Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers would prefer his team be in first place. Who wouldn't? Unfortunately, a D-backs slide has coincided with a Los Angeles Dodgers surge, and now the Snakes trail in the NL West for the first time in more than two months. And with the trade deadline approaching and the Dodgers seemingly having the finances to acquire anyone they'd like, it would seem like the Diamondbacks are in a bit of a precarious position. If the Dodgers keep spending, can the D-backs keep up? "I think ultimately what ends up happening is if guys don't have options, you have to have places to put some of these guys that you're going to spend money on," Towers told Arizona Sports 620's Doug and Wolf Wednesday. "There comes a point in time where even if you want to spend, where do you put it? "You only have 25 guys that can go out there and play." That is true, though it's worth noting the Dodgers roster is not entirely made up of All-Stars, so there is still work that can be done. And with regards to his team, Towers said the Diamondbacks were in on the bidding for pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is 8-3 with a 3.25 ERA this year, and also had interest in Cuban phenom Yasiel Puig. The Dodgers outspent everyone for their services, and are now reaping the dividends. "When you have that wherewithal financially it doesn't mean you're the best scouting organization, just you have the wherewithal to go out and buy what you want," he said. http://arizonasports.com/42/1650856...dgers-money-allows-them-to-buy-what-they-want
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Both Puig and Ryu are playing bigger than their contracts right now. The Dodgers didn't go out and buy 50 free agents and these two guys just happened to hit - the Dodgers' scouts felt these guys could deliver, and they are. That's good scouting, bitch.
Wasn't too long ago they came out and said that spending money doesn't always get you wins. Seriously, they need to learn to shut up and worry about themselves. They seem way too focused on us, and usually not in game. They like to talk trash. Fuck them. Annoying motherfuckers. Enjoy being mediocre for the rest of eternity.
I'm actually kinda surprised it took someone so long to come out and say something.look at how the yankees were hated bc they were spending more than everyone else...to me the funny thing about the dodgers is they're getting key production from the guys in the middle and lower parts of their payroll while their top paid guys have either been injured most of the year or completely ineffective
This is from Tru Blue Ryu, who will wear number 99, is signed through 2018. Here is the breakdown of his contract, thanks to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times and Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports. $5 million signing bonus 2013: $2.5 million 2014: $3.5 million 2015: $4.5 million 2016: $7 million 2017: $7 million 2018: $7 million Ryu can earn up to $1 million annually based on innings pitched. He gets $250,000 for each of 170, 180, 190, and 200 innings. That could bring the total value of the deal to $42 million, though it could get even higher as his base salary could increase depending on his finish in Cy Young balloting. Like Zack Greinke, Ryu has an opt-our clause in his contract. If Ryu pitches 750 innings in the first five years of the contract, he can opt out after 2017 and become a free agent heading into his age-31 season. Ryu also cannot be sent to the minor leagues without his consent, which makes him like any six-year free agent, rather than one with no major league service time. Ryu, like Greinke, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier, does not have a no-trade clause. Factor in the posting fee of $25,737,737.33, and the Dodgers paid $61.7 million for six years of Ryu's prime years, ages 26-31 (or possibly $54.7 million for ages 26-30 if he opts out). That sounds pretty reasonable to me. In other words it comes out to about 10-12 million annually for a guy slotted as our number three. They made the assumption that between Kennedy, Delgado, Colmetter, Hudson, Skaggs, and Miley--the rotation would be built on young studs. Towers pulled off a coup when he acquired Kennedy and he produced the numbers he did two years ago. I am pretty sure that no one in the league publicly bitched about his ability to acquire a then ace for so cheap. He then went cheap based on assumptions. For the same fucking price that he grabbed McCarthy, we signed Ryu. I would say that we are simply smarter. Below is the deal for which the Dodgers signed Puig: Compare those figures with what the Dbacks paid to outfielders Cody Ross and Jason Kubel.The former is due 9.5 annually for 3 years and the latter 7.5 annually for the same. The Dodgers acquired a player, who can surely match or exceed the performance of both over that period for 5 million and 4 million less per. Again, better management. This is not a case of a GM bitter because his rivals have outspent him. It is a case of a GM mishandling his assets. Colletti and Stan have made Towers look like a moron and the results are showing. 2012 21 Los Angeles Dodgers $3,714,000 2013 22 Los Angeles Dodgers $3,714,000 2014 23 Los Angeles Dodgers $3,714,000 2015 24 Los Angeles Dodgers $6,214,000 2016 25 Los Angeles Dodgers $7,214,000 2017 26 Los Angeles Dodgers $8,214,000 2018 27 Los Angeles Dodgers $9,214,000
The point is that the dodgers have the financial ability to take the seriously risks involved with signing players like that, with no mlb experience.if a small market team, like the dbacks, made those 2 moves and they didnt pan out it could be "crippling" paying a guy like ryu $7m to be a throwaway.if ryu or puig didn't work out for the dodgers you wouldn't even notice bc they could just use their financial strength to eat the contract and find another, likely high salary, player to fill that need
You're absolutely right, that's the biggest advantage money provides in baseball, the ability to make mistakes and recover from them. However, Kevin Towers saying this now, after the Dodgers surge into first place, and not in, say, the offseason or last August when our big ticket moves were being made, makes him look like a bitter sore loser.
Absolutely agree with that statement...but then again if a team has a 200m payroll and is in last place who cares right
No disagreement. However, I could argue that the Dbacks payroll is lower due to a cheap ass owner and fans who do not attend games. I would also argue that 20million in mistakes is not crippling to the dbacks. Every GM gets hosed now and then.
this argument can go for all small market teams, owners are cheap bc the fans dont attend.the fans dont attend bc there isnt as many in smaller markets.the general rule is if you have a contender the fans will show up, but as the indians found out a few years ago and the rays have been finding out that isn't the case. Imo $20m in dead money is crippling when you only have a payroll in the $80-85M range.for instance how screwed are the rays if longoria doesn't stay healthy or underperforms....and hes took a HUGE discount on his contract.if the dodgers had the limits of even say $100m how screwed would they be now that kemp is struggling since signing his new contract.I guess the point I'm driving home is $20m is ALOT to small market teams