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The Future Forty 3/19/09
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“Towels to chose from” by blmurch, cc-licensed.
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Twittah
Oh, what the hell, how ’bout shipping Ichiro and Felix to the Yanks for Joba Chamberlain and Melky Cabrera?
They’re probably both gonna wind up in the Evil Empire eventually, anyway!
#9 said:
Very funny 😀
“You’re doing a bad job”…perhaps so, but from the perspective of the businessmen owners, what would have been the evidence of this? The team was improving every year, attendance declines looked like they were turning around.
Hey, I thought Guillen for Santiago and Soriano for Ramirez warranted his firing. But I’m thinking as a fan, not as an owner.
Not to just respond to me and you Derek… but…
Why else would you do this, other than to hope that at some point, the team will listen to you? I get that you guys understand you don’t hold all the info that the paid guys do, but really Derek, can you honestly say you don’t care if the M’s see and at least consider what you and Dave are saying?
And, two, I know you don’t give a crap what any ESPN or FSN correspondent thinks, but it must feel shitty when you point out – with evidence – that a certain Angel’s closer MIGHT have been cheating last year and you get ripped based ONLY on the fact that you’re a ‘blogger’.
My point being (on that second part), no one else noticed it and they felt stupid for not having the insight or attention to detail you (and a few other bloggers) may have had.
It seems as though they didn’t dismiss the F-Rod case because he was innocent, but rather because the discussion was raised by a blogger (aka. you).
I’m not trying to be argumentative, I’m just saying it sucks to know as much as you’ve given us and not have anyone else (including the national media) seem to give a damn about it. Even moreso, it seems they’re INTENTIONALLY trying to squash it.
It just kinda sucks being an M’s fan now.
41 – More like a fleet of USED Hondas for $50,000 each.
And Derek – I’m not trying to make any given point or argue with you.
It just sucks to be an M’s fan knowing the info you, Jeff and Dave have given me.
I can’t help but want to be an A’s fan (or an M’s under Antonetti fan, whichever comes first).
And if I were to be argumentative 😉
How many organizations, honest to god, would you and Dave BOTH feel good about being fans of day in and day out?
Give us a model. Not just for this year, but for the last ten and the next ten.
Who would you be a fan of?
I think Bavasi is only sniffing trouble from ownership not because the team is terrible, but because people aren’t coming to games. If the team was terrible and the M’s were still going to sell 3M tickets this year, Bavasi wouldn’t have any issues. But the team is terrible and people aren’t going to games, so his job is indeed in jeopardy.
It’s apparent Mac is lost and has no idea what the hell he’s doing. To anyone who thought otherwise, last night’s pinch hitting for the DH should be all the evidence you need. Either that or starting Cairo at 1B. It’s scary how incompetent he is as a manager.
There is so much dead weight on this team that it could be years before they are competitive again. That would leave Ichiro at 37, 38 years old, and while likely still productive, would the M’s keep him around if they go with a youth movement? Even if you keep him, you will need to plan for the post-Ichiro years.
To whoever posted that Beltre would be able to be signed for less than he’s making now, what gives you that idea? Beltre will likely get a pay raise, given how great a third baseman he is. Lopez and Bettencourt *should* be a good solid middle, but their inconsistency scares me.
There are tons of holes on this team. 1B, C (does Johjima rebound? Where will Clement play?), the starting rotation (Bedard will likely not want to resign beyond 2009 if the team’s in rebuild mode) so it’s possible we will need as many as 3 new starters (again), LF.
You’re talking as many as 4 daily starters if Beltre isn’t re-signed, and over half your starting rotation. I just wish that they’d fire Bavasi amd Mc tomorrow, get competent leadership in that knows how to evaluate and play talent, and start this rebuilding now. There’s no way this team recovers this year, and there’s no sense in trying to cover it up. I would much rather see a change that comes in, DFA’s Vidro and Sexson, and starts getting regular starting time for young players.
If the team’s going to lose games anyways, what possible reason is there to continue to trot out old, broken down players?
egreenlaw: I can think of two off hand. Arizona and Florida.
Florida as a team makes less money than Arod does by himself, but look at the talent on that team. Hanley Ramirez (who is, IMO, hands down the best player in the NL and was robbed in last year’s MVP voting).
Arizona has a bit more money to spend so they can add in the veteran free agent, but have every bit as successful.
I don’t think its coincidence that these teams have won world series. They can evaluate talent with the best of them and are unafraid to let players go who are past their prime. The Dontrelle Willis deal exemplified that.
I’d love to have a GM as aggressive as the Marlins have. Instead of relying on overpaying veterans, they scout and stay young.
I’m getting nervous because the longer the picture is up there the greater the chance of waking up to this press release:
SEATTLE — Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Bill Bavasi announced today that infielder Carlos Triunfel has been traded to Bed Bath & Beyond in exchange for a beige towel to be named later and cash considerations.
I am quickly becoming a Cubs/Diamondbacks fan. A couple of clubs that have some nice up and comers that are making a nice little impact.
It’s so bad that when I see the M’s down 2-0 I think “Well, this game is over. Not a chance in hell they are going to score more than 2 runs.”
