You can almost hear Rick Hahn's thought process.
"All right, I will give Ozzie a call, and then put it out there so that I don't have to get a bunch of questions from someone who we were never going to hire again. It also should keep the fans imaginations from running wild and causing problems for something that will never happen.
[AJ Pierzynski starts politicking for the job.]
"SONOFAB...."
Most of these things aren't safe, aren't necessary, and definitely aren't being done safely. It is the incremental strategy that is killing people in the US. But business is more important than lives here, so on we go.
Because Robert plays one of the best CFs in baseball, and Engel played a really good RF when he was there. Robert is the guy who is going to be starting out their for the next decade, so no need to jerk him around.
Only if he is ready to retire. I mean Greg Walker got rehired after a million different pronouncements that he would never work again. Don Cooper is 50 times the coach that Greg Walker was.
There is a really long history about gambling in baseball. Like this has been the penalty for a full century now. And there will always be that distinction. Plus cheating ton win will never be equal with bringing the integrity of the game into question.
Unless they are going to substitute a managerial change for spending money. When asked about spending next year he didn't really take a convincing stand either for or against more spending. It was definitely a wait and see answer.