Hubs

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.

For broadcast, allow streaming / cable networks to bid on the Wild Card and Division games but the ALCS and NLCS need to be on broadcast network, Fox and one other. No more TBS for ALCS.

They just need to tighten the schedule though. All baseball concluded the 2023 season on Oct 1. That has been the case now for a number of years. So this year, the wild cards started on October 3 for the NL and AL. This is okay, but I think they should be playing the next day. They did 3 game series, 10-3, 10-4, and 10-5 and started the ALDS on 10-7. Two days off? Do they really need a day off before and after these series? No. Then the ALDS played October 7, 8, 10, 11. The NLDS played 7, 9, 11, and 12. Two days off in a 5 game series. I assume game 5 in the ALCS would've been the 13th and the NLDS would be 10-14. The ALCS started 10-15 and NLCS started 10-16. Why? The World Series starts 10-27. Why so many extra days off? The 7th game of the 2002 World Series was 10-27. They had the 5 game series and a 7 game Championship, so there is an additional series. But that season ended the same weekend, (9-29) played the 5 game ALDS October 1-5. The ALCS 8-13 and the World Series 10-19 to 10-27. I would structure it for 2024 as follows. 9-29 is the final day of the season. The three game wildcard series should start the next day, 9-30. Then, have a day off for travel. These series should play all three games at the same neutral location. (Well not all four series at the same place, but a neutral location eliminates travel concerns). Maybe one AL and one NL in a neutral local, preferably a domed or good weather place. It allows it to be planned in advance. These don't have to be baseball cites, but to eliminate a potential home field advantage, if they were, they can be AL parks for NL teams and vice versa. The ALDS and NLDS start the same day, all four series starting on the same day. Four days after the season ends, next year is 10-4. Then play them in 6 nights. Whether you do this as a 3-1-1 or 2-2-1, or 1-4, you only get one travel day before this series and one during. The championship series starts 10-11 for both leagues. You play 7 games in 9 nights. Start the World Series on 10-21, and finish it on 10-30.

I understand the World Series having set dates, but the first round and second round series should be fluid.

I listened to Locked On Angels today and they said that the Angels led the league in unearned runs. I knew the defense was bad at times, but I guess I got caught up in all the razzle dazzle plays. I knew the defense needed work, I didn't know it was the worst in the league. How many wins did this cost us? 5? 10? 15?

It is strongly inferred in Maddon's book that they gave him very limited BP choices and pitch counts / inning limits for the starters.

Which relievers should be used and when, not just which ones weren't available. It made zero sense and was a bad use of analytics as evidenced solely by the results. Not all analytics are good. 1) Didn't prevent injury to relievers 2) Didn't protect leads The Angels also had one of the most expensive bullpens in the league. It was an utter failure and Nevin and Tamin paid the price, instead of Minasian as Moreno is cheap with his front office hires.

It’s what Maddon claimed.

Come from ahead losses has a little bit to do with the offense, and a lot to do with our bullpen being overworked and mismanaged. A+ Matrix there, Perry and Alex.

Yes there are exceptions to my rule. I don't know that Darin Erstad will be better, but I think he might.

Right, but he's got decades of managerial and coaching experience. Like Ebel for instance. I'm wary of going first time manager, but also wary of experienced older guys that wont connect, like Ausmus. It's gonna be a hard choice, and I wish someone else was making it.

Adams is a legit prospect, Soto is an excellent defender. Stefanic is not an excellent defender, not by a long shot, and that arguably is the most important improvement to make this offseason. And the .355 SLG is subpar.

They still have 45 men on the 40-man. Ohtani, Moustakas, Grichuk, Urhsela, Cron are free agents and will drop off the roster. That brings them down to 40. 2 players have options that will most certainly be declined. (Escobar, Loup). Down to 38. 11 on the 60-Day IL. (Including Urshela and Loup who are listed above.) 9 of these guys would be re-added to roster. Except...Two of these are injury concerns for 2024, so they may be cut/outrighted as they wont pitch in 2024. (Quijada, Warren). And you have C-Rod, who you have no idea what to expect from. Quijada is eligible for arbitration, so he may be NT, which would remove him, but they outrighted the rest of the group in this situation, so who knows. He'd be put on the 60-day IL in Spring Training again. Stassi is on the reserve list so he doesn't even count here. Guys like Herget, Cabbage, Rosenberg, Stefanic, Suarez, all could be gone as well, we'll see.

Yes but he didn't play in the majors. I think veterans like a guy that played. If you look at the successful managers in 2023, for the most part the ones on the young side all had major league playing experience, and the ones that struggled did not. There are undoubtably other factors at play, but the Cards with Marmol stand out as this type of manager. The two who made the playoffs who are younger and have success without major league playing career are Hyde and Schneider. Nevin obviously didn't have success and did have a major league playing career. You may think it doesn't make a difference, but I'd argue younger players look up to successful major leaguers and veterans listen because they respect them as a peer. Just my 2 cents. For the record: The Playoff Managers -- (Younger Managers): Kevin Cash - Played in Majors Craig Counsell - Played in Majors Rocco Baldelli - Played in Majors Dave Roberts - Played in Majors (how is he 51?) Brandon Hyde - No Major League Playing Career John Schneider - No Major League Playing Career Skip Schumacher - Played in Majors The Playoff Managers -- (Older Managers) Torey Lovullo - Played in Majors Dusty Baker - Played in Majors Bruce Bochy - Played in Majors Rob Thompson - No Major League Playing Career Brian Snitker - No Major League Playing Career

I would say those are important, but for me they are in the opposite order. The manager also needs to create and cement a winning culture. Look at what Thompson has done for the Phillies, after taking over for Girardi around the same time as Nevin took over here? I'd prefer the GM stay out of lineup and bullpen decisions, and left the manager alone from first pitch to after the game. But as I posted in my 49ers thread, they need to get along. The synergy between the front office and manager needs to be seamless.

So first time managers? McCollough never made the majors as a player, but has been a manager in the minors, though. Linares is the same way. Maddon also fit this bill. Ebel as well. I do think having major league experience, though, as a player helps with respect and connection with veteran players.

Who is your pick @MMC? Did you want to keep Nevin?

This was from 2022, when they fired Maddon. Is this how he feels now? Who knows.

Trout wants to make this team a winner.

I think that he doesn't want to leave SoCal. But if he were to be offered the Angels or Dodgers job, he may consider it.

You know who else is in their 60's, would probably groom a replacement, and bring back fundamentals? Maybe he's too traditional, but 5 years without him have all been disasters.