For the sake of our future children, and our sanity, and our heart health, and the safety of others, we really should not read anything that The Manager has to say.The fact that he even has a job with the team headed into this year, and that he's decided that it is best for him and the team if he hangs out and lets all of the newcomers to the team have the opportunity to sniff his glorious carcass for the next nine months drives us insane. The notion that every time we tune into a game this year, we'll get to see The Manager propped up in the dugout like the corpse of a once-great man is enough to make us want to take a year and really get into the CFL.
We know better than to try to parse The Manager's thoughts on the best way to run the team, because madness is sure to follow. And yet, we just can't help it. We can't keep ourselves from reading the crazy-ass things that he throws out there, almost willy-nilly: Hill and Lind need to stay where they are in the lineup; Vernon's confidence will get tore down if he loses the cleanup spot; it's going to be easier to manager the rotation now that Doc's not here; Brett Cecil might be on the outside looking in. It's all such crazy-ass shit.
We could get into a whole deeper discussion as to what this means, and whether if our current frustration with The Manager makes us feel stupid for ever having revered him. But since GROF already went there splendidly and eloquently, and we prefer not to pick those scabs in our psyche just yet, we'll let it slide for now.
For the time being, we're just going to try to find the positive. We're going to put our trust in AA and Bruce Walton (who we're convinced is going to be awesome) and Brian Butterfield (who is and always was awesome). We're going to look for solace in the quiet turmoil.
Because we might not last the year if we really started to put any energy into The Manager's last stand.
22 comments:
I said it on GROF's post and I'll say it again here:
It makes no sense to me that you and I and everyone else knows more about who is actually on the roster & what they bring than he does.
Now, I'm not so fucking vain that I think I know more about the game than Clarence The Manager does....but for god sakes, how can he not recognize anyone? Does he not follow baseball - even his team - over the winter? He just shuts his shit down and says "Yeah, I'll see 'em in the spring"?
And does he weild full and unquestioned control over roster decisions? Tallet a favorite for the rotation when spilling over with young arms in a rebuilding year? Full time AB's for Bautista? Wells in the cleanup spot for the sake of his precious confidence?
I need to stop now lest I completely lose my mind (like CTM).
I'd like to offer an anecdote...
Back in grade 7 I had this enormous crush on a girl and finally got up the nerve to ask her to go out with me. (Whatever the hell that would entail in grade 7 at a rural Ontario public school with 90 kids.) I knew there was no way she'd say yes and I was savvy enough to know that I would get a whole heap of cliches to ease the crushing blow my heart was about to receive. So I came up with as long as list as I could of things she might say, such as "I like another guy", "I think we are better off as friends", "Maybe if you showered", you know, the usual stuff.
As it happened she said no and the list I made offered little solace at the time. But looking back I got a chuckle out of how many I got right.
So to cope with this season I think I'm going to make a list of Gastonyms to ease my inevitable frustration with the upcoming season.
Item 1: "We're just gonna let him work through it."
You know, I almost feel bad for shitting on the decision to lead off JoBau, because I actually would love to see that dude succeed.
(His ever-changing facial hair is a source of endless amazement for yours truly.)
Still, I can;t help feeling like The Manager's approach to running this team is something like: "This is the way we did it in my day, so fuck you and fuck y'all. You're all gonna miss me when I'm gone."
I swear, I'm going to climb up to the Level of Excellence this year with a scraper and scrape off The Manager's name and number.
I'm seriously scared if opening day rolls around and there are still talks of Bautista leading off.
The sad thing is, the damage won't be over at the end of the season - he's coming back as a consultant.
That money would be better served putting Ice Cold Wayne's name on the Level of Excellence.
Meh... I dont know that The Manager coming back next year as a "consultant" with the team really means jack shit. Honestly, its like Martin Brodeur getting chosen for the Olympic team. Granted, in his prime, he was awesome, but at his age, he was a "nostalgic selection". You cant even compare him to Luongo in terms of skills at this point in their careers. Luongo should have been the starter, period.
But, back to my point. The Manager isn't going to have shit dick all to do with anything AA does. In the 90's The Manager had a good thing in Toronto, but those days are LONG gone, and AA and company are giving him the "last lap" they feel (for some unknown reason), that he deserves.
I honestly doubt that if The Manager progresses through this season giving ABs to the veterans at the expense of the young players on the team that AA is building around, something is going to have to give. If AA is the messiah of this franchise, I highly doubt he will stand idly by and watch The Manager oppose his well planned directives for this team.
Ive already seen a couple instances where The Manager has subtly stepped on AA's toes just to see AA laugh it off. (ex. the Delago debauchle at the State of the Team address). I doubt it will last long.
Anthopoulos hasn't worked this hard throughout his baseball career to be torn down by a delusional hitting coach turned manager who has no business coaching this team.
