MLB Off-season Thread

[Guest Gym Class Fallout]

The Wrigley scoreboard is extremely low-definition.

[Brett Favre 0]

It appears that Torre will stay:

 

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=...&id=5704479

[Guest Gym Class Fallout]

Well, now that we got Joe Torre Is Going To Be Fired Except Not out of the way, let's start talkin' Manny Ramirez trades!

 

I'd laugh if Joe just decided he's had enough of this shit and just retired. Guy owns like half a Hawaiian island or something. He's 67. He doesn't need to get jerked around like this every year.

[Bored 0]

I wish he would retire. This "Will Torre be fired?" talk that overshadows every postseason now is getting almost annoying as the "Will Clemens return?" talk during every regular season.

[Bored 0]

It's Official: Dusty Baker is the new manager of the Reds.

 

In other news suicide rates jump dramatically in Cincinnati.

[strummer 0]

uh oh Adam Dunn is quite the "base clogger" Dusty

[MFer 0]

Maybe it's just me, but I've never gotten why Dusty gets such a bad rap. I wouldn't call him a great manager, but he's won multiple division titles, multiple MOY awards, had the Giants 8 outs away from a WS title, and had the Cubs 5 outs away from a NL pennant (in back-to-back years).

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Maybe it's just me, but I've never gotten why Dusty gets such a bad rap. I wouldn't call him a great manager, but he's won multiple division titles, multiple MOY awards, had the Giants 8 outs away from a WS title, and had the Cubs 5 outs away from a NL pennant (in back-to-back years).

 

 

The careers of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood say hello.

[Slayer 0]

It's Official: Dusty Baker is the new manager of the Reds.

 

In other news suicide rates jump dramatically in Cincinnati.

I dunno, man... the rope just got around my neck somehow, guy...

[Guest Gym Class Fallout]

Maybe it's just me, but I've never gotten why Dusty gets such a bad rap. I wouldn't call him a great manager, but he's won multiple division titles, multiple MOY awards, had the Giants 8 outs away from a WS title, and had the Cubs 5 outs away from a NL pennant (in back-to-back years).

Well, when you're riding the coattails of a science experiment, great things happen. Here's why Dusty gets a bad rap:

 

1. Over-reliance on journeyman veterans since they "know the game better" and benching them would hurt the clubhouse

2. Hitting philosophy with zero regard for plate discipline and on-base percentage

3. Overworking young starting pitchers

4. Taking an (at times, racially charged, most famously when he implied that fans wanted to lynch him) "us against them" stance when dealing with the media and enabling a similar mentality in the clubhouse

5. Instilling a fatalist approach to the game, where whatever happens happens, and nobody is ever expected to be responsible for what transpires

6. Has presided over teams with hysterically bad baserunning

7. Repeatedly using relievers on cold streaks because it's "their inning" (Farnsworth, Hawkins)

8. Spun off from #4, fails to display support for his players during tense in-game situations where other better managers (Weaver, Cox, La Russa, Torre) would demonstrate support for their players, electing instead to just sit on the bench, unfazed

9. Uses son as human shield in tense press conferences

 

Is that enough? Do you want me to go on?

[MFer 0]

Well I personally didn't think he was THAT bad but you guys would know him better than I do so I don't doubt what you said.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The big criticism of Dusty Baker is that he has almost never in his managerial career successfully developed a young player. William Van Landing in 1994 finished seventh in the Rookie of the Year voting, and Ryan Jensen finished sixth in 2002. In 14 years, they are the ONLY Dusty Baker managed players to receive votes.

 

I think the concern about the pitching is a bit overworn. Baker never came close to leading the league in complete games while in San Francisco. Kerry Wood had arm problems perviously, and NO amount of overwork makes a pitcher as fragile as Mark Prior.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Baker's bad rap for overworking pitchers isn't what's bothered me about him. Czech covered most of them, but another is his rep for being such a successful manager. Let's not overlook the fact he had the likes of Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent rounding up his lineup on a daily basis during his tenure in San Francisco.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

A bit of older news. The 2007 World Cup of Baseball is in November. This event is held every other year and has been around much longer than the World Baseball Classic (created after the maelstorm of press about how baseball needed an international event, ignoring that they already exist). In any case, team USA's roster.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=613

 

This group I think could honestly beat Cuba.

[Slayer 0]

A positive I'm trying to hunt for re: Baker as Reds' manager is that if they still suck with him at the helm, it won't be much of a change

 

However, many of the points already listed concern me greatly as far as the long-term team status, especially the inability to produce good young talent and the general anti-discipline he brings with him.

