December 10th, 2017 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Woulda, shoulda, coulda. We hear it all the time in just about every walk of life. If only I had done this or had done that.
But we also hear things like There’s no sense in crying over spilled milk, and on rare occasions we may be fortunate enough to say Second time’s a charm.
Unless you’re the Dodgers.
On Saturday morning it was announced to the world that Miami Marlins slugger and 2017 National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton and his ridiculous 13-year / $325 million contract – which runs through the 2027 season with an option for 2028 and has a full no-trade clause – had been traded to the New York Yankees in exchange for 27-year-old utility infielder Starlin Castro, two minor league relief pitchers, and a reported $30 million to help offset some of the $295 million that the Yankees will owe Stanton over the next decade.
The news came much to the dismay of many Dodger fans who honestly believed – or at least hoped – that Stanton, a native of nearby Panorama City and a huge Dodger fan in his youth, was finally coming home.
He is not.
But what many Dodger fans, perhaps even most, may not realize is that this was the second time that the Dodgers had missed out on landing the 6′-6″ / 225-pound right fielder.
On June 7, 2007, the Miami Marlins had the 12th overall pick in the 2007 MLB First-Year Player Draft. They selected then 19-year-old third baseman Matt Dominguez out of Chatsworth High School, which is also in the shadow of Dodger Stadium a mere 27.5 miles away. Dominguez would go on to spend parts of five seasons in the major leagues with the Marlins, Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays, during which he posted a rather pedestrian slash-line of .231 / .273 / .371 for an OPS of .644. He was traded to the Boston Red Sox after the 2016 season but never made it above the Triple-A level and was subsequently released by Boston following the 2017 season and is currently an unsigned free agent.
The Dodgers had the 20th overall pick in the 2007 draft thanks to an earlier trade deal with those same Red Sox. They selected 18-year-old right-hander Chris Withrow out of Midland High School in Midland, Texas hoping to catch lightening in a bottle after having captured prize left-hander Clayton Kershaw the year before out of Highland Park High School in University Park, Texas.
It didn’t happen.
Although Withrow appeared in 46 games with the Dodgers – all in relief – over the 2013 and 2014 seasons and posted a 3-0 record and 2.73 ERA, he pitched only a combined 56.0 innings over those two season. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves on May 27, 2015 along with veteran third baseman Juan Uribe in exchange for Alberto Callaspo, Juan Jaime, Eric Stults and Ian Thomas.
At one point during his brief two seasons with the Dodgers, Withrow was drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer John Smoltz, Unfortunately, those comparisons didn’t last very long. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
With the Braves, Withrow also made 46 relief appearances and again posted a 3-0 record with a 3.58 ERA over 37.2 innings pitched. However, he was not re-signed following the 2016 season. The 6′-3″ / 240-pound hard-throwing right-hander was signed by the Kansas City Royals as a free agent on January 17, 2017 but was released on November 6, 2017 without having made even one major league or minor league appearance due to lingering elbow issues.
The point to all of this is that while the Marlins drafted Matt Dominguez with their 12th overall first-round pick and the Dodgers drafted Chris Withrow with their 20th overall first-round pick, a then 17-year-old Giancarlo Stanton would be passed over 75 times before finally being selected by the Marlins as the 12th player drafted in the second round and the 76th overall selection in the 2007 MLB Draft.
The Dodgers have now had two opportunities to land Giancarlo Stanton. They struck out both times.
(Getty Images)
While it is certainly understandable that teams might be reluctant to draft a 17-year-old high school senior, especially in the early rounds, it is hard to fathom that Dodgers scouts had completely missed a kid who played baseball at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California exactly 15.5 miles away from Dodger Stadium.
With Stanton now off the table the Dodgers selected 18-year-old left-hander Mike Watt out of Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, California more than 50 miles away. Watt never made it past the rookie level with the Dodgers and appeared in only 28 games at the Triple-A level with the San Diego Padres organization before being released after the 2015 season.
