These things are supposed to happen in 3's. Quick, someone get a pressure cooker over to FUCKFACE's place!
We have threads about lots of people, talking shit, but I think it's time we talk about what has weirdly not been talked much about: Firing Ned. I've defended Mattingly, and obviously it gets harder to defend the guy when the team is like this. But IMO, the team is in a shit position right now more because of Ned not because of Mattingly. Mattingly and Ned can't do shit about the injuries, they can't. But Ned could have built a better bench and/or had better options in the minors to take care of something like this. 200+ million, and your 3B+bench situation is full of sub .200 hitters. I mean, come on Neddie, you have posters on here crying for JUAN URIBE for fucks sake. If I were to choose a first move I'd want the ownership group to do, it'd be to fire Ned and let a new GM try to take care of this not with a big splash or anything, but maybe some minor moves (bullpen depth, cut out the garbage Ned has on the roster, get a GOOD bench bat) that will go a long ways. Understandably, a lot of people want the managers head in shit times but I think we've gone too long with Ned. Mattingly can go after him if it's still going shitty by the end of the year, or if it's just REALLY bad in the middle, but a move like this doesn't really affect the "clubhouse" yet can make a big impact on the field in getting some fuckin talent.
Still the favorite in the West. Not signing Scott Hairston will for me be the biggest mistake of the offseason, but you couldn't have predicted Hanley and Greinke would have played a combined 7 games to this point. Guerrier and Cruz need to be released ASAP though, certainly agree there. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/odds/
I really don't want to get a new manager because I'm almost certain that they'll go after Scioscia and that would be just awful. But I agree, a new GM is needed badly and now that we have money, it'll be even easier for Ned to overpay for someone. I'm with you guys for failing to build a good bench too and i think if we don't make the playoffs both will get booted. I still think we're making the playoffs though. We haven't been completely healthy all season so I can't put all the blame on Ned. Disappointing start to say the least.
No matter what we do, we need everyone to be on the same page. It's not Mike's fault in Anaheim. He manages a certain way with certain players and had success with it. But that organization's biggest problem is they have 3 different people with 3 different opinions on how to build a winning team (Dipoto, Moreno, and Mike). Moreno wants to make PR splashes in free agency to make the Angels a big brand, Mike has had success managing in an NL style with pitching, speed, and defense, among other things, and Dipoto is just stuck there in the middle--getting his strings pulled from both sides. And look what they've come up with. Mike S is a great manager imo, Chris. And that's why almost everyone on his staff has branched off to be great managers (Madden and Bud Black are darn good). He's responsible for 10 years of Angel success. However, managers don't stay with the same team as long anymore, his style is being filtered out by his owner, and his expiration date with that team might be near. I'd take him in a heartbeat, although I don't think he's a fit with our personnel, so right now I definitely pass on him. But if we had a team suited for him, he'd be a fantastic choice. "Just awful"...that's wrong imo, unless there is specific context I'm missing. I agree with Doyer that it starts with the GM. Guggs needs to clean house. Get everyone on the same page, hire a new GM. A GM who will make a managerial hire that MATCHES what type of team he wants, and they can go from there. Try to create almost a college recruiting type atmosphere with amateurs, free agents, and international players...an atmosphere where the GM and manager BOTH play an intrigual part in building a franchise. THAT would be progressive more than anything else. Ned trading for guys to patch things up is no longer gonna be the answer.
If Scioscia becomes available, you gotta get him. Bring him back home. If Mike gets booted next week and we still have Donnie, I make that move in a heartbeat.
Hmmm...I just don't see this season as Ned's fault much. Another RH bat that we needed(like Scott Hairston) wouldn't change anything in this shitstorm. I agree someone like that was a must have...but this shit we're eating isn't because we needed a good RH bat of the bench. We suck because Cruz, Kemp, Ethier, Beckett, and the bullpen have sucked.(Did I forget anyone?) We also can add to that reason for sucking that Crawford, Hanely, Greinke, Ellis, etc. have been injured. Ned cannot control the players whom we all know were good to fucking HoF caliber turned to absolute shit. Maybe DBB can...but he hasn't been able to get shit out of them either. This season has just been a disaster somehow. Ned and Donnie are not to blame in my opinion.
Scioscia sucks. And I hate when people say every manager sucks, but Scioscia sucks. Guys like Ron Washington and Mattingly might get flak because they have strange lineups and pitching changes, but Scioscia breaks the cardinal rule of managing, which is playing worse players over better players, and he does it routinely. Bourjos never played last season and he was one of their 5 best players, and we all know about the Mathis/Napoli thing. To me, that along with losing the clubhouse are the two qualities that make a bad manager. Donnie is frustrating, Scioscia is worse.
@DodgersBeat: Looks to be done RT @pedrogomezESPN: Pending physical, Jonathan Sanchez will sign with Dodgers today. Probably be sent to ABQ for some work.
Sanchez has upside. He's injured and has been for some time, so if they can fix him, it could provide good depth... plus, this team lacks a PRcan...
It's for triple A where there rotation has been depleted so it's pretty wtv, but yeah it's pretty predictable he got him haha
