Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
Lasorda was a good manager for the '70s and '80s.

He was not good at evaluating talent.

His biggest mistake involved Pedro Martinez. After Pedro had a great first season pitching out of the bullpen in 1993, Lasorda was repeatedly telling the front office that Pedro had no future as a starting pitcher.

"He's way too small", said Lasorda. Indeed, listed as 5'10", but actually even shorter, Pedro was one of the few Major League pitchers who wasn't tall, and his small body just didn't seem destined for pitching greatness.

However, he performed damn well in 1993, and was the brother of the highly-touted (but ultimately mediocre) Ramon Martinez, so they should have given him more of a chance. Instead, they shipped him out for the lolbad Delino Deshields, in one really was one of the worst trades of all time.

Had Pedro been a few inches taller, the '90s and '00s Dodgers would have been a far different story.
also, the 1998 Paul Konerko (minor leaguer at the time) for Jeff Shaw trade stunk too...the Dodgers were 8 games out mid season and trade for Shaw, too far behind to catch up...Shaw had a few good years left but meanwhile, Konerko goes on to play for 15 more years and to hit over 400 mlb career home runs, mostly with the White Sox