Scioscia to Manage Dodgers

Ocober 9, 2007

No, really. It could happen.

All the Dodgers need is a thimble full of initiative, and perhaps a little you-know-what (rhymes with stalls, and involves some of the same equipment).

L.A. has at best a kinda-maybe-sorta-qualified skipper in Grady Little. Each of the team's six World Championships have been accomplished with a Hall of Fame manager at the helm. There's a correlation, pal, and it's not rocket science.

Mike Scioscia is one of nine managers on the planet (of working age) with a championship ring, which even if that were the only good thing you could say about the man, would qualify him for the Dodgers job. The fact that the club has Little under contract at the moment is completely irrelevant.

The fact that the Angels have Scioscia under contract, while not irrelevant, isn't all that big a deal either. You start by quietly and politely asking Anaheim for permission. Or you tamper, with Tommy Lasorda as the go between, and pay the fine which might ensue. Either works for me.

The Angels are the local team currently under the microscope for their shortcomings, or at least more currently, and are therefore more susceptible to public relations headaches. If the Dodgers were prepared to offer their old hand a silver-platter deal with all the trimmings, and Scioscia had even the slightest bit of interest, Arte Moreno would look like a grinch to tell L.A. to stuff it. And he already looks like a grinch, OK; now more than ever.

Compensation isn't unprecedented, so there's always that if need be. There must be another Aybar or Izturis in the Dodgers system someplace.

Now, Scioscia is the fourth highest paid manager in baseball, at $2 million a year. Grady Little is tied with Ron Washington of Texas and Joe Maddon of Tampa Bay for fifth lowest paid, at $600,000. Sure, I hear you; if the shoe fits. But if the Dodgers are going to compete payroll-wise with every major league team except Boston and the Yankees, is it too much to ask that they hire a genuinely-qualified manager to mind the store?

I mean, when you're spending $108 million on player personnel, and the whole damn company is worth five to ten times that amount, wouldn't spending another $2 million a year to protect your investment to the best of your ability be wise, if not actually required? If the Dodgers can justify $44 million for five years of Juan Pierre, is $14 million for five years of Mike Scioscia really beyond the realm? That's not a rhetorical question, by the way. The answer is yes. Obviously.

Bringing Scioscia back where he belongs, and where he's always belonged is so totally doable. There's zero downside to making a discrete effort, and very little downside if the story leaks. In fact, the Dodgers can claim hero status in Los Angeles pretty much however it works out.

They really, really, really ought to go for it. Let Pittsburgh hire some other former Dodger, or Torey Lovullo, for that matter. See if I care. See if anyone cares. That makes complete sense anyway. It's time for old number 14, Iron Mike, to come back to L.A. once and for all. It doesn't take all that much imagination. C'mon…

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