No but really, Beane would be great. I think more than anything, he would have a great staff around him that would want to work for him, which is arguably just as important as the man himself.
this would be the best news the dodgers could hope to ever have a good gm can even make a bad owner look good and a bad gm can make a bad owner look worse and we know what ned is
I have to agree with THINKBLUE on this one. Exactly what has Beane accomplished or proven? Let's not get caught up in the hype or give him credit where it isn't due. For one "Billy Ball" had been around a long time before Beane and for another, it hasn't really worked since he lost Tejada and Giambi, has it? Not to mention the fact that he was lucky enough to have Zito, Hudson, and Mulder all in their prime when they were good. What's he done since then? I'm sorry but if ever there was an overrated GM, it's Beane. I'm not sure I'd be jumping up and down over Beane...
Billy Beane? 470 winning pct since 07. with 0 playoff appearances. I guess we are still living in the 00-06 era.
He will use WAR and BAPIP and WHIP and everyone else who does will feel like they have some cosmic connection with him, rendering the team and all the following posts about it elevated to the stratosphere of new age insolence. And we will get those kind of players with him at the helm....and we will be firmly entrenched 100% in SABR worship, because this is "The Way" now, as we all know. And we will achieve what he did with the Athletics... Nothing.
This x 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001. This entire post will forever be entrenched in my sig. Okay maybe not "forever" but at least until I get really bored of it.
I would be fine with Beane as long as he brought Saber with Traditional. With a larger market than he has worked with, he would have a ton of flexibility.
Beane general manages in the tradition of the 'old dodgers way'. Combine his management style with our old traditions and our always proactive and progressive scouting dept... what more do you want? When you have a team with a rich history that has maybe lost some of that history, wouldnt it be nice to bring in a GM who operates in that style? Now add in just a little bit of the wealth that comes from the LA market... Beane is going to have a field day. As an MLB fan ive been waiting for the chance to see Beane work for a major market team. Lucky for us if its the Dodgers. You bet your ass he wouldnt play a player just because he has a big contract or was a top draft pick or is friends with so and so. How many times have we Dodgers fans wished we had a GM with the balls to tell the manager or even the owner that playing 'star' players just because they make a lot of money or are famous is not the way to win championships? If Beane would have taken the Dodgers job we would have never hired Torre. And DePo would not have come to the Dodgers because he probably would have become the A's GM Beane would have put 2 fast runners in front of beltre and 2 powers mashers behind him and paid him. Because in LA he would have the money to pay top dollar on a home grown player who has 5 tools and is star level at each of them. Specially when that guy plays at a tough defensive position and is a premiere defender. Our team would have been built around that guy. Look at even now in his later years he is still playing at a star level and his defense has remained well above average and he can still do almost all the stuff he used to do when younger. Beane would have built around him and we would have won a championship eventually. He always comes up with great pitching prospects that others might think are only fringe prospects. Combine that with our own fantastic in house scouting dept that also knows how to pick good pitching prospects and its a recipe for a stable of talented young arms to choose from. A little speed to get you on base, a little hustle and smarts to move players over, a little powers to bring them on home + dominant pitching, strong defensively at the core positions, and leadership and smarts behind the plate. Thats the 'old dodgers way' in a nutshell. Its not about getting all the best players. Its not about having the most money to buy them. Its about making the best TEAM that works to be more than the sum of its parts. For that you dont need to go out and always buy superstars. You need to buy specialists who will fill the specific roles you need them to fill at a reduced rate than someone more sought after by the market. But these specialists who as single units might be flawed as a baseball player in a certain way but as whole when combined with other single unit are able to hide each others flaws and complement each others talents. One guys flaw is another guys talent so it can be balanced out perfectly. Beane is the type of GM who knows how to balance the parts into a nice harmony where the team feeds off its own renewable energy for extended periods of time. Its a holistic approach to running a baseball franchise in a way. At least when compared to the way most teams are run now. The Old Dodgers Way existed because of how our team was run in the past. It has nothing to do with any mystique and it can change at any moment depending on who is running things. Its not there anymore. Thats the truth. And its not just McCourts fault... the Old Dodgers Way had left a while back before he even came onto the scene. No matter who the new owner will be, if they have a good GM that knows how to run a team in this kind of way then you will see the Old Dodgers Way come back once again.
^ I understand what you're saying but I dispute what you're saying about Beane. Outside of 2000-2004 or so he hasn't had repeatable success and that team was stacked so you can very well make the argument--which is supported by recent history--that he simply caught lightning in a bottle with that team. Keep in mind that historically Beane is all about "getting more out of less"--like Sandy Alderson. There's no reason to believe that giving him more $$ would equate to greater success because there's no precedent in place that supports it. There's actual precedent going the other way. For example, Omar Minaya was highly touted in Montreal similarly to Beane and he failed miserably with the Mets. Different situations make for different results.
Obviously the speculation has nothing to back it up - seeing as no one knows who the future Dodgers' owner will be. But Beane vs Ned? Like there's a debate...
Touche'. I was just impressed it was not about Boston coming from Gammons. And you are right, no choice. Can you imagine Logan White working with Beane.
