Comments on: DePodesta on the Baek trade

By: gwangung

gwangung — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:32:36 +0000

c) Not feigning emotional attachment to players who were regarded as sentimental favorites in town, and being willing to trade said sentimental favorites (even at the risk of hurting the team’s “chemistry”) or allow said sentimental favorites to leave as free agents if their price tag was way too steep

Well, that disqualifies him for the Ms right there….

By: PatrickMeighan

PatrickMeighan — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:17:04 +0000

I’ve heard some questioning of his people skills as a reason he didn’t last long in LA, but at this point I’d take someone who has poor people skills but has an understanding of how to put together an MLB roster.

Not that I had any sort of insider’s view of things, but I was following the Dodgers pretty closely at the time, and near as I could tell, his “poor people skills” included the following:

a) Not returning an LA Times columnist’s phone calls rapidly enough

b) Not realizing that said LA Times columnist was lobbying his team’s owner for his ouster, or realizing it and not believing that said lobbying could possibly be successful

c) Not feigning emotional attachment to players who were regarded as sentimental favorites in town, and being willing to trade said sentimental favorites (even at the risk of hurting the team’s “chemistry”) or allow said sentimental favorites to leave as free agents if their price tag was way too steep

The M’s could really, truly use a GM with those sorts of “poor people skills.”

Please, Howard Lincoln and/or Chuck Armstrong, please hire Paul DePodesta.

You realize that the chance of Howard Lincoln hiring a replacement for Bavasi who is even a little bit interested in DIPS is nil, right? The question isn’t going to get asked in the interview, and if the candidate brings it up himself, he’s going to be removed from consideration.

I understand why we should believe that, and as far as I know it’s even true, but…

…employers who’ve just fired someone often tend to hire, as that person’s replacement, someone who’s the polar opposite of the just-fired guy. It’s for that reason that I allow myself to entertain the faintest sliver of hope.

And so I beg again: Howard Lincoln and/or Chuck Armstrong, please hire Paul DePodesta.

Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA

By: BraunHolio

BraunHolio — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:38:52 +0000

I find it hard to believe that the Ms are that ignorant of statistical measures. However, they seem to be well below the curve in that regard. Decent statistical analysis must be a prerequisite for a job like this. Even first year psych students how to do some basic stats… surely the Ms front office has someone who did psych101.

By: Steve Nelson

Steve Nelson — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:16:56 +0000

#85: It’s just the gratuitous bending over in your example that gets me.

Who ever said the bending over was gratuitous??

By: coasty141

coasty141 — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:13:42 +0000

Dave or DMZ- Is DePodesta an attractive GM candidate (for team looking) who got a raw deal in LA or is he better suited to be an asst type? Any insight would be great.

By: smb

smb — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:44:15 +0000

Point well taken, Baek is easily replaceable. It’s just the gratuitous bending over in your example that gets me.

By: Doc Baseball

Doc Baseball — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:32:16 +0000

We’re all just way too emotionally depleted to perseverate on this, but don’t sign Silva and instead keep CSB and then it’s true, Baek is not $5 — he’s $12 Million going on $48 Million.

The point is … big deal, small deal, virtually any deal you examine … Bavasi seems to display a singularly poor skill set as GM.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:25:40 +0000

Baek isn’t $5. He’s a penny. Bend over, pick up another one, move on.

By: Doc Baseball

Doc Baseball — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:25:24 +0000

Baek is a replacement level pitcher – you can get another Cha Seung Baek whenever you want. They’re everwhere.

For example, the M’s just happen to have 3 more right on hand — for a mere $30 Million a year, they’re all yours….

By: Doc Baseball

Doc Baseball — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:21:21 +0000

Of course in the scheme of things, this one trade doesn’t matter, but it is yet another in a long string of inept moves by Bavasi. Throwing away $5 on a stupid blackjack bet after losing thousands by playing bad poker doesn’t make or break the night, but BB shouldn’t be in the casino at all.