[Fartsauce 0]

Nothing shocking here but I got this off of TSN which in turn probably got it off of ESPN or one of the major sites

 

New York, NY (Sports Network) - New York Yankees legendary owner George Steinbrenner is reportedly stepping down and will hand control of the team off to his sons, according to a report in the New York Post.

 

Members of the Yankees brass told the newspaper that Hank and Hal Steinbrenner will share leadership in an arrangement to be further ironed out in Tampa, Florida later this week.

 

"George has taken on a role like the chairman of a major corporation," Yankees president Randy Levine told the Post. "He's been saying for years he's wanted to get his sons involved in the family business. Both of them have stepped up and are taking on the day-to-day duties of what's required to run the Yankees."

 

Both brothers are expected to have final say on baseball decisions, the running of the YES Network and the construction of the new Yankee Stadium.

Related Info

 

* Free agent Rivera wants Torre to return

* Ousted Yankees facing major changes

* Yankees' exit likely means end for Torre

 

"There's always been a succession - and that's myself and my brother," Hank told the newspaper. "I'll pay more attention to the baseball part. The stadium, that's more Hal. But basically everything will be decided jointly."

 

 

 

The brothers have already been heavily involved is George Steinbrenner's business dealings.

 

Hank, 50, runs the family's 850-acre Kinsman Stable, a horse farm for thoroughbreds in Ocala, Florida.

 

Hal, 38, oversees five hotels in Florida and one in Ohio and is in charge of various real-estate, transportation and marketing companies. He was also recently named chairman of the board of Yankee Global Enterprises.

 

Hank has already made one key baseball decision and will move rookie sensation Joba Chamberlain from the bullpen to the starting rotation in 2008. Chamberlain excelled in the Yankees' minor league system as a starter before being called up by the big club as a setup man for Mariano Rivera.

 

Larger decisions loom on the horizon for the new Yankees caretakers, most notably the future of manager Joe Torre.

 

It was thought that Torre managed his last game in a New York Yankees uniform when they were beaten by the Cleveland Indians, 6-4, in Game 4 of their American League Division Series.

 

It was the third straight year that the Yankees were unceremoniously dumped from the playoffs in the first round and the elder Steinbrenner had already put Torre on notice.

 

"His job is on the line," George Steinbrenner told the Bergen Record before Game 3 of the series. "I think we're paying him a lot of money. He's the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don't think we'd take him back if we don't win this series."

 

Torre was in the final year of a contract worth over $7 million per year and has led the Yankees to four World Series titles and 12 consecutive playoff appearances.

 

Torre's 12 appearances in postseason play with the Yankees (1996-2007) are the most by any manager in American League history and he's won more postseason games than any skipper in major league history.

 

The 67-year-old mentor is 1,173-767 during the regular season in his tenure with the Yankees, winning the World Series four years in a five-season span (1996, 1998-2000).

 

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=220602&hubname=

 

[Dandy 0]

I am extremely disappointed in the hiring of Dusty Baker. It was a pipedream, but I was holding out hopes that Joe Girardi would accept a deal to manage the Reds. Hell, I would have preferred Mackanin got a permanent gig. I have never thought much of Baker's managerial "prrowess," but I guess we'll have to see how this pans out. I am not giving up before he has even been with the team for a day, and he may in fact surprise me. At this point, however, color me unimpressed.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I have this theory that states anyone who isn't against the idea of Dusty Baker managing their favorite team has never had Dusty Baker manage their favorite team.

[Slayer 0]

Only twenty-seven other teams to go!

[Guest Gym Class Fallout]

I think of all the annoying shit that happened under the Baker regime, the one that offended me the most was when he said "if I had done that, you guys would want to lynch me" with respect to the Dodgers leaving Greg Maddux in a game for a long time or something. Completely and utterly pathetic, exacerbated by the Tribune reprinting it as "you guys would want to [criticize] me," in a last-ditch effort to protect their employee from coming off as a total piece of shit. He probably knew he was out the door by then, anyway. It must have been in August.

