98-64. (just a tad slow).
Can I make my Race for the Lid prediction now?
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Bob Nightengale reporting that Astros GM Dana Brown wasn’t the only member of the Braves front office that Crane interviewed. Special Assistant of Scouting Ops Jonathan Schuerholz was also a candidate.
Also says Brown interviewed for Seattle’s GM job in 2015 and told them he wanted to hire Dusty as manager. So it sounds like there won’t be any friction there.
Well, I guess the M’s got their guy.
Scott Servais is a fine manager.
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The M’s will be a trendy sleeper pick. And they can make a splash trade if they are contending- they are not a “small-market” team financially, at all. They have great fan support relative to their performance.
Speaking of trends, I am of the mindset where a repeat championship would bring the organization level at .500 in terms of WS wins versus losses which I feel is not only important historically but also might help the earth, solar system and galaxy out too. All things being right in the universe type stuff.
Also, cherry on the top is the humiliations of the NY teams again, plus the added knowledge that this 6-year period of unparalleled performance has to do with baseball, the baseball gods, and intelligence rather than the cover story that we get smeared with whenever its convenient to whimper about the Astros and all of this ‘winning’.
Also, I do like our new GM and his thoughts on greed. One more boys!
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Anybody know the details of Dana Brown’s contract? I looked but didn’t see it anywhere. I’m assuming it’s more along the lines of Click’s original 3-year contract and not the 1-year contract that Click declined.
Read the entire thread but the Driveline founder says that the use of analytics by the Astros in player development was already being rolled back several years ago (Bagwell leading the charge) and that has resulted in the poor performance at the minors level…
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Hah, I tried to keep him talking in the comments there. In response to my last reply he also wrote this thread, which was interesting if still a little unclear in its connection to the apparent change in PD philosophy:
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I don’t often talk about my work here but this is a topic of managerial conversation I have on a regular basis. Balancing work/life balance vs. the ruthless pursuit of increasing/sustained excellence. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive but there is an inverse correlation between the two. A good management outcome is pinnacle achievement. A better management outcome is periodic pinnacle achievement over sustained time periods. How you manage to each is quite different.
Happy to discuss details if anyone has ??’s.
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Are you serious? I had a few jobs and tried to do them as well as I could. But “ruthless?” No, never.
Maybe I am speaking out of school here, but every time I have heard Bagwell talk about analytics, he strikes me as being very specific about a certain type of usage thats problematic not the analytic approach to player development or drafting.
Paraphrasing, Bags doesn’t want Astros hitters going up to the plate having to think too much in the moment when milliseconds are the deciding factor. What I hear him say is that hitters need repetition, to avoid too many thoughts or idea while up at the plate, and ultimately it is their physical ability to get to the ball more times than not that will be the deciding factor of a good AB. It is the same advice top level GK’er coaches give to their goalies in soccer — take out too much emotion, too many thoughts, stay focused in the moment, respond to the moment, and maintain belief in your preparation.
Nowhere have I heard Bags say that using analytics to prepare, to use prior to an AB, or to develop young players is a problem. He thinks it is a mix of things if I remember correctly. Maybe a few here can educate me about this hullabaloo
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Yes indeed. I have worked for orgs and continue to see orgs today that put a number of business principles and practices above their people. Often with lofty sounding goals like “increasing shareholder value” or “business process re-engineering” which, in and of themselves, is not bad. But, when managed at the expense of the people doing the work, is typically short-sighted and the short term benefits quickly erode as confidence and morale erodes.
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Ok, now I see what you are saying. Your comment was about others. Balancing work and life was never a problem for me because family stuff came first, and I was lucky to be at a family-oriented law firm. Of course, trial preparation sometimes meant 18-hour days, but I was able to avoid too much of that in my practice. In the final analysis, a job may be a great job, but it is only a job, and there are more important things. I doubt many of us will die wishing we had worked one more hour.
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Other than Ron Jeremy
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I had to look up who that is. Ha ha.
Thats quite a search to have on the google history
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Interesting reading about his sexual assaults and rapes.