Buster Olney doesn’t believe the Dodgers explanation for the dismissal of Grady Little:
And today, Grady Little is not the Dodgers’ manager, in any language. You can choose to believe, if you wish, the organization’s stance that he would still be the manager if he wanted the job. T.J. Simers is not buying it.
By the way: [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:29 pm | Management | Permalink | 1 Comment
October 31, 2007
Baseball Musings Radio Show
If you missed tonight’s show, you can hear the recorded version here. It’s also available on demand at TPSRadio.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:06 pm | Podcasts | Permalink | No Comments
October 31, 2007
Control Issues
The St. Louis Cardinals hired John Mozeliak as their new general manager today. It seems outside candidates harbored reservations about how much control they would wield with the club:
As recently as Monday, Antonetti, 33, was described as the front-runner by a source familiar with the process. But the protegé of Indians general manager Mark [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:27 pm | Management | Permalink | No Comments
October 31, 2007
Baseball Musings Radio Show
The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio’s other sports programming as well. Spend pre-game here rather than with Fox.
Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I’ll be happy [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:54 pm | Broadcasts | Permalink | No Comments
October 31, 2007
Evaluating Defense
On Baseball and the Reds is writing a series on defensive stats, including how to combine various range data into a better model.
Posted by David Pinto at 3:47 pm | Defense | Permalink | No Comments
October 31, 2007
Advance Notice
The New York Times notes the possibility exists for players to get advance notice of surprise drug tests:
The night before testers arrive at major league stadiums to take urine samples from players, officials for the home team receive a call from the testing company requesting stadium and parking passes for the drug testers. This procedure [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:36 pm | Cheating | Permalink | 5 Comments
October 31, 2007
Torre Agrees?
The New York Post reports that Joe Torre agreed to manage the Dodgers for three years, $14.5 million. I guess a pay cut isn’t as insulting when it comes from another team. I don’t quite understand this speculation, however:
And Alex Rodriguez could be following Torre from The Bronx to Hollywood. One of the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:49 pm | Management | Permalink | 4 Comments
October 31, 2007
Cameron Caught
No wonder Mike Cameron is able to run down those balls in the outfield:
Mike Cameron, the Padres’ Gold Glove center fielder, was suspended for the first 25 games of next season on Wednesday after testing positive a second time for a banned stimulant.
Cameron, who plans to file for free agency, said he believes he [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:44 pm | Cheating | Permalink | No Comments
October 31, 2007
A-Rod’s Value
My latest Sporting News column looks at how much teams should pay for Alex Rodriguez’s production.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:37 pm | Free Agents | Permalink | 5 Comments
October 31, 2007
Playing the Mets
Matt Cerrone is impressed with the way Scott Boras creates a market:
…i have spent the better part of two days making posts and linking to words about the Mets and a-rod, none of which are based in fact, and all of which are just rumor and innuendo, yet it keeps happening and will continue to [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 12:24 pm | Free Agents | Permalink | No Comments
October 31, 2007
L.A. Skeptic
T.J. Simers doesn’t buy the reasons for Grady Little leaving the Dodgers:
Colletti and Little deny a published report they had a blowup at season’s end, the same report also having them not talking to each other for weeks.
Take them at their word, I guess, until someone produces the facts to prove them liars.
No way, no [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:11 am | Management | Permalink | 1 Comment
October 31, 2007
Checking in on the New Manager
Joe Posnanski traveled to Japan to cover their championship series. The Nippon Ham Fighters are managed by soon to be Royals skipper Trey Hillman. Right now, the the Fighters are down two games to one.
The Chunichi Dragons scored seven big runs in the first inning – they knocked Fighters starter Masaru Takeda out [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:01 am | International, Management | Permalink | 1 Comment
October 31, 2007
Short Notice
I guess Brian Cashman is supposed to be answering his cell phone 24 hours a day:
Brian Cashman fell asleep Sunday night reading a story to his son, Teddy. His cell phone, in another room, kept ringing, mostly calls from reporters trying to reach the New York Yankees general manager for his reaction to Alex Rodriguez [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:48 am | Free Agents, Management | Permalink | 3 Comments
October 30, 2007
Little Left
Grady Little resigned from the Dodgers this evening:
Colletti said, “I wanted Grady Little back. I encouraged him a handful of times to think it through,”
The general manager said that he knew resignation was on Little’s mind at the end of the season.
When asked if rumors of Torre taking over had an influence on his decision, [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:19 pm | Management | Permalink | 1 Comment
October 30, 2007
Adventures in Fast Food
I just got back from checking out the Taco Bell free taco promotion, thanks to Tacoby Bellsbury. First stop, the Enfield, CT Taco Bell.
Enfield Taco Bell
The Taco Bell in Enfield was full of high school students, with a line of about twenty five in front of me. However, the place was prepared, and [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:06 pm | Mechandising | Permalink | 6 Comments
October 30, 2007
Taco Time!
The Taco Giveaway is underway.
Posted by David Pinto at 2:30 pm | Mechandising | Permalink | 1 Comment
October 30, 2007
Who Wants Hunter?
