Only Dodgers' question left on Garret Anderson is what took so long?

Finally, if sadly, Garret Anderson is gone.

This was such an obvious and easy decision. The only mystery is why it was made Aug. 8 and not two months ago.

As I said on June 7, I like and admire Anderson, but the Dodgers' worthwhile gambit on signing him simply did not pan out.  A good idea that never reached fruition.  It never even threatened to.

And this was obvious by the end of May, again in June, July and into August.  Anderson never showed signs of adapting to his new role as a pinch-hitter. Yet the Dodgers stubbornly hung onto to him.

Why?

There's no single answer, but here are a few possibilities: Joe Torre personally loved him and his veteran presence; the Dodgers thought he was a good influence on Matt Kemp, his locker mate; out of general respect to his 16-year career.

There is no evidence he had any particularly positive influence on Kemp.  I mean, if he did, it's kind of hard to imagine where Kemp's season would be now without him.

And, sure, I get the respect part.  Anderson deserves nothing but praise for his impressive career -- as an Angel.

No, the likelihood is that Torre just admired him -- liked him in the clubhouse, around the team, and believed if given enough time he would produce.

Meanwhile, former major leaguer and fellow left-handed hitter Jay Gibbons was producing consistently at triple-A Albuquerque.

"The name was mentioned a number of times, and I just basically kept putting it off, putting it off," Torre said.

"I've been resistant for awhile to making a change.  We just felt it was time to try something else."

Anderson, 38, hit .181 in 155 at-bats as a Dodger.  As a pinch-hitter, he hit .240 with one home run and 12 RBI in 50 at-bats.

Those kind of numbers aren't getting it done, particularly for a team struggling to hang in a divisional race. So finally, the Dodgers faced the music, or at least Torre did.

"This stuff is never any fun, especially with an accomplished player," said General Manager Ned Colletti. "Somebody who was revered in the game and in this region as one of the best players to play here in the last 20 years.

"A good man, though.  I’m glad we had a chance to have him here and had a chance to win the Dodger uniform."

Torre said he found Anderson in the team dining area Sunday morning, eating alone, and after a bit, gave him the news.

"I just found a spot in the lunchroom when he was the only one in there, and I just went in and sat with him," Torre said.  "It didn't take very long.  I just came out and told him we were going to do something different and he was going to be designated.  He said, 'OK, thank you.' ''

There was no discussion of a veteran like Anderson going to Albuquerque.  And Torre said Anderson didn’t say if he would retire.

"He didn't mention it," Torre said.  "It didn't take very long.  The only thing I stressed to him was it was tough to do.  That I appreciated everything.

"To his credit -- and it doesn’t surprise me at all -- he never said why, or how dare you or any of those things.  He just thanked us for the opportunity and walked away."

-- Steve Dilbeck

Comments

[Tom Daniels]

It's not hard to understand why it took so long. He was a good player and true vet. There was hope that he would find the groove.

[Dealeydaly]

Now that's a man...

[Dealeydaly]

More accurately...now there's a Man's Man...

[These Dodgers Suck!]

what took so long? who knows?
maybe in the warm glow of last night's "thrilling" victory, Bowa was able to convince Torre that the Dodgers still had a chance at making the post season ,,,

[david]

Look, there's no crying in baseball. This guy hurt our team. Joe Torre hurt our team by keeping 'a good guy' on the roster. A good ,washed up guy who hung on for the bucks just like most everyone else does. very few retire mid season. Junior Griffey did this year but he is the exception. I forgot who said it years ago, but when they asked him how long he expected to play, His answer was until they tear the uniform off me. Well today Garret got his uniform torn off, and his replacement knocked in a run in his first AB

[Go Dodgers 2010]

Class act through and through. Might be time to retire on a very storied Angel career.

[skyharbor]

Have Colletti and Torre become Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum. After Garret Anderson's looooong overdue firing we hear Twiddle Dee say...""We just kept putting it off, putting it off, putting it off...." and then Twiddle Dum chimes in profoundly "Everything has its time and place." It's been obvious for some time the the once great Anderson is no longer. Keeping his memory around this long is misplaced kindness. Ned and Joe should channel their charitable efforts into "Think Cure" and not the lineup.

[These Dodgers Suck!]

gee, it must be awful to realize you're not good enough to play with these Dodgers.

[ricky richman]

great guy. just didnt have any gas left in the tank. maybe he'll coach with dodgers or angels one day.

[Ron]

Dilbeck rightfully stated; "And this was obvious by the end of May, again in June, July and into August.Yet the Dodgers stubbornly hung onto to him."

Why? The answer lies in the quote below:

"The name was mentioned a number of times, and I just basically kept putting it off, putting it off," Torre said.

"I've been resistant for awhile to making a change. We just felt it was time to try something else."

Torre said he 'has been putting it off and feels now it is the time to try something else."

Really coach? You wait until you are out of the race to make the decision that was apparent to everyone else THREE MONTHS AGO???

Garrett Anderson was once a very good player.
Joe Torre was once a good manager. Like Anderson, the game has passed Joe Torre by. Like Anderson, Torre should have been gone three months ago.

[bob cuomo]

As I said in an earlier post, Anderson is not a pinch-hitter. He has to play every day to be productive, and that wasn't going to happen here. I know he's 38 and has lost a step or two, but he did his damage with the Angels (and last year with the Braves) as a starter. The Dodgers gambled and lost on this one. As you said, the key question is why release him now with only seven weeks left in their season? It's a bit late.

[blakedewitt'seyeblack]

This move was long overdue and doesn't serve the team or Anderson, for that matter. Anderson had one game winning bloop single and a whole of grounders to second. Meanwhile the Padres lead the league in pinch-hitting!

