Homebrewer

And the Yankees last week, and some contenders to come in the next few weeks...

Something tells me you have taken a few balls to the chin.

If you have been able to actually watch the last two months, you deserve some kind of award, or some free electro-shock treatments.

Can't see us making a playoff run without Trout.

Something tells me you have taken a few balls to the chin.

Forget pitching, hitting, catching the ball, running the bases...,
But... being unable to bunt will get Scioscia's blood boiling.

Scioscia:  "This is a SIMPLE game.  You throw the ball, you BUNT the ball, you catch the ball.  YOU GOT IT?????"

He went from a winning team with a great manager and a really good coaching staff.. to the Angels.
I would be angry too.

He went from a winning team with a great manager and a really good coaching staff.. to the Angels.
I would be angry too.

Tomsred and Stormn jump to Scioscia's defense, and warn us all how bad it's gonna be without the fatman...what a shocker.
Scioscia will probably do OK if he goes where he always belonged, the Secondary League. Where pitchers hit and bunts are part of the game. I see him doing about Dusty Baker level managing. Piling up wins in the reg season, and blowing big games with head-scratching pitching management. He will need a Scott Shields rubber armed clone..and a closer like the Reds have... to win any divisions, but at least in the NL he will look good. Maybe he will wind up with the Reds.
But aside from a couple of posters on this board, no tears will be shed when he is sent off to the NL.
As far as players that will do better somewhere else...pick a pitcher, any pitcher.
Scioscia's pal Butcher is probably the most worthless pitching coach in baseball today. No way he would have a job if he didn't have Scioscia to cover his sorry ass.
Can't wait for Scioscia to go. Wish it would happen today.

If Arte cared about the team winning and not just about $$$, he would have canned Scioscia back in May before it was too late. That's all there is to say at this point.

like many fans all over, i've heard and read enough of these types of interviews to read between the lines. i've also done my time in the corporate pipeline. the things arte said sound bad for everybody. scioscia's a dead man walking and dipoto is in trouble.
 
my money says that arte feels like the talent is there and it is under performing, that reads of a coaching change and some remaining faith in the gm.

Hey, same to you, pal.

If he can locate his fast ball and if he can throw his breaking ball for strikes, sounds like every pitcher in the pen. The common denominator is Butcher. If DiPoto doesn't fire him there will be no change.

Butcher walked more batters than he struck out in half his seasons in the league.
He's just teaching what he knows.
Can we replace this clown before subjecting more young relief pitchers to his "guidance"?
Or maybe we can continue to believe that every relief pitcher called up for several years is just completely unable to locate their pitches.

from what *I* remember the board's consensus on trade was, on paper, a fair trade between a risky relief pitcher and a risky starting pitcher. However, many on the board correctly felt that the Braves would likely *appear* to get the better end of the deal as Walden would improve due to the not-being-coached-by-Mike-Butcher effect.

Father Christmas and the door-to-door brush salesman??
Say it aint so...

Father Christmas and the door-to-door brush salesman??
Say it aint so...

Sosh was already the GM during the Reagins years. It didn't really go too well.

Father Christmas and the door-to-door brush salesman??
Say it aint so...

Offense isn't a problem for this team, shouldn't really have anything to do with how they score runs or if it "plays to Scioscia's strengths" as long as they're scoring.  Top 5 in baseball for OBP, OPS and AVG, 8th in runs... I'll take that any year.  Defense looked good on paper as well.  They've sucked for whatever reason this year, but guys like Aybar, Trout, Pujols, Hamilton, Bourjos, Callaspo, etc. have always been plus defenders.
 
The problem has been and continues to be pitching, and with a shitty barren farm system and weak free agent crops what is Dipoto really expected to do?  There really hasn't been much available, and we haven't had the pieces to really do anything substantial through trades.  I think it's shortsighted and somewhat of a stretch to say this team is terrible because of him, but irrational hate is irrational hate I guess.  Some of his acquisitions have been odd/questionable (Blanton deal especially) and I'm not saying he's been great or anything, but most of the moves he made were for the most part praised while they were happening.  Shifting the philosophy of an organization doesn't happen in a year or two.  

I raise goats. Feeding time always sounds like Bruce and the E street herd.
Baby you were born to bunt....

No surprise that our manager sides with someone who is vastly overrated and whose best days are long since past.

It's not about players being "unprofessional". It's a manager's job to MANAGE the talent on the team. Bottom line is that Sosh has not put the team in a position to win. The players just aren't responding to the voice in the clubhouse.
 
I'm not saying that Sosh is a bad manager. He's a great baseball guy, just not for this team. That's just the way baseball is. The team Sosh managed from 2002-2010 has changed dramatically. A team can be horrible one year, then with a new manager completely turn it around. Happens all the time in baseball, so apparently the manager does have a big impact on a team's performance. It's not because one year players were being "unprofessional" one year, then all of a sudden became "professional" the next.
 
With the team putting up good offensive numbers, they should have more wins. But it's not all the fault of pitching. Here are some horrible fundamental team stats.
Errors- Worst in AL
Fielding %: Worst in AL
Outs on basepaths: Worst in AL
GIDP: Worst in AL (By a good margin)
 
So the team can get on base, but are offsetting that with mindless outs. They are also giving away runs in the field and making the pitchers earn more outs. There is a lack of focus on fundamentals as a team, and not by a couple of individuals.

Arte and Dipoto gave Sosh an extremely competitive team to lead on the field. He has failed miserably this year. Sosh will be gone first, regardless of his contract. Team needs a new energy in the clubhouse, and that is something Arte or Dipoto can't do themselves.