Podcast: 'Dugout Blues' episode 62 - Offseason rumors, awards, Rule 5/AFL

On this episode of "Dugout Blues," Jared Massey (Dodger Diamond) and I somehow record one of the longest episodes in the show's history, despite not having a whole lot to talk about.

We wrap up awards season and I divulge my Internet Baseball Writers Association of America ballot.

Tim Wallach was officially announced as Don Mattingly's bench coach. Bully.

Offseason rumors abound, and the Dodgers are mentioned with some good players and some not-so-good players. We also say goodbye to Nick Punto and Skip Schumaker.

The 40-man roster deadline is tonight and we discuss who we would add to protect from December's Rule 5 Draft.

The Arizona Fall League is over and Corey Seager had a "meh" showing. Not surprising for a 19-year-old in his first full season of ball.

The Dodgers hired an executive away from Washington to be a national crosschecker in the form of Roy Clark. Great hire.

Episode dedications
Jared and Dustin: Jose Nunez

As usual, we close with Q&A. Here's hoping for some more good ones next week!

We'll probably continue to record every other week, or as news warrants, during the winter.

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Direct link
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Look for new episodes of "Dugout Blues" every Wednesday. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and review us on iTunes. We want to make this the best podcast we can so we're always looking for suggestions and ways to improve.

If you have questions you'd like us to answer or certain topics/players you want to hear more about, feel free to email us (ladugout@gmail.com or feelinkindablue@gmail.com) or send us messages on Twitter (@Dodger_Diamond or @FeelinKindaBlue). You can also "Like" the podcast on Facebook. We always welcome audience participation.

Image credit: Joe Martin

Dodgers announce 2014 coaching staff, led by Don Mattingly, Wallach

Despite a rocky start to the off-season, Don Mattingly will be back at the helm of the Dodgers in 2014.

The Dodgers announced on Monday Mattingly and the entire coaching staff (less Trey Hillman) will return next season.

Tim Wallach, who had interviewed for the managerial jobs in Detroit and Seattle, will serve as Mattingly's bench coach. Wallach had been the team's third base coach for the last three years.

Wallach will get a managerial job one day, but he's a good choice for Mattingly's bench coach. I'd have preferred a guy like Manny Acta (more forward-thinking), but here's hoping Wallach can get Mattingly to bunt less going forward.

Albuquerque Isotopes' manager Lorenzo Bundy will replace Wallach as the Dodgers' third base coach. It's a great and well-deserved move for Bundy.

The rest of the staff is as follows:

Mark McGwire, hitting coach

Rick Honeycutt, pitching coach

Chuck Crim, bullpen coach

Davey Lopes, first base coach

John Valentin, assistant hitting coach

Ken Howell, assistant pitching coach

Manny Mota, coach (35th season)

Steve Yeager, coach

It remains to be seen if Mattingly will get the long-term extension he so desires (and deserves, despite the bunting). But keeping a consistent coaching staff is good for the staff itself and the players.

Remember, this team was two wins away from a World Series appearance and is set to make the necessary moves to remain title contenders. Mattingly has a pretty good thing in LA. Here's hoping he delivers a World Series trophy in about 11 1/2 months.

Photo credit: Cbl62, Wikimedia Commons

Podcast: 'Dugout Blues' episode 61 - Awards, Kershaw, Wallach, plans

On this episode of "Dugout Blues," Jared Massey (Dodger Diamond) and I divulge our off-season plans for the Dodgers.

But first, we touch on awards season. Jared gives his picks for each major award. I voted in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, so I won't make my ballot public until the results are announced. Don't worry, it'll happen next week.

Clayton Kershaw said he's "curious" about free agency. Jared freaks out a bit while I'm calm and cool about it.

Tim Wallach lost out to Brad Ausmus for the Detroit Tigers' job and Lloyd McClendon for the Seattle Mariners' job. Now, he could be Don Mattingly's bench coach. At worst, he'll be the team's third base coach again.

We try to make our off-season plans as realistic as possible. We also throw in a few curveballs and unexpected transactions. Hope you enjoy. I'll have my off-season plan in written form come Friday.

Episode dedications
Jared: Chan Ho Park
Dustin: Chan Ho Park (but just to be different, Josh Beckett)

Then, we close with Q&A, which were pretty good this week. Keep it up!

We'll probably continue to record every other week, or as news warrants, during the winter.

Libsyn link
Direct link
iTunes link

Look for new episodes of "Dugout Blues" every Wednesday. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and review us on iTunes. We want to make this the best podcast we can so we're always looking for suggestions and ways to improve.

If you have questions you'd like us to answer or certain topics/players you want to hear more about, feel free to email us (ladugout@gmail.com or feelinkindablue@gmail.com) or send us messages on Twitter (@Dodger_Diamond or @FeelinKindaBlue). You can also "Like" the podcast on Facebook. We always welcome audience participation.

Image credit: Joe Martin

Mattingly to replace Torre and Dotel trade

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Friday Don Mattingly will in fact succeed Joe Torre as the Dodgers' manager, starting in 2011.

I'm suspect of this move for one main reason -- Mattingly has been an assistant under Joe Torre for quite some time. My fear is Mattingly picked up some of Torre's terrible habits, namely the mismanagement of the bullpen and pitching staff overall. That is Torre's biggest flaw as a manager and it'd be easy for Mattingly to follow suit.

I'm willing to give him a chance as Dodger manager, but Tim Wallach, the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate manager, would have been my No. 1 choice.

It seems the Dodgers are lacking fire from the top. I mean, the last "fiery" manager the Dodgers had was Tommy LaSorda. Glen Hoffman? No. Bill Russell? No. Davey Johnson? No. Jim Tracy? No. Grady Little? Certainly not.

I'm not saying Wallach would be an Ozzie Guillen-like manager (in terms of fire), but at least it would show the Dodgers not being afraid to try something new. However, they are, in a way, trying something new, as Mattingly has no managerial experience at any level. He is going to manage in the Arizona Fall League, so that's a start.

The plan was for Mattingly to succeed Torre as manager when the two came to L.A. three years ago, but my enthusiasm for the move dwindled in that time.

We'll see what happens. The Dodgers have yet to recover from not hiring Mike Scocia when they had the chance.

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Dodgers ship Dotel to Rockies

Octavio Dotel was traded to the Colorado Rockies on Friday for a player to be named later.

What can be said about this? This is flat-out a moronic move. Ned Colletti has made some bad moves in his time, but this one could eventually take the cake.

So the Dodgers traded James McDonald -- a guy who could have done the same, if not better than Dotel in the 18 2/3 innings he pitched for L.A. -- and their 2009 No. 1 prospect in Andrew Lambo for a player to be named later? That's absolutely brilliant. No wonder the Dodger minor league system is so incredibly thin.

Dotel is ineligible for the postseason roster, so the return is going to be quite minimal.

To think, the Dodger roster decisions are going to be made by a guy who made this trade for the foreseeable future. That saddens and infuriates me as a Dodger fan.

The initial trade was baffling, so what does that make this? It's called incompetence.

The Dodgers' ownership issues are a big problem, but the biggest problem may lie right under that Ned Flanders-esque mustache in the Dodger front office.

Forgive me for this rant, but there's really no eloquent way for me to sum up this move.

It's a frustrating time to be a Dodger fan and there appears to be no bright spots in sight.