Torii Hunter filed for free agency Monday, but I find this list of possible suitors odd:
Coming off such an impressive year at the plate, Hunter will likely be offered much more than that by any number of teams in search of a center fielder, a list that could include the New York Yankees, Boston Red [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:15 am | Free Agents | Permalink | 5 Comments
October 30, 2007
The Rumor Mill Starts
FishStripes notes the Miguel Cabrera rumor mill started up quickly.
If the Marlins were smart, they would have signed him to a long term deal after the 2004 season, or even 2005. The team, however, is cheap, so Cabrera will be to the Marlins what Barry Bonds was to the Pirates, the one that got [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:42 am | Trades | Permalink | 3 Comments
October 30, 2007
More Definite
ESPN reports that Joe Girardi and the Yankees agreed on a contract. Joe also gets an endorsement from Torre:
“Joe Girardi is a good man,” Joe Torre said Monday on “Late Show with David Letterman.” “He’s got a feel for this organization.”
Posted by David Pinto at 10:20 am | Management | Permalink | No Comments
October 30, 2007
Still Getting it Wrong
Tom Haudricourt notes the Red Sox are moving into evil empire status. But his comparison of the Yankees and Red Sox forgets how the Yankees got to prominence:
“If someone wants to compare us to the Yankees, based on winning and results, that’s a compliment,” said Epstein. “They set an incredible standard in the game [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:04 am | Team Evaluation | Permalink | 4 Comments
October 30, 2007
Torre Heads West?
My Baseball Bias links to two articles indicating that the Dodgers are about to replace Grady Little with Joe Torre. First, Peter Abraham:
The Dodgers were 82-80 this season under Little and were beset by clubhouse unrest. Owner Frank McCourt, a Boston native, decided Torre is best suited to quell that situation.
Torre turned down a [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:41 am | Management | Permalink | 3 Comments
October 29, 2007
Laying Out the Facts
Chronicle of the Lads lays out a few lists with the idea of encouraging the Angels to sign Alex Rodriguez. However, the lists could equally be used to encourage the Angels to sign Barry Bonds.
Posted by David Pinto at 6:51 pm | Free Agents | Permalink | 2 Comments
October 29, 2007
Dare Not to be Stupid
Jon Wiesman at Dodger Thoughts notes the Dodgers can’t hurt themselves by pursuing A-Rod, only by being stupid:
So the debate isn’t about pursuing Rodriguez or not. The debate isn’t about whether LaRoche is a legitimate third-base prospect. The debate is about being stupid or not.
I choose not being stupid. It’s really not that hard.
He points [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:59 pm | Team Evaluation | Permalink | 1 Comment
October 29, 2007
Free Tacos
In honor of a stolen base in game two of the World Series, Taco Bell is giving away a free taco to people who show up at a Taco Bell resturant between 2 PM and 5 PM local time, tomorrow, Tuesday Oct. 30, 2007. From the web site:
To obtain the Free Taco, consumers must [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:40 pm | Mechandising | Permalink | 3 Comments
October 29, 2007
Guillen to First
The Detroit Tigers acquired Edgar Renteria today:
The Detroit Tigers announced today that the club has acquired shortstop Edgar Renteria and cash considerations from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for righthanded pitcher Jair Jurrjens and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez.
“We are excited to add an all-star caliber shortstop in Edgar Renteria to the Tigers organization,” Tigers President, Chief [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:16 pm | Trades | Permalink | 5 Comments
October 29, 2007
Texas Effect
Athletic Supporters notes that with Alex Rodriguez opting out, the Texas Rangers get a nice windfall of cash. They could use that to get a true ace for the pitching staff. And given the decline of Hank Blalock, they could even afford to sign A-Rod again.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:41 pm | Free Agents | Permalink | 1 Comment
October 29, 2007
Twins Payroll
Joe Christensen notes the Twins, after picking up Joe Nathan’s option, have seven players under contract for a total of $30 million. That gives them about $70 million to fill out the other 18 spots.
Oh, I’m sorry, these are the Twins we’re talking about, a team that plunked down $71 million for the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:35 pm | Team Evaluation | Permalink | No Comments
October 29, 2007
Thanks for the Memories
Curt Schilling thanks everyone involved with the Red Sox for making the World Series win possible. He praises the Rockies and ends with this:
To Red Sox Nation we’d like to offer our deepest and most profound thank you for making the last four years some of the greatest moments personally and professionally, of [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:31 pm | World Series | Permalink | 1 Comment
October 29, 2007
Short Series
If you thought the post season was very sparse on games this year, you were right. This was the fewest games played since the start of the three tier system in 1995:
Number of post-season games played out of a possible 41
Season
Games Played
2007
28
1998
30
2005
30
2006
30
1995
31
1999
31
2000
31
We’re clearly in a drought right now, with the last three years only [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:21 pm | Post Season | Permalink | No Comments
October 29, 2007
Girardi Offered Job
The Yankees may have lost A-Rod, but they made the right choice in managers. Joe Girardi was offered the job today:
“The Yankees have offered Joe the opportunity to become their next manager. Discussions are ongoing.” Steve Mandell, Girardi’s agent, said. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told Don Mattingly and Tony Pena that they will [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 12:49 pm | Management | Permalink | 5 Comments
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