Hubs

Hence "Glorified Troll" Just saying. For the record, I've been posting here since 2004, when it first was established by Chuck. And for the record, Hall of Fame is not really an accomplishment to be proud of.

And you just hate Scioscia and everything affiliated with him, since you're a glorified troll. (Or Phil's Cousin, maybe).

I didn't hate him. And I watched a lot of games. He is unique for sure, but we were all excited to have him after Brad Ausmus was forced on us in 2019. I'm torn on what I want. I either want a veteran established winning manager, or I want a younger ex-player that can learn on the job with a veteran bench coach. Hunter being my pick, with Ebel being the bench coach. He seems like he could be a good manager, as he was always one of the smartest players and beloved in the clubhouse.

I'm sorry but the defense of this guy after three terrible seasons, with the upper level talent befuddles the mind. And everyone on this board used to like Maddon, but now, you all hate him. Still when you read his book and see what he was saying, and add that to the "baseball nerd", suspect management moves, issues with the media, increase in injuries, and fractured clubhouse / management.. plus decline in fundamentals, increase in injuries...... Well, blame Arte, blame Perry, blame Nevin, or Maddon or Carpino or even Wise, I just want the team to be good again.

Nevin was one of the worst managers I've ever seen. The results speak for themselves.

Agree to disagree.

Or the front office that succeeds him next year.

We might have had a winning record with Counsell. Yes I'm serious.

If he signs elsewhere I will, Until then, I will continue to. Just because you dont think he's coming back doesn't mean it's not possible. You're pretty much wrong on everything... so.

And as a guy that comes up from Triple A as a 6th or 7th infielder when needed, no issue. But with Schanuel's inexperience, and lack of power, Neto's injury history in his first season, Rengifo's extreme variance in his capabilities, including poor defense, and Rendon's recent lack of production and injury history, I want a veteran infielder to join the club to go along with Drury. It, as everything depends on whether or not they bring back Ohtani, as without him they are limited to 13 pitchers, meaning they will have 13 hitters as well. If he is the DH, that leaves 12. Do you have 5 infielders and 5 outfielders or 6 and 4? Where does that leave Thaiss if you only have two catchers. With Moniak and Adell both being out of options, they probably have to plan on having a 5th OF just in case of injury, it would help if that guy also played first base. Neto SS Ward RF Trout CF Ohtani DH O'Hoppe C Drury 2B Schanuel 1B Moniak LF Rendon 3B Plus Bech posibilites of Stassi C Rengifo INF/OF - O options Thaiss C/INF - O options Adell OF - O options Stefanic INF - 2 options Doesn't that leave a few positions vulnerable? Dont you need another MINF who is good defensively? What about Fletcher? I dont really like this team's makeup.

I have no problem with Stefanic being up and down as a organizational depth piece, but to count on him at this point as a platoon or primary bench bat, is to suffer another season of mediocrity.

LOL in 25 games.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/cubs-to-hire-craig-counsell.html I'm a little worried about the Cubs getting Ohtani.

He also can't play multiple defensive positions, or really any position well.

His .293 career SLG is certainly a good asset for our bench.

Would you be happy with Ohtani, Yamamoto, Hicks and say Reynaldo Lopez, and let’s add Amed Rosario and Jung Ho Lee ? The Athletic has these guys at 43.3 AAV, 29 AAV, 9 AAV, (not listed but let’s say 6.5 AAV, 9.5 AAV, and 14 AAV. That’s a huge free agent spending spree I know and a lot of foreign talent, but I don’t think Rosario or Lee get that much… but Ohtani gets a bit more… and it would be $$$ of close to a billion dollars… but over a lot of years. It’s $111 in AAV but in real salary dollars would likely be close to $95 for the next three years before moving to $125 since they are paying Rendon for three more seasons.

If they don’t resign Ohtani and keep payroll at a similar level to opening day last year they’d have the budget.

