Sammy Sofa

What answer are you even looking for?

Ok. Are we judging on that? Because that knocks out Beane and puts in Sabean. What I am looking for is a coherent set of standards that create a top tier (Beane, Friedman, Epstein?) that clearly differentiates them from Sabean, mozeliak, cashman, Jocketty, duquette, etc. There is not, of course, one set of concrete criteria by which to judge this given the variety of contexts. You know it, and it's a stupid tangent.

Probably not given the end result was a couple of World Series wins.

[expletive], KYLE.

I seriously doubt it's a tricky learning curve, especially given who we're talking about.

I don't buy that for a second. Yeah, I don't really get this whole "Theo learned his lesson" thing. He's a smart guy, so it's not like he wasn't aware of the ups and downs of big money baseball before he became the Red Sox GM, and it's not like he wasn't managing big money prior to his final couple of years there (which is what it seemed like the initial "lesson learned" post seemed to be about, like Theo is paying his penance for the "mistakes" at the end of his Boston run). It's not like we're talking about something that has to be experienced firsthand to be understood; it's a pretty basic concept.

Really? I'm not saying that to troll; what was learned? The one "big" FA they've signed under him has been terrible, and "avoiding big FA's altogether" isn't a lesson I necessarily want them embracing.

For [expletive]'s sake, Kyle.

the nba has a drunk in crazy colored plaid suits The NHl "wins" with this [expletive] dirtbag: http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/2010/0528/chi_100528_melrose_Niemi_Leighton.jpg how do you even know this??! you think you know somebody Dude pops on the screen before I can change the channel and he is burned into your brain.

the nba has a drunk in crazy colored plaid suits The NHl "wins" with this [expletive] dirtbag: http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/2010/0528/chi_100528_melrose_Niemi_Leighton.jpg

I would have been ecstatic with either at the time, but in hindsight I wish it was Friedman.

http://i.imgur.com/wKF0HLB.gif Looooooove.

Alright, let's flashback and pretend both Friedman and Theo were available to the Cubs and we know ahead of time about the travails of #poortomricketts. Who would you all prefer the Cubs to have gone with given the relatively spendthrift era to come?

Sure, but you only have to pander to them to a point. Talking about Manny in such a way when he's not an issue and months after the fact of him being hired just feels like trying WAY too hard to kiss their asses. Maybe it's just the timing, but this and the whole "that's so Cub" thing coming out at the same time just feel really lowest common denominator, even by the usual low sports press standards. Both of these things were said at a season ticket holder event, not technically the press. It doesn't get much more meatbally than an STH base. They're the worst kinds, too, because they actually think they are really knowledgeable. That's a good point. Ah well. The Network-style meltdown will have to sadly wait another day.

What did he "get away with on the field?" Seriously, what are these terrible things that people would be worried he's going to teach to younger players? "Hey kids, hilariously cutting off a throw from the outfield with an epic dive or high fiving a fan or taking a whiz behind the Green Monster should be the cornerstones of your career."

Sure, but you only have to pander to them to a point. Talking about Manny in such a way when he's not an issue and months after the fact of him being hired just feels like trying WAY too hard to kiss their asses. Maybe it's just the timing, but this and the whole "that's so Cub" thing coming out at the same time just feel really lowest common denominator, even by the usual low sports press standards.

Yeah, those meatballs make up the vast majority of fans/paying customer of his team. So he kinda has to put on the PR show for them. He can't pander to the baseball savants of this board, it's not what's best for business. Yeah, but how many of those meatballs even know who the Cubs minor league hitting coaches are at any given moment? Sure, Manny is a [expletive] load more famous, but I doubt it's a thing the average fan is really worried about or even aware of. And if he HAD effectively said something like, "Manny and I have a great relationship going back a while and he's a fantastic hitter who can teach a lot" how is it going to harm anything? What, people aren't going to buy as many tickets if he doesn't talk about Manny like he's an ex-meth head? It's just gross. I don't imagine they'd "have to" to say something similar if they (stupidly) brought Grace back in some capacity.

And yes, I fully recognize that this is largely colored by me not liking Theo (which isn't to say he's not super smart about baseball. I just find him really annoying and smarmy. I love the hiring of Manny, but I've hated nearly everything Theo has said about it/him).

I'm literally "worked up" to the degree of difficulty it takes to type these posts. I'm just annoyed at the Cubs either avoiding or effectively taking shots at someone like Sosa, or feeling like they repeatedly need to justify not just the job they've given him but seemingly the existence of of Manny within the presence of their precious, apparently insanely malleable prospects. It's just catering to meatball nonsense that worries over things like Manny Ramirez somehow poisoning the players around him with his...what? Seriously, the vast majority of "Manny being Manny" was just him being odd or flat out having a good time. The number of things you can point to or even argue as being "bad" in his career you can count on one hand. Pro athletes tend to be weird or jerks or combinations of both. Manny seems to fall WAY to the former, but how much of it is anything that he needs to feel bad for or turn his life around over? What should people legitimately have been worried about along the lines that Theo seems to be trying to explain? The PED thing is the huge red flag, but again, I'd rather they handled it like the Cardinals and largely just approached it like, "this is a thing we're doing because we want to." Yeah, talking to the press is a big part of Theo's job, but he could be a lot less wishy-washy about it.

Look at it this way: if one of the local beat writers had written a piece where they described being "surprised at Manny's hard work" and how he had "turned his life around" and how he seemed to have "found peace" we wouldn't be making [expletive] fun of it for being so awful?

Because he's a great hitter, he and the FO have a good history together and he gets along well with other players; THAT'S really not that hard to understand. Again, how many people here wouldn't be calling out those statements as BS if they were about Sosa instead of Manny? I don't know, I guess Theo is just taking cues from the Cardinals when they had to justify bringing McGwire back as a co-...oh. Right. The Cubs are a pack of spineless wimps when it comes to stuff like this. Just do it and quit kissing the ass of people who can't wait to tear the organization a new one.

wut Seemed like a totally normal response.

Your stance on this is really obtuse. People can change the way they behave. The biggest changes in behavior often coincide with the biggest changes in circumstance. Not every baseball player is Len Dykstra. Theo may be overly dramatic with regard to Manny, but Manny may have made big changes in how he behaves toward others. Then say that instead of the melodramatic garbage he said instead (especially since he was never "out of control" or needed to "turn his life around"). As a whole, the Cubs under Ricketts seemed to have enjoyed spouting really pandering meatball-y [expletive] at times to sports hacks who are going to needlessly shred them whenever they feel like it. Manny as a whole has had a rep of being easy to get along with, especially with other players, even when he's had his ups and downs. He's a phenomenal hitter regardless of the PED stuff; this isn't someone you have to jump through hoops for to justify why he'd be brought on as a coach. Theo should be proud of the hire instead of acting like he needs to explain it away.

If anyone honestly believes Manny the hitting coach is a different person from Manny the player then I would like to trade this delicious doorstop for your crummy old danish.

To go alongside this, Cutler's projected 16 game totals based on his play this year 416/611 68.1% 4,469 yards 7.32 YPA 35 TD 16 INT 97.4 rating This is good [expletive]. I'm gonna school some fools at work.