And then they score 0, further increasing my baseball anxiety for things to change. When we will get it? What is it going to take? Hopefully they will get a clue when we win 50 games this year. (Facetious, I know. What can I do though?)
I’m a fan of baseball, and I appreciate players and organizations that know what they’re doing. Team-specific fandom, though, is a strange and irrational thing. The Mariners have hurt me more than they’ve made me happy, yet here I am following every pitch of every game for the I-don’t-care-to-count-th season in a row.
I’ll pay attention to other clubs when they’re doing interesting things (the Cubs, D-Backs, Rays, & Red Sox, come to mind right now), but I’ll move on as soon as that changes. With the Ms, I’ll watch the team go into April with the makings of a 70-win season and still have my heart broken when they suck.
Nothin’ like having to hope for a miracle in early May but feeling guilty because it would most likely have to be a major earthquake….
Anyway, wake me up when some news happens otherwise, I’ve got other things to spend my times/money on…
Unfortunately there seems to be an apathy buffer in Seattle…. is the cotton candy really that good at Safeco?
Anyone else hear the lambs screaming? Watching this offense gives me an uncontrollable desire to join the FBI……
At least I bet 2k on M’s Under 86.5 wins. Is it too early to mail the ticket in?
Think Baltimore would be up for trading Jones, Sherrill, and 3 particular pitching prospects for Eric Bedard?
Well, in theory anyway, the candidates you should be interviewing will understand the difference between actual wins and the underlying team elements that lead to wins. Really, if you’re not talking to someone who understands Pythagorean wins or third-order wins, then I don’t think you’re looking at the right candidates (which, again is on ownership). I’m not saying they have to be an expert on such matters or even be able to calculate them. But I do believe that most of the current GMs have a basic understanding of this concept.
… Well at least now I’ll be able to hear my cell phone ring at the game and Diamond Club seats should be going for around 25 bucks pretty soon.
just was listening to KJRAM and Mitch … they were replaying the Chuck Armstrong quotes:
“Best coaching staff we have ever had”
“Bavasi is doing an outstanding job”
— Chuck Armstrong, May 8th 2008.
I dont even know where to begin on that one, but I am trying to laugh.
He was doing a bad job.
I’m not sure what exactly you want from this argument: you seem to be excusing the owners’ tolerance of bad performance on the basis that they shouldn’t be expected to be able to evaluate that performance.
But if that’s the case, they’re not qualified to own the team.
If they can’t determine if the people they’re hiring are competent or incompetent, they have no business being in the business.
Analogy time!
What if they were an investment banking firm, and in reviewing the performance of one of their employees they found that his 25% annual return that year was from picking derivatives to buy by using the most negligent method you can think of to select issue numbers. Random number generation, whatever — it’s not important.
That’s a firing, though the short-term results work.
Orrrrrrrrr even if you discard all that, you compare the results he got with the resources he had with other GMs in similar situations, and find him wanting there.
If the counter here is that that would be a bad PR move, I’m going to be unsympathetic — a business owner needs to be able to make unpopular decisions that are in the long term interest of the firm.
Besides which, they hike ticket prices almost annually. That’s unpopular, but it makes them more money. Clearly in some decisions they’re prepared to do the money-making thing in order to make more money.
Can I add 8 dollar Miller Lights? Or maybe a 20 dollar angus burger w/ fries in terrace club?
Oh yeah, at least if you see Big Mike out in front of the Safe you can get a 4 dollar ticket.
Do you think this is because Armstrong is on the heat seat too?
“Armstrong on the hot seat.”
LOL. Send that shit to the Onion.
Thanks sports for the photo. Say’s it All. Here is our franchise quote. “When I had an image for this team next year, it always contained that Mac would be back,” All-Star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki said, through an interpreter.
The franchise cornerstone signed a $90 million contract to stay in Seattle about a week after McLaren, whom Suzuki has known for a decade, took over for Hargrove. Suzuki said Thursday that when he decided to re-sign, he was hoping McLaren would come back in 2008.
“Out of all the deals that we made before the season, the fact we signed John McLaren was the best move we made,” Suzuki said of McLaren becoming Hargrove’s bench coach. Sept 28, 2007 ESPN
[how many times do we have to go over this? calling M’s personnel “morons” doesn’t fly here. Criticize the actions, not the person]
I can use some new washclothes, as well.
I’m Derek. He’s Dave.
t’s apparent Mac is lost and has no idea what the hell he’s doing. To anyone who thought otherwise, last night’s pinch hitting for the DH should be all the evidence you need.
well, that is an interesting coding mess.
msb, you’re fired.
I can’t even guess at how to fix that.
I could send it again, but it really wasn’t that fabulous a set of thoughts….
Why isn’t anyone talking about firing Pentland? Obviously he’s not getting the job done. He’s the hitting coach right? So maybe I’m confused but his job is to get us to hit. By any possible measure he’s an utter failure. Make a statement – FIRE HIS ASS.
It is a virtual cornucopia of lovely experimental fonts, however. 🙂