The Athletic has the Ohtani projected contract at $520 million over 12. Belinger’s projection is 6/162 Yamamoto is 7/203. Montgomery is 5/105 and Snell is 5/135. Hicks was at 3/27. Obviously a dream off-season gets us Ohtani back and another position player plus two starters and a premier reliever or two… but if Yamamoto is really going for that much; well he’s out of the budget if they resign Ohtani. they’re at 117 plus arbitration and club control guys but if they spend 43-44 on Ohtani, another 29 on Yamamoto means it’s going to go over the Lux tax when all is said and done. because they need more than those two guys. Snell and Montgomery at $48 Combined or Yamamoto and say Flaherty at $44 Is a good step in the right direction. Adding two pen arms and a solid bench bat for $25 means an AAV investment of like $115-120 million which puts them firmly over the tax for the next three seasons. So it’s probably not happening at least at the athletics numbers

Bellinger def had a good year but in 22 he was borderline unplayable so I’m wary. As for my pitching selections, I think they need to add two if they don’t resign Ohtani. Yep two high end 1/2 starters. Yamamoto and another one. If by some miracle they do resign Ohtani they probably won’t be able to afford both. I’d still sign two SP though, even if they do resign Ohtani. One would be a top guy and one would be a filler 4th / 5th starter guy or a rebound guy like Flaherty.

For me it’s two SP, two or three relievers, and a bench inf bat / OF bat. and Ohtani or Soler as the DH. i look to trade Rengifo and Sandoval. Maybe Thaiss as well. And I wouldn’t be opposed to trading Estevez. Sign Yamamoto and Montgomery for instance. Moore, Hicks and one more low $$$ guy. I’d consider Bauer as the second now that the allegations have been proven false. But he’s a weird cat anyway. Moustakas and Urshela did well For the team but Moose struggled down the stretch after two good months and Gio didn’t have enough power.

With Torey Lovullo and Bruce Bochy being the managers in the World Series, and Rob Thompson and Dusty Baker being the managers in the Championship series, you'd have to think they are looking at older "old school" managers.. But maybe not. I just hope they don't hire Ray Montgomery.

If they cut down on days off in the series then it’s fine to have a few days off in between series. Assuming they start the wildcard series the first week of October…. They have 28-30 days to get a maximum of 22 games in. It’s doable without the days off in series. Neutral sites help for the wildcard games and travel. Fixed playoff brackets as well. Give the #1 seed the choice of who they play. Then you have 3 games in 3 days then a Day Off. 5 games in 6 Days. Day off. 7 games in 9 a day off then 7 games in 9 for the World Series and that’s 30 Days.

There is zero chance Nevin gets another gig this offseason. And Kapler isn't taking a front office job.

The Braves were 72-90 in 2017. They were 90-72 in 2018, Weiss's first season as bench coach. Snitker has been the manager since 2016 season. I know they had Acuna in 2018, for the first time as well, so I'm not giving Weiss all the credit, but he's just as likable for Atlanta's success as Ron Washington, and a good baseball mind.

I would say right now, with virtually nothing of substance being reported, my preferences are 1) Craig Counsell -- Is he retiring? Is he leaving the Brewers? Is he going to the Mets? If the answers are No, Yes, and No, he's my first choice. 2) Skip Schumacher. -- If the Marlins let him walk after letting Ng walk, then bringing in a manager of his caliber is worth every penny. 3) Walt Weiss -- Deserves another shot. Atlanta's Bench Coach since 2018 and a 14 year major league career... his 4 year stint with the Rockies was a rebuilding time and he repeatedly clashed with GM Bridich, still, he's a smart baseball mind, and young enough to be the manager for the next 10 years. 4) Darin Erstad -- Almost got the Dodgers job when they hired Roberts, so he is well thought of. And a World Series hero. 5) Mike Scioscia -- If he wants the job back, I'd give it to him. And all of you haters can just kiss my ass.