McTaggart retweeted a message that indicates Venable is out of the running.
Venable made some statements that to me seem to leave the possibility of still being in the running.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs/2020/1/18/21071955/cubs-3b-coach-will-venable-committed-to-cubs-pending-astros-decision-on-manager-search
Iām a Chicago Cub right now. Until that changes, Iām super excited to be here, committed to this team and until somebody gives me an opportunity to have a different job, this is where Iām at and I plan on being here for the year.
wouldnāt comment on what his decision might be if offered the chance to take the Astros job ā with all the challenges and scrutiny that will come with it, calling that a āhypothetical at this point.ā
Tags drew his conclusion from a tweet which was based on a kid asking Venable if he was planning on leaving the Cubs. Venable says āno, Iām notā.
Tags agreed with twitter comments that nobody ever says yes to those types of questions and the question was āplanning to leaveā, but plans change.
Jamesās gambling background caused him to change the way the top players approach the game. Go for the big points early, hunt for the daily double, go all in on it, get a big lead and crush your opponentsā spirits.
Ken, to his credit, realized he needed to adopt that approach, and he executed it nearly flawlessly. I still canāt figure out why he bet zero on that last Final Jeopardy, though.
(/pats self on back for guessing that Final Jeopardy correctly)
After reading that article and watching the video, Iād say chances are better than 50-50 that Dusty Baker is your next Astrosā manager.
Fuck.
Iād rather see Dusty manage than Buck.
Same, in the āIād rather have Parkinsonās than Alzheimerāsā sense of that phraseā¦
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The criteria seems to be experience required. Between Bannister, Baker, and Showalter my preference is definitely Baker but that is just because of a dislike of the other two.
Crane said the rest of the staff should remain intact, i.e. Strom, so that makes me feel better (and also blows holes in the whole clean start narrative, but thatās neither here nor there).
Andy Martino is reporting that the Astros have interest in Eduardo Perez for the manager position. Perez was on Bo Porterās Astros staff and was a finalist for the Mets job before they hired Beltran.
I remember back in the Brad Mills/Bo Porter days, I thought that Tim Bogar might make a good hire. I stopped paying attention to him when he went to coach for the Rangers, but Iād gladly take him over Showalter or Baker.
I am ok with Baker. I am not ok with Showalter.
What is the big argument against Baker? I know heās never won a World Series but heās managed some good teams in his career.
āI think walks are overrated unless you can run. If you get a walk and put the pitcher in a stretch, that helps. But the guy who walks and canāt run, most of the time theyāre clogging up the bases for somebody who can run.ā
I think the biggest argument against Baker is the high-profile arms (Mark Prior, Carlos Zambrano) that flamed out on his watch, possibly due to overuse. Also homerās quote above. BP argues this is unfair:
https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/36853/best-bp-2017-dusty-bakers-outdated-reputation/
I think one fair criticism of Baker is that the club could take a step backward in the on-the-field implementation of its analytics. But Iām with Jim - you could do a lot worse than Dusty Baker.
I like my pitchers with their arms still attached. Iām not sure Baker cares about that as much.
The players seem to like Baker and he seems motivated, so I think he would work out. He wonāt be as integrated into the front office analytics like Hinch and managing the pitching staff is going to be a challenge for anyone this year. Hopefully Strom sticks around and helps with that.
Works for me. Baker comes in - 2020 World Series winner - Baker can retire in peace with ring - Hinch suspension ends and returns to Astros.
Any other problems need solving?
New GM