What Does Torre Bring to the Dodgers?

November 2, 2007 @ 06:34:45

By Eliott Wolbrom
Edited by Ryan Dodson

Culminating what has undoubtedly been one of the most melodramatic weeks of the 2007 baseball (off) season; the Los Angeles Dodgers have put to rest the second of three major questions on everyone's mind for the forthcoming year. They hired manager Joe Torre. With Joe Girardi being introduced as the new manager for the New York Yankees just days earlier, fans were left with two remaining questions: Where (or will) Torre manage next year, and which team will be writing free agent third baseman Alex Rodriguez a $300 million contract? Well, now just four days after the Boston Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies to win their second World Series in four years, two-thirds of the big puzzle has been answered with the Dodgers announcing Torre's hiring on Thursday, Nov. 1. Ironically, this news broke almost simultaneously to the Yankees' press conference where they introduced new manager Joe Girardi. The Dodgers are set to make the official announcement at a press conference on Monday, Nov. 5.

Torre, who admittedly grew up rooting for the cross-town rival San Francisco Giants when they played in New York, will be given his meritorious chance to stick it to the Yankees front office. Those of you scrambling to Ticketmaster in search of an interleague game between the Yankees and Dodgers will be out of luck, as other than a possible spring training game (as of now, no Yankees/Dodgers matchups have been scheduled), the only chance of seeing the mother-of-all-series would be if they met for the only series that counts: the World Series. What a story that would be! Though many would argue the odds of seeing a Dodgers-Yankees Fall Classic were slim and over-the-top-wishful-thinking, Torre will be inheriting a Dodger club that is loaded with talent and money; and with money and talent come possibility.

Diversified with an abundance of young talent and a mix of battle-scarred veterans, the Dodgers will definitely put forth an exciting roster for Torre to handle. Armed with one of the most potent base-stealing one-two punches in the game in outfielder Juan Pierre and shortstop Rafael Furcal, Torre should command an aggressive base running ideology that should prove lucrative for the Dodgers. Under Torre in 2007, the Yankees stole the seventh-most bases in all of baseball with 123. The Dodgers were fifth in the majors with 137. Pierre and Furcal combined for 89 of the 137 bases stolen by the Dodgers, and that total number should go up across the entire lineup under Torre's leadership. The best young catcher in the National League, 24-year-old Dodgers catcher Russell Martin, put up mind-blowing numbers across the board, hitting .293, with 19 home runs, 87 RBI, and 21 - yes, 21 - stolen bases. Torre will most certainly utilize all of the running capability this Dodger ballclub has.

One of Torre's biggest critiques is that of his handling of a pitching staff. Extremely conscientious of pitch count, Torre tends to over-manage his pitchers and goes to his bullpen often and early. In the past two years, a Yankee starting pitcher threw more than 120 pitches in a game only once. This takes a mental toll on starters and a physical toll on relievers. Torre will also often leech on to the arm of one particular reliever and pitch him constantly to the point where his arm gets nearly obliterated. In 2007, until Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain came along, pitcher Luis Vizcaino was that leeched arm. In Torre's early defense, this Dodgers club will possess a much more affluent array of bullpen arms for him to play with. This includes pitchers Joe Beimel, Jonathan Broxton and former Yankee Scott Proctor. Proctor was Torre's rubber arm in 2006.

Former manager and current baseball announcer Buck Martinez was asked "what does a manager need to succeed?" He replied "five great starters". Torre will be faced with the challenge of motivating his potentially dangerous rotation. Equipped with veteran arms, like ace Brad Penny (16-4, 3.03 ERA), Derek Lowe (12-14, 3.88 ERA) and Jason Schmidt (played only six games in 2007 because of a shoulder injury), and with their young stud Chad Billingsley (12-5, 3.31 ERA), the Dodgers have a potent rotation at least on paper. The question is whether or not Penny and Billingsley could repeat their 2007 success, and more importantly, will Schmidt earn the $47 million contract he signed last year as a free agent.

Speaking of free agents, there are plenty of them out there; and with this the Dodgers - and the face of Torre - could see themselves on the other side of the table bargaining with the likes of outfielder Andruw Jones (Braves) or even pitcher Roger Clemens (Yankees). Free agent pitcher Andy Pettitte, though he maintains an excellent relationship with Torre, has stated that he will either play with the Yankees this year or retire. This leads us to the final and surely most monumental question this offseason will offer: where is A-Rod going? The Dodgers remain on the high side of the list of teams that Rodriguez may go to, and with the Torre signing, they will likely climb higher. There is plausibility that A-Rod may want to stick it to the Yankees management and Yankees fans in general by playing with Torre in Los Angeles, though it does still remain a small possibility.

Things should turn out just fine for the Dodgers under Torre. If things fall into place for their starting rotation, coupled with an already stellar bullpen, and a seemingly exciting - yet threatening - lineup, this Dodgers team has a very good chance of winning their division and could make a strong case in the crapshoot playoffs. It is very important to note that Dodgers' players performed extremely well for fantasy owners last year and there is absolutely no reason to believe why those performances shouldn't increase under Torre. They steal many bases (fifth in the majors in 2007); get lots of hits (ninth in the majors in 2007), hit for average (seventh in the majors in 2007) and their pitchers strike out loads of batters (third in the majors in 2007). There is nothing not to like about this ballclub going into any fantasy draft.

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Eliott Wolbrom
Eliott has been with KFFL since 2007.

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