vance_the_cubs_fan

Lou thinks it stands for Old Bastards Play!

Great run down there, Kurt. It seems the fears I've had about Girardi are supported there. I've got a couple of thoughts about it. In a different topic, we talked about the Herges interview on B&B. Herges was, amongst other things glowing about how good a manager Girardi is. Herges said that all the negative things spoken about Girardi are untrue. Girardi makes Herges want to be a better man, he has integrity, he is both tough and nice but not too much of either. Girardi is a father figure who uses tough love. Herges doesn't believe that anyone wouldn't respond to Joe's style. Even Scott Olson, the player Girardi grabbed by the jersey during the game against Chicago would do anything for him. Furthermore, Herges believes that any veteran players who don't hustle - like Aramis - would hustle for Girardi because Cabrera used to dog it until Joe arrived, and Cabrera was also moved to tears when Joe was fired. So, I think he might be good for the players. As far as his strategy does... I would be shocked senseless if Girardi ever made Derrek or Aramis bunt. Regardless of that, I also think that Joe is still young and developing as a manager, so we can't assume he will repeat past mistakes. In other words, although I might want a Bobby Valentine most of all, I would be very satisfied with Joe Girardi, and I will be disgusted with the organization if we get Lou Piniella. In regards to Herges or any of the other comments from players, I think we know how much to value them; lest we want to also take Derrek Lee, Jaque Jones, Juan Pierre, Scott Eyre, and others' words on how great a manager Dusty is. I just think players often develop affinites for their leader which may not always reflect how good that leader is at his job. Everyone knows my personal preference for manager, and I'm also aware that it has less than a 1% chance of happening. Valentine is a good choice, and behind Dierker, Davey Johnson, Terry Francona (who likely ins't available), and the re-incarnated corpse of Johnny Oates, I'd probaly put Valentine fifth.

My hope is Piniella to DC. Brenly to S.F. Hendry decided he doesn't want Girardi's issues. And as a fall back plan, he calls and hires Larry Dierker! http://www.northsidebaseball.com/PremiumForum/images/smiles/eusa_whistle.gif

If he planned on doing that it would take 2 months then. He's probably trying to read the book first. But he's decided to read Kevin Kennedy's before that on reccomendation from Rob Dibble.

Great run down there, Kurt. It seems the fears I've had about Girardi are supported there.

And why isn't everyone who is on the Girardi bandwgn not also clamoring for Tony Pena. While Pena's 2003 Royals weren't of the same low payroll as the Marlins, they were equally underdogs. Take a look at the team here. Pena lead this group to an 83-79 record, which is quite impressive considering their EX W-L should have been 78-84. Giradi's Marlins finished 78-84, which is actually worse than the expected 80-82. Why don't we clamor for Pena? Maybe because other than that Royals team, his record was 49-77 in 2002, 58-104 in 2004, and 8-25 in 2005 before getting canned. But I think it should go to show that one season doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot, does it? It should be noted that Pena was the 2003 Manager of the Year for his accomplishment.

If Hendry is going to take all month, you'd at least think he would have time to visit with Larry Dierker.

ARod and Cabrera both played for Joe G.........HMMMMM???? He was Bench Coach for ARod Would Mr. Girardi help this situation? How could he help it? Neither player will have much if any say in where he is traded. If they were free agents, maybe. As trade targets, not at all. I meant he could push these trade ideas on Hendry. Urge the organization in that direction. I don't think it would take a guy who has managed them to realize that the players would help the Cubs. Pretty much any manager with a pulse should push for these trades to happen.

ARod and Cabrera both played for Joe G.........HMMMMM???? He was Bench Coach for ARod Would Mr. Girardi help this situation? How could he help it? Neither player will have much if any say in where he is traded. If they were free agents, maybe. As trade targets, not at all.

Former Twin and current A's third-base coach Ron Washington has been mentioned for the job in Texas. Link. Washington comes from Oakland, but does he share Beane's philosophies? This is how the article describes him:

Maybe the way you wrote it is a better idea but I'd like to see the order you'd put the free agents and guys available in trade together. I'd love to see Hendry's big board. I wrote it that way because I really don't know who's available and at what cost in players and dollars. Obviously I'd want one of the top tier guys. But if the cost in players becomes too high, I may settle for a lower group. If for the same cost to get A-Rod, I could have Jones and Giles, I might would rather go that direction.

Well, The Boss weighs his opinion on Rodriguez. Link.

