Piniella says he's not disengaged in the team

[DiamondMind]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-30-cubs-pirates-chicago-sep30,0,3886488.story?track=rss

 

"We work exceedingly hard here as a staff. If you want to stick around and be here until 1 o'clock or 1:30 in the morning when the parking lot is closed because we're having meetings on how we can get our team better, you'll see that we're very interested and take a lot of pride in what we do."

 

Piniella has one year left on his contract and insists he will retire from managing after 2010. Speculation over who will replace Piniella already has begun, with former Cub Ryne Sandberg, TV analyst Bob Brenly and bench coach Alan Trammell mentioned.

[Cubs Fan Dan]

Release Miles, Keep Bradley unless the deal is worth it, fire Hendry, offer Harden Arb, release Gregg....

 

Does it really take that long to make this team better? What is this 1 in the morning BS

[jersey cubs fan]

Does it really take that long to make this team better? What is this 1 in the morning BS

 

There had to be a couple games that ended late, like well after 10. Then its a half hour of press stuff and a good 20-30 minute shower/changing followed up by some beers. I could see them being there until 1am on occasion. Of course they aren't going to figure out how to fix things with a coaching strategy session but they have to justify their salaries somehow.

[TruffleShuffle]

former Cub Ryne Sandberg

 

please God no.

 

TV analyst Bob Brenly

 

no.

 

bench coach Alan Trammell

 

okay.

[Prior4CyYoung]

former Cub Ryne Sandberg

 

please God no.

 

TV analyst Bob Brenly

 

no.

 

bench coach Alan Trammell

 

okay.

 

I don't remember if bob brenly was a decent coach for the diamondbacks or not but he sounds knowledgeable in the booth whats the pro's and cons of having brenly as the coach.

[DiamondMind]

wow, I agree with truffle

 

especially about brenly. have you guys ever gone back and watched that world series? I mean he literally almost lost it through bad managing...how many freaking times did he put BH kim out there to get lit up like a christmas tree, for example?

 

and also that article is a bunch of BS. piniella mailed it in for this year in late july. he looked comatose in august, and Im not even sure if that was actually lou or a body double slumped in the dugout through september.

[sweetpeteman]

Falling asleep in your office does not count as working till one, Lou.

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't buy the mailing it in theory, but I'm not a fan of going into next season with Lou as lame duck manager.

 

It would be more cost effective for Ricketts to eat Hendry and Lou's deals and keep Bradley than the other way around.

[Derwood]

Is there any indication that Trammell wouldn't have the same Olde Thyme hit and run, bunt in the 1st inning, play the gritty players philosophy that everyone else has?

[mul21]

Is there any indication that Trammell wouldn't have the same Olde Thyme hit and run, bunt in the 1st inning, play the gritty players philosophy that everyone else has?

 

Is there any indication that he would? The only managing job he had was with a team that was rivaled in lack of healthy talent only by the 2009 Nationals.

[Soonernation]

Falling asleep in your office does not count as working till one, Lou.

 

U mean passing out? :grin:

[Sammy Sofa]

Is there any indication that Trammell wouldn't have the same Olde Thyme hit and run, bunt in the 1st inning, play the gritty players philosophy that everyone else has?

 

Probably not. Most managers are terrible like that.

[JonJayCutler]

I don't want Brenly managing this team not because I think he'd be a bad manager, but because I'm afraid who they would get to take his place in the booth.

[ISUCubsFan]

Is there any indication that Trammell wouldn't have the same Olde Thyme hit and run, bunt in the 1st inning, play the gritty players philosophy that everyone else has?

 

It's more that the other popular candidates are pretty much guaranteed to be like that and there's at least a chance Trammell isn't.

[DiamondMind]

It's not Old Thyme that Lou gets plastered on and sleeps to 1:30 at the office with....it's Old Style.

 

In all seriousness though, and I'm not arguing for the sake of it, but he really did mail it in this year. After Gregg exploded in Florida, the man just had nothing left.

[Sammy Sofa]

"Strategy"-wise, I see little difference between this year's Lou and, well, any other year he's been a manager. The main difference is that with the Cubs he hasn't thrown his little hissyfits as often as he did in the past, but beyond that he seems to be the same Lou when it comes to managing.

[DiamondMind]

"Strategy"-wise, I see little difference between this year's Lou and, well, any other year he's been a manager. The main difference is that with the Cubs he hasn't thrown his little hissyfits as often as he did in the past, but beyond that he seems to be the same Lou when it comes to managing.