[Guest Gym Class Fallout]

Slayer just made a good point: Cincinnati's noted racial strife is going to add a fascinating new dimension to the impending Baker era. I hope for Norris Hopper's sake that he has a great season, because I don't want any more "the beat writers want you to struggle because you're black" enabling crap from Dusty. It's interesting that one of Dusty's positives was supposed to be that he's great at encouraging his players. Where was he to "encourage" Mark Prior in game 6 instead of just watching the shit go down? Apparently his encouraging is just limited to making players believe that Steve Stone is out to get them, while being unable to so much as fog a mirror during key situations.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

His usage (or over-usage) of his pitching staff may be exaggerated. I'd say one of the more frustrating aspects of Baker's tenure with the Cubs was his habit, nay insistence, on trying to jam the proverbial square peg in the round hole. There were several times a month where he'd churn out a lineup card that made no sense. Corey Patterson was fast, so he must be a lead-off hitter, right? Patterson's future may have been overrated, but Baker's determination to keep him in the lead-off spot despite every piece of contrary evidence to the idea, destroyed Patterson's upside.

 

Let's not forget about Neifi Perez, lead-off man. The guy was a savior for the team for a couple of months, but Baker continued to not only play him regularly, but use him in the lead-off spot or number-two slot despite the scientific fact that it was Neifi god damn Perez. We won't even touch on the several times Jose Macias got in there as a centerfielder and/or lead-off man.

 

Baker probably has taken an unfair amount of criticism over two guys who would've probably dealt with their current issues without his help. But that doesn't mean he's not a terrible manager. It just means he's a terrible manager for the not-so-often-mention reasons.

[Guest Smues]

Why does everyone say he was 8 outs from winning the world series with the Giants? The Giants still had the lead going into the 8th inning. I can't remember how many outs they actually were from winning though. I do remember Dusty defying tradition and having Russ Ortiz keep the game ball. Dusty is awesome, when he's managing a team you hate. Since I kind of like the Reds the Dusty hire makes me sad. Why couldn't the Yankess hire him?

[CanadianChris 0]

I've been noticing that too. The Giants were five outs away in 2002.

[Guest Gym Class Fallout]

Given the situation the Reds are in, being a young team with an insufficient rotation, I can't possibly understand why they hired this guy. Did Bob Castellini just look at a list of names and pick the most familiar one? Jesus fuck. It hurts even more knowing that the Reds are going to beat the Cubs in at least five stupid games in spite of Baker, just because they're the fuckin' Reds and that's what they do.

[MFer 0]

Why does everyone say he was 8 outs from winning the world series with the Giants? The Giants still had the lead going into the 8th inning. I can't remember how many outs they actually were from winning though. I do remember Dusty defying tradition and having Russ Ortiz keep the game ball. Dusty is awesome, when he's managing a team you hate. Since I kind of like the Reds the Dusty hire makes me sad. Why couldn't the Yankess hire him?

I dunno, I heard some guy on T.V. say it, so I just went with it.

[Slayer 0]

I've been noticing that too. The Giants were five outs away in 2002.

Splitting hairs, but looking at the PBP it was six outs. The Angels scored all three runs and took the lead before getting any outs in the bottom of the eighth

 

Of course that doesn't excuse the Giants' bats suddenly falling silent, going hitless in the 8th and 9th

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Since we'll be short on news for a bit, a poll.

 

1. Would you like to see your favorite team acquire Alex Rodriguez?

 

2. What is the largest contract you would offer as G.M. of said team?

[NYU 0]

1. I wouldn't mind if the Mets acquired A-Rod but their pitching is in such shambles right now that Alex should be on the bottom of their list of priorities. They absolutely must spend their money on starting and relief pitching this offseason, which is why I personally don't recommend they pursue him. Besides that fact, although an infield of Reyes-Wright-Rodriguez would likely be the best in baseball if it were to happen, I'm not even particularly crazy about Wright having to suddenly move to second base. Not when his defense started to look so shoddy at 3rd base at the end of the season. He needs to find a comfort zone at third rather than being shifted to a new position.

 

2. As the Mets GM, I just don't think I would go above and beyond what any other team would offer him. The pitching concerns are just too major. Besides, realistically, he won't go for less than the $25 million per year he's making right now. Boras is going to push it as high as it could go and the Mets don't need to chase it. Just to put a hat in the race, I suppose....10 year, $280 million contract. With incentives. Won't break New York's bank completely although they would find themselves facing the luxury tax then. Either way, it almost certainly wouldn't be enough to acquire A-Rod anyway but if it was....hey, whatever.

[NYU 0]

Just to clarify, because I could see where my post would be contradictory.

 

The Mets will have to offer A-Rod something. After the disaster of this season, the fan backlash and media backlash in New York would be too severe if they let an opportunity like this pass them without even making an attempt. And they do not need this with the opening of CitiField coming so soon. To avoid that, as the Mets GM, I would have to make a competitive offer that, as unlikely as it would be to actually sign him, would still give a decent fighting chance. Hence, why A-Rod is offered a contract when he is not much of a priority.