Obviously, if Rodriguez is available, he's at the top. I'd follow him with Cabrera and then Manny. I don't really think all three of those are available, but if they are, I'd want them. The next tier of guys would be Andruw Jones, Marcus Giles, and Adam Dunn, and Drew. I'm fairly certain Jones and Giles could be had. The other two guys are ify. Of the free agen crop, I'd like Schmidt first among the pitchers. I'd probably want any of the above trade targets more than I'd want any of the position free agents, but if those guys prove to be hard to acquire, Soriano tops my list of free agent hitters.

I don't see how the NFL isn't intense. If you're capable of watching a 162 game MLB season when the best teams lose 60 times, I think you can find the intensity after a team loses a game. Homefield advantage is still important. And besides, there's only about 2 intense games per team in college, the rest are cakewalks. NFL players are playing because they are getting paid to do it. I'm sure they love the game and love to play but they are still getting paid. Just look at somebody like Ricky Williams. He played football because he was good at it and it was profitable. Go ahead and say what you want about $100 handshakes, but the college players aren't making millions every year. The NBA is WAY worse than the NFL as well. so ricky played for love of the game in college and suddenly forgot about that upon reaching the pros? the treeman has an excellent point.

I'm hearing Piniella could be the choice in DC as he does have ties to Bowden.

I was way too optimistic to win anything this year.

Ron Wotus, bench coach for the Giants is listed as a candidate there. Link.

With the Cubs along with the Nationals, Rangers and Giants having manager openings, I thought I'd create a thread where we can discuss who is interviewing who, who is rumored to be a candidate where, and other information like that. So, to begin with, it appears that Dusty is being courted by Washington according to the Trib. Also, it seems as if Washington may be considering Atlanta hitting coach, Terry Pendleton. Link

Something tells me that the Cubs wouldn't need Izturis in that scenario. Two LFs and two SSs in the same lineup. :-k It'll be interesting to play with no pitcher or RF. It's fixed. I've been distracted a lot this morning.

Something tells me that the Cubs wouldn't need Izturis in that scenario. Oops. Teaches me to do this things while being distracted. I'll fix it.

My only interest in Nomar would be if Ramirez walks. Right now, I'd prefer not to consider that possibility.

Ah yes! Trade Lee for Arod then pull off a deal for Dunn and put him at firstbase. 2b Theriot LF Murton SS Arod 1b Dunn 3b Ramirez RF Jones C Barrett CF Pie I think we could really score with this line-up.

How many teams have managed winning seasons with a 15M or less payroll in the last ten years? ZERO The Marlins have the best record of any 15M or less payroll team in the last half-decade. Putting things in context is a fun. I don't care that the Marlins had the best record of any team with that payroll. The Cubs won't be a team of rookies and low paid veterans. Furthermore, the team still did not make the playoffs. The team still did not have a winning record. The team had a lot of talent. It may have been talent that had yet to play in the majors, but they were talented nonetheless. I've nothing personal against Girardi. I just don't think he's the best person for the job. I think his "rules" and personality could be Showalter-esque. I think he relies way too much on conventional wisdom. Furthermore, I don't know how he will do with a veteran team or under constant media scrutint. I think that there seems to be strong indications that he has trouble with his superiors. With all the evidence in tow, I hope the Cubs do not hire him.

I agree the support extends beyond his Cubs' ties, but I don't think there would be this much clamoring for him if he had not been a Cub. Girardi may be a great manager. I'm not saying he deserves no credit for what was accomplished in Florida. I'm just saying that there wasn't much really accomplished. The team did better than expected, but still finished with a losing record. I don't think we've seen enough of Girardi to know how strong a manager he will be. I'm also concerned about some of his strategies and philosophies. He may come here and prove me wrong, but if I were making the decisions, I'm not even sure he's among my top five.

:roll: Good come back. I agree. Based on what you posted, it's not worth wasting my time to go any further. Yeah, whatever. Your opinion that just because Girardi managed a young team with a low payroll to an almost .500 record (when this was one of the worst NL years) is as bad as those who swore Dusty Baker was a good manager just because he won 3 Manager of the Year titles. Tell me Girardi's philosophy on baseball if you will. Okay, name for me the managers who have managed young teams with a $15 payroll into playoff contention. Dusty always had A LOT more to work with than that during his Manager of the Year seasons. It's not a valid comparison. Evidently Girardi's philosophy on baseball is quite a bit superior to Dusty's when the guy gets more results with $80 million less on the payroll. That's neither here nor there because the Cubs are not a young team with a 15-million payroll. And our goal isn't to have a below 500 record. I'd rather get a manager who can manage a 90-million payroll team to the playoffs with a 90-win season.