Balta1701

Even the people who didn't want him...had heard Rick Hahn saying they wouldn't be outbid and they were going to add a "middle of the order bat" the entire offseason. You had a handful of people like that, just like today.

Machado day.

What were the things that made Ricky Renteria a hack? A refusal to listen to outside voices or information or to handle criticism well.

So you're saying it would have been a reasonable step to interview him and actually consider who the best person for the job was based on their thinking about the position rather than making a decision based on the 1980s? That's a fascinating concept. I wonder if other businesses conduct these sorts of interviews for employment positions prior to hiring them. Seems like a smart way to run a business, to be frank. In fact, I wonder what type of business wouldn't conduct those sorts of interviews. Seems like it might say something poor about them, to have a potential candidate who might be pretty good quality and then just ignore him, refuse to interview or consider him, because your 1980s drinkin' buddy is available.

Frankly, that would be better than silence.

Dafuq?

So much so that the org emailed their fans congratulating Hinch on being hired.

And then released a press release congratulating their new manager...with Tony LaRussa's name in the signature.

To be fair, I'd have watched that F***er too.

Wasn't that like Albert Pujols's thing?

Please give an example of an insincere celebration.

Analytics generally say you don't buy into that as the sample sizes are too small.

Well the right answer is actually to not talk about kneeling but to instead say something about the issues behind it, or to acknowledge not just that you were wrong on kneeling but you were missing an understanding of the underlying issues. If I was going to this press conference here's how I'd have stolen the language: Note the difference there between hiding behind players he has coached and instead admitting that he might not have understood things that players he coached were going through, and the commitments to do better. And that's from the Spurs org, which has been as outspoken as any even before this year.

Clearly not as of today.

and how did the response go?

Phillies and Angels are available right now, right? Not seeing that they've hired anyone. Any other teams I'm missing?

It was the #1 thing I said I didn't want a few days ago.

Maybe he's polite enough to not leave today, in a way that would really show up the organization, but in a few weeks will decide it's time to spend some extra time with his family.

That part I'll buy, we only really know 2 names that were talked to. It doesn't mean the other people had any real shot though, but they probably did talk to some others who haven't been mentioned yet.

No, Cleveland does this kinda stuff, but what happens to Hand will be an indication of it.

You're 100% right. And it's also equally right that the Rays don't come anywhere close to the world series with that roster without having trusted the analytics.

If the league really is focused on cutting payroll, this early in the offseason he might fly right through.

How many you want? He's been making this point literally for a decade, including when he ran the Diamondbacks.

See, I can't follow how the line at the last doesn't, in the end, overrule the first point? It feels like you're going with the "JR has black friends!" line there, when given the choice we see right here what the final decision was.

No, I'm using the fairly strong piece of evidence as to LaRussa being hired.