In his estimation, Ned Colletti’s greatest failing as the former general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers was not being able to fully rekindle "the Dodgers Way.” Such frankness partially characterizes the 464-page retrospective of Colletti’s life in major-league baseball, which included office jobs with the Cubs and Giants before his GM duties with the Dodgers from 2006 to 2014. Not being able to totally fix the team’s “somewhat fractured culture” and see it win a World Series championship was frustrating and factored into his being replaced, but he was instrumental in assembling the roster that has led to the club’s renaissance. His insider’s perspective of the ups and downs of this process make for revealing reading.
Here’s an excerpt from The Big Chair:
“Players’ rights are protected by contracts and also by the collective bargaining agreement. A team has almost no recourse if a player decides to forgo his conditioning or decides to alter his competitiveness or his willingness to fully participate. While I’m fairly certain most GMs [general managers] have wrestled with those issues, incidents such as these are difficult to prove. After signing long-term contracts, some players lower the bar on performance in comparison to salary structure. When signed players underperform it raises the market value of the players who do perform. The salary scale keeps moving upward because the ceiling on salary becomes the salary floor when performance dips. So trust in the player is paramount – which is sometimes easier said than done.”
