Brian Wilson the latest target in Dodgers’ offseason overhaul
LOS ANGELES – Brian Wilson was designated for assignment Tuesday, which probably won’t bother him.
Maybe, by what turned out to be the end of Wilson’s time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, that was part of the problem.
In 10 days or so, Wilson will be traded or released. Either way, he’ll get his $9.5 million. He’ll pitch for somebody, and it’ll surely be on the Dodgers’ dime.
Andrew Friedman seems to have little patience for waiting out a contract, which is why he’s committed about $54 million to players who’ll spend next season in, say, Miami or San Diego or wherever Wilson pitches next. There’s an expectation an Andre Ethier trade will add to that number, which is gaining on some of the highest payrolls Friedman ever fielded in Tampa. Think of that: The equivalent of an entire season of Rays baseball is little more than a write-off for the Dodgers.
You may read this as a necessary cultural change in L.A., a show of confidence in Don Mattingly, a general distaste for the egos and entitlement borne of a $240 million payroll, a play for roster flexibility, Friedman’s desire to create his own 94-win team or all of those.
The fact is, the Dodgers’ clubhouse wasn’t a perfect environment. The other fact is, the Dodgers won 94 games last season and if Clayton Kershaw had won either of his postseason starts (or, granted, had there been a bullpen that was the least bit reliable), there’d be a lot less conversation about the malcontents and Mattingly haters.
Mattingly has his flaws. Among them, the assumption grown men and professionals will conduct themselves as such. He would appear to lack patience for the moaners, the what’s-my-role guys and the otherwise grown men who confuse lifetime financial security with hard value to a baseball team.
So, no, he generally didn’t spend much time extinguishing the outrage of those who didn’t compete, who didn’t produce, who couldn’t play center field anymore or who couldn’t throw strikes but who seemed to believe the size of their paychecks should translate into unchallenged respect and unlimited opportunity.
The previous general manager was tied to those contracts. Usually under different and dire circumstances, he wrote them. This general manager (president of baseball ops, technically) was hired, in part, because of those contracts. Now the Dodgers are getting pennies on the dollar for them, and the feeling in the front office – presumably – is the Dodgers will be better for it. And, what the hell, it’s just TV money.
All that said, a few home runs at the right time go a long way toward clearing up any perceived chemistry issues. Dugout bubbles cure clubhouse dust-ups. So do 94 wins.
But, maybe, in the end, the Dodgers just couldn’t go on living like this. Maybe Hanley Ramirez wasn’t a shortstop or even a third baseman anymore. Maybe Matt Kemp was simply too fragile. Maybe Brian Wilson’s fastball was too average and imprecise for the Dodgers to take even another look in spring training. Maybe that’s going to be the whole story.
Maybe it was just Brian Wilson’s turn to go.
After a near perfect two months for the Dodgers in 2013, Wilson was dreadful, almost end to end, in 2014. His velocity was down. Perhaps as a result, he walked 29 batters in 48⅓ innings. He was granted all of nine pitches in the division series. A few days later, he exercised his $9.5 million option for 2015. He is 32 years old. Even after two Tommy John surgeries, there could be more left.
On Tuesday, the Dodgers said no thanks. Take the money, but no thanks.
And maybe that won’t bother him at all, which could be the point.
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