This, of course, brings yet another old saying to mind with regards to the Dodgers missing out on Stanton for a second time in 10 years:
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
Then again, Hindsight is always 20/20.
Posted in 
Thanks for rubbing it in! Have you read George Genovese’s book, A Scout’s Report? He tried everything to get the Dodgers to draft Stanton.
I had not heard of Genovese’s book, but it sounds like one that I might enjoy … although it would undoubtedly piss me off even more. lol!
Genovese spent most of his scouting career with the Hated Ones…found some great players right under the Dodgers’ nose here in SoCal. Interesting career as a player and minor-league manager.
Yeah Ron, thanks for bringing back memories of the McCourt/Colletti reign of terror for Dodger fans. After an emergency meeting with the therapist this morning, I was able to calmly review the 2007 draft, even with knifes in the room. Looks like the nightmare is even worse than you stated, Dodgers also had the 39th pick in that draft and rather than taking Stanton they chose the immortal James Adkins.
Oh, what could have been.
On the bright side, maybe just maybe, Withrow who as you pointed out is a free-agent, could be the Dodgers 2018 awesome relief pitcher reclamation project. I liked what he was bringing back in 2013 and 2014.
lol! I was so pissed that I completely missed the number 39 thing.
Gotta admit that I am not as anti-Colletti as you are. Now McCourt? That’s another story.
As I write this I am currently (about) halfway through Colletti’s new book ‘The Big Chair,’ which is actually very good. Although Ned expressed his admiration of Frank’s uncanny negotiating skills, he makes no bones about the fact that McCourt poo-pooed many of his proposed trade recommendations (including CC Sabathia back when he was in his prime and affordable) and that McCourt was a tightwad with the company wallet.
Yes, I should have capitalized MCCOURT and also typed it in bigger letters, no doubt about it.
Although I long suspected Ned was a SF plant, especially after the signings of ex-SF players like Brett Tomko and Jason Schmidt, I do admit he did a lot of good things. Puig signing, Hanley/Manny Ramirez trades. Manny Ramirez is who cemented my 3 kids as Dodgers fans, no small feat living in Midget Country.
McCourt’s tightwad ways surely handcuffed Ned.
Ned probably really did the best he could for the Dodgers, but after witnessing the Dodgers championship drought, I had long wanted to see Dodger management get more cutting edge. Perhaps, getting back to playing baseball the “Dodgers Way” which means, an organization that properly trains it’s players as soon as they are acquired. I was pretty upset when McCourt fired Dan Evans who seemed like he was starting to rebuild the Dodger organization the right way.
In my opinion, Friedman, Zaidi and the rest of the current management team really expose Colletti’s weaknesses. As fans, we might miss Colletti sometimes. I wonder if he would have broken the bank for Stanton? He definitely would have probably brought Morrow back. But are these the smart moves? I don’t know, but I do know, the incredible organizational depth FAZ has created is HUGE and that also costs money.
Reflecting on Stanton, Yankees were a little further along towards getting out of luxury tax situation than Dodgers, so they could ask for a $30M payment from Marlins when Stanton doesn’t opt-out. Dodgers needed immediate monetary help. Additionally, with the DH and Stanton’s long contract, he was a better risk for an American League team. It’s just nice to now know Dodgers are potentially in on every player.
Ron, One more thought on Colletti, don’t know how I forgot, serious compartmentalizing I guess.
I moved to Reno, NV in 1983, Midget Country. Played a lot of softball, met a lot of good guys except for their preferences on MLB teams. Have had a lot of discussions on the merits of being a Dodgers fan during the long championship drought, often times greatly outnumbered. The wonderful thing was, I always had the nuclear option, “How many championships do you SF Midget fans have?” That ALWAYS quieted them down as they would slink away.
So probably the biggest reason I am not a big Colletti fan is, it’s almost like he fell asleep on guard duty. How could he have let that happen? It never should have happened.