 

 

He seemed defeated at press conferences. Every question was given the answer "What do you want me to do?" with this faux outrage. The last two years he was very candid and humble, qualities I really enjoyed about him. Not so much this year. Am I seeing things?

[UMFan83]

I know not all of it was his fault (or maybe most of it), but Alan Trammel did preside over the second worst baseball team in modern baseball history....

[DiamondMind]

I know not all of it was his fault (or maybe most of it), but Alan Trammel did preside over the second worst baseball team in modern baseball history....

 

I honestly don't think a respected manager like Scoscia or Gardenhire or whoever could of turned that team around. And I'm intentionally trying to name coaches that do a good job with limited resources. That team was just an abomination to baseball.

[biittner77]

Joe Torre didn't fair very well before he started managing the Yankees. Piniella didn't win in Tampa because the talent wasn't there but has been much more successful with the talent that the Cubs have. Managers need talent on the field in order to win. I doubt any baseball people blame Trammell for not winning with those Tiger's teams.

[Sammy Sofa]

"Strategy"-wise, I see little difference between this year's Lou and, well, any other year he's been a manager. The main difference is that with the Cubs he hasn't thrown his little hissyfits as often as he did in the past, but beyond that he seems to be the same Lou when it comes to managing.

 

 

He seemed defeated at press conferences. Every question was given the answer "What do you want me to do?" with this faux outrage. The last two years he was very candid and humble, qualities I really enjoyed about him. Not so much this year. Am I seeing things?

 

Again, there seemed to be little difference in how he actually managed the games from years past outside of not flipping out as much.

[dew1679666265]

Trammell's first year in Detroit - 2003:

 

Rotation

Nate Cornejo (ace) 92 ERA+

Mike Maroth 75 ERA+

Jeremy Bonderman 77 ERA+

Adam Bernero 71 ERA+

Gary Knotts 71 ERA+

 

Lineup

C - Brandon Inge 64 OPS+

1B - Carlos Pena 108 OPS+

2B - Warren Morris 87 OPS+

SS - Ramon Santiago 59 OPS+

3B - Eric Munson 102 OPS+

RF - Bobby Higginson 88 OPS+

CF - Alex Sanchez 84 OPS+

LF - Craig Monroe 97 OPS+

DH - Dmitri Young 144 OPS+

 

When your best pitcher is Nate Cornejo and Dmitri Young is your best offensive player, it's not the fault of the manager that the team is bad. For what it's worth, the Tigers made a 20-game improvement the next year under Trammell.

[UMFan83]

I agree that team was awful. But I don't think any team should be bad enough to win only 43 games with a grinding every day 162 game season. Meaning I feel like a combo of luck + catching people on their off days should have been enough to win more than 43 games. The fact that when their legacy and pride was at stake they managed to win 5 of their last 6 games, including 3 of 4 over their division's champs (albeit playing meaningless games) shows me the team was capable of more.

 

I realize it's an unpopular argument, and I accept that I could be completely wrong in my argument as I didn't watch any Tigers games that season, nor do I know anything about how Alan Trammel manages, it's just what I've always thought. Basically I don't want to advocate elevating him to manager when Lou leaves unless no other options are available. Some people might just be better as assistant coaches (Tex Winter, Rod Marinelli, etc)

[SouthSideRyan]

Look at that Tigers roster. There are 6 players who've done anything of worth since then (Pena, Inge, Infante, Rodney, Bonderman, Young)

[dew1679666265]

I agree that team was awful. But I don't think any team should be bad enough to win only 43 games with a grinding every day 162 game season. Meaning I feel like a combo of luck + catching people on their off days should have been enough to win more than 43 games. The fact that when their legacy and pride was at stake they managed to win 5 of their last 6 games, including 3 of 4 over their division's champs (albeit playing meaningless games) shows me the team was capable of more.

 

I realize it's an unpopular argument, and I accept that I could be completely wrong in my argument as I didn't watch any Tigers games that season, nor do I know anything about how Alan Trammel manages, it's just what I've always thought. Basically I don't want to advocate elevating him to manager when Lou leaves unless no other options are available. Some people might just be better as assistant coaches (Tex Winter, Rod Marinelli, etc)

 

As bad as those numbers are, I can believe they won only 43 games. It looks like an expansion team that did nothing but grab AAAA filler players. That the team improved by 20 games the next season is impressive as well.