It's mind numbing to me that this organization feels they owe The Manager something, but that simple truth is, they're riding with him, at least for now... whether to our chagrin or not.
Make no mistake though, if The Manager keeps rocking the boat, he'll be thrown overboard faster then Pedro dropping Don Zimmer. (which was funny as hell by the way).
I just cant imagine AA keeping his cool long if things get confrontational and The Manager goes directly against AA's directives for the franchise.
Just my opinion.
GO JAYS!
Its somewhat of a rant, sorry, i trimmed it down a bit after.
Its easy to shit on Cito, but in all honesty its starting to get a little sickening. Yeah maybe he's not the greatest, but he's what we got.
JBau leading off isn't fantastic, but who else can Cito throw there? (seriously out of JBau/Wells/Snider/EE/Agon/Hill/Overbay/Buck who do you put there?). Cito didn't put this team together, yet he gets shit on for saying JBau will lead off?
Yes we have alot of kids that could be in the rotation, yes we're rebuilding but because of that Tallet doesn't get a chance to earn a spot out of spring training? Odds are we're going to need him to make starts this year anyways. He's a fuck of a good guy, he bailed us out last year why not let him have the chance to earn a spot out of SP and start one of the kids down at AAA, is it really going to stall there development? if anything it'll make things easier to control their innings. I'm not saying Tallet should be in the rotation the whole year long, but I think the guy at least deserves a chance at starting the season in a rotation for the first time.
If I start following the CFL, I am cheering for the Alouettes. I've learned my lesson re: Toronto teams.
Tao, you starting a fantasy league I here?
I'm in for fantasy if you need teams
@ Bwilly
I'm with you on Tallet. I thought he pitched pretty well last year as a fill in starter when we needed him, and I have no prob with him in the rotation. He actually looks a bit like one of the kids now that he's shaved off the facial hair... wonder if he was trying to confuse The Manager into thinking he's Dirk! haha
(in case you haven't seen it)
http://twitpic.com/14calu
If AA is the messiah of this franchise, I highly doubt he will stand idly by and watch The Manager oppose his well planned directives for this team.
unfortunately there is no evidence to support this hypothesis. all the evidence suggests that AA was given the job on the condition that he support Cito through the end of this year.
there is no good on the field justification for keeping Cito this year as the manager. the players don;t like him, he doesn't like developing young guys, he doesn't believe in 21st century baseball analysis or strategy, he's cocky and picks fights with the top prospects, he's vindictive. no one starting out as a GM would have Cito manage unless they were told they had no choice in the matter.
people in the media need to start asking AA about things like batting order, lefty-right splits, the starting rotation etc.
Wells admitted last year that his confidence was at an all-time low so this seems like the perfect time to stick him in the 6 or 7 spot until the all-star break before re-evaluating. keepin mind, though, that Cito is an idiot. If we could find a way to get him to muddle up Snider and Wells we'd be all set offensively.
Shit, I'd put Wells in the five hole, regardless of what his confidence level is. He's a hacker, so let him hit a little further down in the lineup and take his wild cuts.
I'd be tempted to lead him off.
Wells presses when he's in a pressure situation, and thinks about himself when he's not going well. Last thing you need in the cleanup spot. I'd try him at leadoff if he'd ever shown an interest in taking the walk, but otherwise, 5-6.
Tallet is far more valuable as a long man/ spot starter. He doesn't belong in the rotation any more than Bautista deserves to lead off.
If the team goes into the shit, Beeston will kick Cito upstairs. I think he might have already if not for the clubhouse rebellion last September. Management had noo choice but to take his side in that, for appearances sake if nothing else. He is part of the World Series mythology here, which is about all they have left to sell until this team gets better.
Get a 9 sided die and assign each player a number. Roll it to determine batting order. Do this for 81 games and do the traditional strategy for 81 games and then compare the results.
ERRONEOUS! ERRONEOUS!
The "Wells-Can't-Hack-The-Pressure" movement stops here!
Here are Wells' career OBP/SLG/OPS in high leverage, medium leverage and low leverage situations:
High - .342/.468/.810
Medium - .326/.489/.815
Low - .327/.454/.781
Now, he did look awful last season, I'll confess. (.567 OPS in high leverage). But last year was an especially crap year.
Stop booing Vernon!
Wells will tear it up this year and, when he is placed on waivers, the White Sox will make a claim.
Didn't realize Wells was that good before last year, when he WAS awful. I guess part of it is expectations. He is 5th in the league among outfielders in RBIs over the past five seasons, I read somewhere. So maybe Cito isn't retarded ... on this point anyway.
Didn't Cito say in the paper that Bautista hit 20 HR's one time and he thinks he can do it again?
Maybe that's why he keeps talking about Bautista leading off. He thinks he's someone else.
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