No, that would have been that of Paul DePodesta, in 2005. As a Moneyball fan, I was sorry to see DePodesta go. And in fact, it may have cost the Dodgers the 2009 World Series, as discussed below.
Shortly after taking the reins, DePodesta angered Dodgers fans with a trade that at its heart was Paul Lo Duca for a pitcher, Brad Penny.
Despite being a catcher, Lo Duca was a "league average" hitter, that is to say, one of the better batters on a light-hitting Dodgers team.
But Penny helped restore the team to its traditional strength, pitching (In 1965, when the Dodgers won my first World Series behind Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, the team batting average was only .245.).
And I have a sneaking suspicion that DePodesta dumped Lo Duca in part because of the latter's off-the-field "philandering," something that Mr. McCourt can now relate to.
DePodesta also signed Derek Lowe (above) on the cheap, because he had a 2004 ERA of 5.42, even though his FIP (sabermetric ERA) was only 4.26, meaning that he had been "unlucky" for more than a run.
Lowe's ERAs dropped below 4.00 for the next few years, meaning that DePodesta had used the right metric.
On the other hand, DePodesta had the annoying, but ultimately rewarding, habit of letting go of fan favorites at their top level.
He used sabermetrics to determine which players' peak performances were incompatible with their "peripherals" (raw stats), meaning that they had been "lucky" rather than good.
The most unpopular of these "dumps" was that of Adrian Beltre, who reverted from truly astounding (Jason Giambi or Barry Bonds levels) in 2004, to just above league average in 2005. Instead, DePodesta replaced him with Jeff Kent, a (subsequently) equivalent infielder for $2 million-$3 million a year less.
And who has heard of Alex Cora, Jose Lima, or Steve Finley since their role in the 2004 playoffs, whom DePodesta was also derided for letting go?
Finley, who made $7 million with the Dodgers in 2004, last signed for $1 million with the Colorado Rockies in 2007.
Interpolating, he was worth at most $5 million in 2005 and $3 million in 2006 (FanGraphs puts him at a NEGATIVE value for those two years.). Instead, he was paid $13 million, or $5 million more, over those two years by the Los Angeles Angels.
DePodesta also traded expensive Shawn Green for Dioner Navarro and three other (later "busted") prospects, an admitted "downtrade." But the savings on that deal were about $14 million, which he used to sign J.D. Drew.
At its heart, the "trade" was one of Green for the slightly less-expensive but equivalent Drew, meaning that he got Navarro for "free."
On the other hand, the post-DePodesta Dodgers have a habit of retaining players that are genuinely good, but cost "too much" relative to their abilities.
At $23 million, Manny Ramirez was an expensive player who was worth only half that in 2009, according to FanGraphs, because he had to sit out 50 games for using steroids.
A less egregious example is Juan Pierre, an admittedly above-average hitter with no power and no extra defensive ability who strikes out as often as he walks and has annoying runs in hot and cold streaks.
He is also standing in the way of higher potential, club-controlled players like Andre Eithier and Matt Kemp, who are paid a fraction of what he is.
The problem extends to pitchers. One is Vicente Padilla, who is worth anywhere from $5-$10 million in a given year, based on FanGraph's comparables, but is consistently paid above the upper end of that range. Hiroki Kuroda is an aging hurler who's barely above league average, but who is paid like a star.
The Dodgers have a good team that was a legitimate pennant contender, but no thanks to the above. Instead, it was the result of an exceptionally productive 2003 draft that produced Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp, among others.
With DePodesta at the helm, they could have just as good a team for a little more than half the money, meaning that they could have used the savings to sign a C.C. Sabathia or trade for Cliff Lee.
This would have given them a better shot at the pennant and World Series this year. Moreover, the person they would have acquired was someone their opponents would NOT have gotten.
I do wish Mr. McCourt good luck in a battle with his wife. Thirty years is certainly enough time to see if a relationship of that sort will work out or not.
But I wish he had been more patient with the other "non-performer," Paul DePodesta, and given him a fraction of that time, say three years instead of less than two (The Dodgers went to the playoffs in 2006).
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