Thanks Tommy...you're the best, baby.

This quote heard during a meeting with Tommy Lasagna and McCourt.

McCourt: "Tommy, we stink, what are you doing."

Lasagna: "Ain't my #%$@*&# fault, DePodesta is the #%$@*&# guy!

Lasagna never met a guy he didn't want to blame.

What about Dusty Baker? There are rumors on the net that he's attempting to get out of Chicago -- and get back to the West Coast...these rumors surfaced during the season -- he shot them down.
However, with De Podesta gone -- and a 'traditional' GM probably installed -- why not a marquee manager like Dusty? As a Cubs fan, I'm hoping for this.....

As a Cubs fan, I'm hoping for this

That's funny! Nice try but don't be dumping Dusty on L.A. (although Baker and McCourt probably deserve each other).

It all started with the Piazza trade. Since then, and Fox's ownership, it has steadily gone downhill, with a brief respite at the end of the 2004 season. I remember when the McCourt's were trying to get the financing to buy the team and there was a rumor that Mr. O'Malley might try to buy the team again with a consortium of LA businessmen. Prayers would not be answered. The Commish and his cronies were against this. Jamie McCourt as President? Please. The team I grew up rooting for in Vero Beach and later was employed by for three years from 1988 to 1991 while working with quality baseball people in the minors is one I hardly recognize. Crass advertising all over the outfield, no more pitcher foul territory, no more Mike Brito behind homeplate, no names on home jerseys, Ross Porter gone . . . It's Shakespearean in its tragic descent.

It all started with the Piazza trade.

The trade of Piazza was a big deal for two reasons. First of all, they should not have discarded him so easily. Secondly, they should not have traded him behind the then GM Fred Claire's back.

The money that Piazza asked for essentially went to Kevin Brown. Mike had four more great years after the Dodgers let him go. He would have been a very productive player even at $15M per year.

The Dodgers have passed from the O'Malleys to FOX to the McCourts, and the situation has gotten worse AND worse. The way Claire, Porter, and other longtime employees have been dismissed has been shameful.

McCourt has hired AND fired many more people than just DePodesta in less than two years, while promoting his wife Jamie to the ascendancy of team President. Her only qualifications for the job are being married to the right guy.

Why anyone would want to work for the Dodgers at this point is beyond me.

They could do far worse than hire Valentine, who is for all intents and purposes the polar opposite of Baker: good with in-game strategy, hated by the players.

"Collins, on the other hand, was fired by the Angels in 1999, and the local press has generally been critical of his candidacy from day one."

For good reason.... he was a divisive, volatile and ineffective Manager with the Angels AND the Astros. I never understood the obsession with Collins, particularly when Arte Moreno publicly stated that he would grant the Dodgers permission (if asked) to talk to Mike Scioscia. Given that Scioscia replaced Collins with the Angels, hiring Collins would have been an ongoing reminder to Dodger fans that the Angels had surpassed them as a franchise.

The McCourts may be coming to the realization, albeit very late in the game, that they need to cultivate the good will of their fans.... and while they may take a hit for cutting loose DePodesta so quickly.... they would have taken an even bigger hit had they allowed him to hire Terry Collins.

I'm not here to defend Collins but the idea that he was an ineffective manager for any period other than 1999 is groundless. Collins had winning records and finished second every year from 1994-1998. Rightly or wrongly, the Angels quit on him in 1999 and their record plummeted. He was fired and replaced by Scioscia, who was 157-167 in his first two years.

I like Scioscia and think he is a perfectly fine manager but that doesn't mean Collins wasn't a good one or can't be a good one in the future. He has had six years to reflect on his one poor season and has earned kudos for his work as the player development director with the Dodgers.

You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Hire a guy with no experience and you get slammed. Hire a guy who was fired by another organization six years ago and you get slammed. Make up your minds, people. Good managerial candidates with experience who have never been fired are simply not around or available at the price McCourt has been willing to pay.

Groundless? Collins is a career .500 manager without a single post-season appearance. Larry Dierker took the same core group of Astros, and won 3 divisions in a row.

Collins alienated players and wore out his welcome everywhere he managed. It's no coincidence that both the Astros and the Angels got progressively worse over his 3 year tenures in each place.

Team chemistry was undeniably an issue for the Dodgers, and everything in Collins' past says he's the wrong guy to hire to lead a team with chemistry issues.

You may see 1999 as "one poor season." I see it as an inevitable and cumulative, mutinous response from a team that he alienated... certainly a red-flag that any future employers shouldn't ignore. Particularly that he was fired for the same reason in each of his 2 managing experiences. "Fool me once...."

Does that mean that Collins should never get an opportunity to manage again? Well, in my mind, yes... but granting that other Managers have been axed twice (or more) and gone on to great success (I don't for a minute think Terry Collins is in the same league as Joe Torre).... this is the Dodgers we're talking about. Is this guy worthy of carrying Walter Alston's torch?

The Dodgers can't ignore the fact that they're vying with the Angels for the loyalty of LA area baseball fans. What message does it send to have seriously considered a candidate widely and correctly perceived as an Angel failure... particularly in light of the fact that his replacement, the ex-Dodger Scioscia (who I think is more than a "perfectly fine" manager) has subsequently taken the team to a World Series title and 2 Division Championships?

Drew, Walter Alston had never managed before the Dodgers hired him. In your mind, and likely McCourt's as well, he would have been a risky hire. Like Plaschke, you seem to have forgotten this.

I have nothing against first-time hires, depending on the situation. The ill-will created by the McCourts since they purchased the team...in my opinion...demands a hire that will be excite their fans.

For this reason, I think Terry Collins...who's hardly a first time hire ... would be alienating to players and fans alike, and therefore a risky hire.

I think Torey Lovullo will be a great first time hire...just not for the Dodgers at this moment in time. To me, Orel and his history with the team and goodwill with fans, make him a much smarter hire.

I'm an Angel fan who despises the Dodgers, so frankly, I'd love nothing more than to see them hire Collins. But as a baseball fan, I'm suggesting this is not only an important baseball and hire for the Dodgers ... but they need to be wary of further alienating their fan base.

Given the parameters of the Dodgers' GM job description as most commonly reported by the mainstream media (Bulldog as GM-in-waiting, Bobby V managing, Tommy hovering, Size 0 in charge), it's hard to see how anyone would be interested:

1. You don't get to choose your own #2. With Orel waiting in the wings, how many Plaschke columns would it take before the new GM is fired and the prince assumes the throne? Therefore, rule out anyone who would like to have the GM job for more than a couple years.

2. You don't get to choose your own manager. If you liked DePo vs. Tracy, you'll love [fill in the blank] vs. Bobby V. Has everyone forgotten what BV was like before the end of his last MLB managing job?

3. If he isn't already, Tommy Lasorda is now your new best @#$%^& friend. Just remember, he's armed and dangerous.

4. You work for people whose strategy for selling an unappealing building would be to give it a cheap coat of blue paint, fire the salesman and raise the price. They are not trying to bring back the good old days; they are only trying to make people believe they are trying to being back the good old days. That's the best they can come up with.

Kevin Malone is gone. Kevin Brown is gone. Darren Dreifort is gone. Dan Evans is gone. Eleven Dodger front office hires are gone. DePodesta is gone. Who will be blamed when the next Dodger management team fails? Not the McCourts and not Lasorda, count on that.