You know, this isn't the first time I have forgotten he coached the Reds that year. Yeah, that's my bad, again. That still doesn't change his results in Seattle with a team that should have destroyed any teams it played. He had the chance to turn around the DRays, and couldn't. And now he's got a Chicago team he can't fix. He also had a chance with the Yankees in the past, and the only thing he did manage to do was piss off George. Not good for anyone who wants to have a managerial career here. (BTW: I actually predicted the Reds would sweep that series. I was just a kid at the time, but my hatred of Oakland was so great that I wanted them to get murdered. You would think I'd at least remember that...)
yeah,that is all true. I can agree there. The only thing is that i think this team needs someone to kick them in the ass.
He had a payroll of $25 million. And he is a reason why the Rays have such young talent, and a solid baseball team...
I cant blame Pinella much for what happened with the Rays. Management made tons of promises but never delivered. The only thing that I would blame him for was keeping Chuck Hernandez the PC around. He was worse than Mel. Rays led the league in walks allowed with Chuck at the helm and no one besides Kazmir developed. He is almost running into the same problem in Chicago. Wood & Prior are hurt again and hendry pulled a Bradway and didnt replace his injured stars and hoped they would be okay. Dempster is not a very good closer. Z got off to a tough start but once he gets over it, watch the Cubs roll. And I do wish the Yanks grabbed him last year.
Well, after sleeping on it I have decided I don't care if Torre gets fired or not. Same with Cashman. Mattingly is not ready and besides he is somewhat laid back like Torre anyway. Larry Bowa might work in the interim, as I have said before, but there is really nobody great out there I see as a long term solution right now. What I do want is for them to go get some starting pitching. Tell Clemens to make his decision now. If you can't, forget the Yankees. Trade Cabrerra and whoever else from the minors that you need to trade to get somebody. Maybe Willis although he could end up being just "another National league pitcher" who fails in the American league east. Swallow Pavano's contract and send him down to the minors until it expires. If they can't get pitching now then just write the season off. Make Torre and Cashman show up to collect their money and clean house when the season is over.
You should probably take another nap bro! hmy: In one breath you're saying "fix it now," by trading away whatever to get starting pitching in to win. In the next breath, you're saying forget this year, scrap it, and work on rebuilding next year. Just chill out man. Whatever happens is out of our hands anyway. There's no way Clemens will be forced into making a decision right now. If we do that, he'll be pitching in Fenway in July. Pavano is all but done. He got another chance just because Cashman refused to admit he screwed that one up. I think that experiment is done, unless he comes back and shuts up the rest of the year, regardless of any pain he thinks he might feel. I don't approve of Bowa as manager. I don't even particularly like him as 3rd base coach, but that's just me. The question I have is, why don't you think Girardi would make a good coach? He already has a rapport with some of the senior members of the club, and he was Manager of the Year when he got canned. I think you need to relax though man. Sure, we're all pissed off right now, but at some point things were going to collapse with this team. Age is starting to show itself now. Guys can't stay healthy. As I said yesterday, I may be giving Joe a bum rap, simply because I am fed up. Our starters haven't pitched in the planned Opening Day rotation once yet this year. The pen has been overused, but at least part of that problem is the ineffectual starting pitching. Cashman put too many eggs in the same basket at first base, and we wound up with very little offensive production from that position. Damon is playing hurt. Matsui just returned. Jorge is off, at least defensively. Cano doesn't care. Melky just can't get his head on straight at the plate. Abreu looks a lot like a failed experiment. The only guys who are playing with any consistency are ARod and Jeter. (And Jeter had a rough defensive start himself, while Alex has cooled off a little this past week.) Just take a deep breath. As hard as it is to accept, it's only the end of April. It's still very early to believe we're doomed this year. Let's let things play out. If we don't play better than .500 ball this week, then you can start getting worried.
Well, there were some typos in there. Fine on Clemens. Let him pitch in Fenway. What will that mean, we fall 15 games back instead of 12? We don't need him in July or June or whatever. I doubt we would even consider it if we are 10 games out by then. You just outlined all the reasons why this season is already lost. How many of them do you think will right themselves in the next month? If it's only half then we will keep falling farther behind. At least if the starting pitching can get fixed there is a chance. They say Giardi is a control freak and too close to Torre and Cashman. He won't get the job. Bowa is a Billy Martin clone. Short term solution to light a fire under their asses. If any team ever needed that, it is this one.
Frankly, I think it's a disgrace that he gets to spend the first three months of the season sitting on his fat ass, and teasing three teams, only to then sign with one of them and sit on his fat ass even more, while he collects another eye-high stack of cash as a part-time teammate. You're either a ball player, or you're not. I wish the Red Sox would say, 'Thanks for 12 years, but we're not interested,'
I won't go dig it up, but you are echoing the exact same comments I made a couple months ago regarding Clemmens. It's total bullshit that he can play puppet master with major league ballclubs. The problem for the Yanks and Sox is that neither wants the other to have him, so we both get roped in. If either of us was thoroughly uncaring about him, I'd bet the other would tell him to have fun in Houston. It's just another ARod/Schilling/Matsuzaka situation. And it's really starting to get on my nerves. Just pissing money away to prevent each other from getting players, and skyrocketing ticket costs being the direct result. Each of us should be worrying about putting the best team on the field (which right now, you guys are doing, but we're not.)
I think the disgrace is Major League Baseball. They should tell Clemens this is not a Sunday afternoon beer league.
Just thinking. Today is an off day for NY. Cashman was told not to go the Dominican Republic where he had a mini vacation planned. There must be talks ongoing right now. If Torre were to be fired (or Cashman, or both) it would be today while they're off. If he survives today, he survives for the forseeable future.
The Yankees are looking terrible and the general manager has a mini vacation planned to the Dominican Republican? I mean couldn't he at least said he was going down to scout some Dominican players?
Who in Tampa has the Boss's ear these days? As an aside, it's times like this where I have visions of Larry David's brilliant Steinbrenner character juxtaposed against his brilliant Costanza creation. Steinbrenner: You know as painful as it is I had to let a few people go over the years. Yogi Berra, Lou Pinella, Bucky Dent, Billy Martin, Dallas Green, Dick Houser, Bill Virdon, Billy Martin, Scott Marrow, Billy Martin, Bob Lemmon, Billy Martin, Gene Michael, Buck Showalter, … uh, tut!, . . .George, you didn't hear that from me. Or, then there's this unrelated quote that just always cracks me up when I hear it: Steinbrenner: George let me tell you something. When I find something I like I stick with it. From 1973 to 1982 I ate the exact same lunch everyday, turkey chili in a bowl made out of bread. Bread bowl George! You'd eat the chili then you'd eat the bowl. Nothing more satisfying than looking down after lunch and seeing just a table.
Yeah seriously. The club is sinking, and he's sailing away in a yacht. Maybe it is time for Cashman to go too.
I'm nor sure who has his ear anymore. I don't think Merrill is still around. Stick is a scout, I think. Certainly not Swindel. Most of the baseball people are no longer in Tampa from that "inner circle". I'm sure he can still call them though.
He can always call on Felix Lopez, a new Yankee senior vice president. He is the former landscaper that married George's daughter Jessica after she divorced Joe Malloy, the former Yankee general partner, who is now an assistant principal in a Tampa middle school. :breakdance:
