came Shawn Marion, who publicly stated how he discussed with Kobe his dream of playing as a Laker and winning a championship. Not seeing that as a signal to pursue, Kupchak passed once again, and Marion remained with the Suns.

Like GM Ned Colletti of the Dodgers, Kupchak has proven that he is an idiot. He is wasting Kobe Bryant's prime by surrounding him with zero talent, and if it were not for Kobe, then the Lakers would never have a shot at making the playoffs. Kupchak has done nothing but send this Lakers team into a downward spiral of mediocrity, so the only way to improve this once proud franchise is to fire him immediately.


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