[Mike Friedman]

They waited so long because they were waiting to see if they could replace him with Ron Fairly.

[electricityisshocking]

Have some class, folks. Do you REALLY think that shipping out Anderson three months ago would have made up the 7 games the Dodgers are currently back?

Do you think that move would overshadow the McCourt drama that's hanging over this franchise like bad smog?

If you want to complain about millionaires, go on ahead--make sure you complain about the ones that deserve it.

Best of luck, Garret Anderson. Thank you.

--eis

[Garrett Anderslump]

Obvious, sure. I'm sure he was more of an extra hitting coach in some ways more than a contributor, but they paid him to hit. I'ts too bad that it went down like this, but even Anderslump at 38 would need more consistent at-bats in order to be productive, and that was not going to happen...

[Hollywood Dodger Mark]

Now batting, Jay Gibbons. Can't explain that to your kids? Oh. That's why we had Garrett Anderson. Two words - Andruw Jones. Insert same quotes. Loyalty? My behind. This was a bout marketing a name who signed for 500 grand. He NEVER played for the Dodgers. The 1st place Braves had no loyalty. He played for them last year. Didn't work out. If this was a lifetime Dodger maybe. But Anderson? Brought here for name only. Kept here for same reason. Now batting Jay Gibbons. Who?

[Since '58]

Now all we have to do is snap Joe out of his revery and state of denial to let him know the season is over. Sunday's victory was a mirage.

[neoncactus]

Good move to let him go and should have been done a while back. He's just not a pinch hitter, he's better as a starter, and that's not the role the Dodgers had for him.

Still trying to figure out the animosity towards Torre. After years of futility, I appreciate the Dodgers making it to the NLCS the past two years. They're having a bad year, and you can blame McCourt, Colletti, Torre and whoever you want, but it's the players who aren't performing this year. At least we're not the Cubs or Mets.

[Dave]

I think part of the problem is the Dodger farm system.
Xavier Paul is their best outfielder? No home runs this year and hitting .250. If they would have more talent on the farm Anderson would have been gone much earlier. Dodgers are trying to make all their personnel decisions on the cheap is the other big problem.

[Rob]

"I think part of the problem is the Dodger farm system.
Xavier Paul is their best outfielder? No home runs this year and hitting .250. If they would have more talent on the farm Anderson would have been gone much earlier. Dodgers are trying to make all their personnel decisions on the cheap is the other big problem.

Posted by: Dave | 08/09/2010 at 01:29 PM"

The Dodgers actually have quite a few talented outfielders currrently in AA in Jerry Sands, Kyle Russell, Travyon Robinson as well as Blake Smith and Brian Carlos-Galvaz in Single A so the future isn't that bleak in the outfield.

With that said, Garrett Anderson was signed to be a fifth outfielder / pinch hitter and there's no reason career journeymen Jay Gibbons and/or John Lindsey couldn't have been given a shot out of spring training (or by May when it was apparent that GA was washed up). Both are hitting well in excess of .300 with power in AAA this year and in Lindsey's case, he's done this for the Dodgers in AAA going on four years now.

[The Dude Abides]

His last above-average season (for a major league left fielder) was in 2003. He had a league-average season in 2007, was lousy in 2008, and was horrible last season for the Braves, with an OPS barely above .700. How Joe and Ned thought that he could magically regain his 2007 numbers at the age of 38, with PEDs disallowed, is confounding. Xavier Paul and Jay Gibbons were both better alternatives in April, and still are. In fact, after Paul had a better than .800 OPS during his first go-round with the big club this season, plus showed decent baserunning and defensive skills, there was absolutely no doubt that it was time to DFA Anderson when Manny came off the disabled list. Instead, Ned told Xavier that he needed to act like a big-leaguer and then sent him back to Albuquerque. Nothing like playing with a young player's head. It's no wonder that members of the team's young core are talking about going elsewhere in a couple years because they have no confidence in management. Oh, and I just noticed that the Giants released Todd Wellemeyer. Time for Ned to pick up another lousy ex-Giant!

[Sir Duke]

What Dilbeck and the rest of the Times sports writers should be asking about daily in the paper, let alone in blogs, is not why it took so long for the Dodgers to let Garret Anderson go, but why in the world haven't they let Ned Colletti and George Sherrill go yet? Anderson was never cut out to be a pinch hitter or spot starter. He had a great career and his coming to the Dodgers to primarily ride the pine, as well as Sherrill's continued and complete ineffectiveness, are clear and dramatic examples of Colletti's total ineptness as a GM. Frank McCourt keeps him for one reason only: Ned knows how to ask, "how high?" when Frank says "jump." If Ned's lips didn't end where Frank's rear end begins, he'd be of no use whatsoever. So, why we all know why Ned sticks around, it's hard to believe that Sherrill basically is getting a free ride from the Dodgers and, just as sadly, from the media as well. This season is shot to hell and fans are getting fed up with the lies coming from the organization - and that goes from McCourt and Colletti down to the announcers who have acted like apologists. We ain't that stupid. We know what paid attendance is compared to tickets sold - or in the words of Charlie Steiner "the crowd here tonight." It's all "puro pedo", just like the so-called pitching staff that is programmed to go five and two-third innings and consider it a quality start; just like Frank McCourt's BS that the divorce wouldn’t be a distraction or change the Dodgers' focus; just like Colletti's lies that acquiring solid pitching is his top priority - every year - right up until he pounces on the dregs that are the only options available every August. The Dodgers have become a joke - one that they obviously don't get and one that the media is afraid to call them out on for what they've become. If Dodgers fans had one wish, it would be for the O'Malley’s to regain control of this club and restore it to some measure of respect before the greediness of the McCourts’ and the idiocy of Colletti bury the team for a very long time.