Friday, October 07, 2005 |
Pickoff Moves
Thank God Tony Jackson Isn't The Dodgers' GM
At least, that should be the title of this Daily News piece, but apparently his editors aren't quite so amusing. Jackson correctly notes that the departure of Jim Tracy puts DePodesta's imprint ever more deeply on the club, and also possibly that payroll is about to shrink to the $80M mark next year, thus compelling Tracy to seek a multiyear extension. But his argument starts to go off the rails when he mentions that the Dodgers need a power-hitting first baseman; they have one, but Tracy refused to play him; the caboose follows into the weeds when we read that "Paul Lo Duca, Shawn Green and Robin Ventura" wouldn't have had the kind of blowups that happened this year. Really? How does he know? Losing teams have all kinds of "chemistry" problems; "chemistry" is a side effect of winning, not the other way around. That Jackson would seem to believe such sophistry is really a little sad.Stuart Sternberg Takes Over As Devil Rays General Partner
Vince Naimoli, the man principally responsible for the perennial re-hiring of Chuck LaMar, idiotarian GM of the Devil Rays, has been replaced by New York investor Stuart Sternberg.The first order of business was to fire general manager Chuck LaMar, who had been with the franchise since its inception. Assistant GM Scott Proefrock and player personnel director Cam Bonifay also were dismissed.The initial reaction at DRaysBay is fairly positive; the management has agreed to give out free parking next year. Some other blogger reactions appeared in the Tampa Tribune:"The time has come for dramatic change for this organization," Sternberg said, vowing to make the necessary corrections, on and off the field, to improve the team.
In e-mails to The Tampa Tribune, Bradley and Wisinski left no doubt about whom they believe is responsible for the state of a team that has finished in last place seven of its eight seasons.The team's 2006 slogan will be "Under Construction", but has it ever been otherwise?"The blame can easily be given primarily to Naimoli," wrote Bradley, an accountant who writes for raysbaseball.com from his home in Roanoke, Va. "LaMar did a terrible job the first three, four years -- getting very few prospects out of the early drafts. Of course, the trades and the initial free-agent signings have been mentioned often. But it was Naimoli who hired him and then decided to retain him year after year."
Wisinski, a retail associate in Seminole, was more blunt.
"Besides his failure to either spend money or put competent people in his front office, he has poisoned the team's image," wrote Wisinski. "His abrasive personality and complete lack of interest in reaching out to the fans have created a public relations disaster that has resulted in apathy towards the team by much of the prospective fan base."
Update: Richard remarks upon the idiocy of the Antonio Perez for Jason Romano trade, in which the Rays didn't even know Romano hadn't played the infield in years. Now, Perez is a usable part to be sure, but for once it's worth tempering our Bronx cheers at Chuck LaMar:
- Perez can't field worth a damn. Perez earned a 86 Rate2 fielding score -- which, 86 was about what you wanted to do with his glove.
- He also doesn't have any pop. So what do you do with a .297/.360/.398 hitter who can't field on a National League team? He doesn't have enough pop to play an infield corner position, second base is blocked by Jeff Kent, and you sure don't want him at short throwing grounders into the first base dugout.
Ray Ratto On Macha's Exit
Beane's famous belief in the interchangeability of managers, along with Macha's eventual distaste for the Oakland job because of that fact (not to mention Beane's infamous prickliness), ended with two people who couldn't care less whether Macha ended up in the manager's chair in 2006, says Ray Ratto:The down side for Macha, ultimately, will come if he either gets none of the available jobs, or one of the many lousy ones. Of the vacancies, the only one even remotely appealing from a competitive standpoint would be Florida. The one in Pittsburgh could be appealing, even though Macha avowed zero interest in it, but the Pirates' young talent is offset by owner Kevin McClatchy's lint-filled pockets. Tampa Bay is a perennial stinker, the Dodgers are run by Beaneian acolyte Paul DePodesta, and the other possibilities include Baltimore, Kansas City and (if Frank Robinson wants to retire) Washington.And the down side for Beane is that he will have to shop for a cheapish manager who won't mind the occasional fragmentation grenade under the desk, or find someone who won't think Beane is too dismissive of managers as a class, or someone who believes body and soul in the Moneyball principles. That limits the pool of available talent, and the A's already play in a pretty small pool as it is.
Spiezio Wants Back On The Angels
What, Stoneman's refusal to re-up him after 2003 wasn't enough of a hint? Apparently not.
: 10/07/2005 10:28:00 AMNewer› ‹Older
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