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TheLeviathan

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Everything posted by TheLeviathan

  1. Baseball still holds on to a lot of traditions and the new wave of FO types are only beginning to settle in. I think a revolutionary approach to the dugout is only a matter of time. You'll still need a go-between of sorts and a person who coordinates the baseball specialists (hitting, fielding,pitching, etc.), but I believe we'll see major changes in what skill set is asked for that role. It'll be less about a baseball strategist and more about being a people strategist.
  2. I did as well and I agree with your first paragraph. Unfortunately, we have very little way of knowing how good he is at that. I do also want to say to Mike's point, that managerial experience is a major factor. Even in a changing baseball world with a de-emphasis on the old-school thinking, managing people is a skill precious few people are really good at. Some level of experience at it in lower levels should be a prerequisite.
  3. No, the stats guy won't do those things, but as you say there are other guys who might be able to do that. I don't know how the changes will ultimately look, but I do think they're coming. And part of that is the realization that managers aren't as significant as we've thought. (They were probably always less significant than we thought, but the gap is growing IMO)
  4. How many decisions do you think Molitor, or some other analytics manager, makes during the course of any game that couldn't just easily be handled by a statistician? Or someone who can read a flow-chart for decision making? I think there will still be a "manager" but it will look nothing like it does now. If this was the year 2000 and I told you nearly every FO in baseball was going to be constituted as it is today, I'd have been laughed off as a heretic. It's coming to the dugout, it already is.
  5. Well, I also consider NHL coaches in the same boat. Sports are becoming more and more about data and talent. If you have the best data and some of the best talent - you'll win. Pretty much regardless of your manager. If you don't, you won't. And since baseball is so driven by individual player matchups (unlike the NFL, NBA, and NHL) it reduces the impact of coaching in the moment. Comparing that to your average office building seems to have any number of major flaws.
  6. I would assume it's not all that different than how things are worked out regarding the hitting, pitching, bench, bullpen, and whatever other coaching titles there are. I do think you still need a point man, but I think the skill set for that person has changed a lot. Not unlike the change we've seen in FOs by the way. The idea that every FO in baseball would be packed with Stanford stat nerds and not old Terry Ryan-type scouts would've been foreign to baseball even 10-15 years ago. I think the manager position meets the same fate eventually.
  7. How hilarious is the response by Kratz in the last tweet?
  8. Wouldn't we be better off eliminating the manager position and just hiring 3-4 people who are experts at all of those jobs instead? It seems to me we still hire "baseball people" for a job that really has very little anymore to do with what happens no the field.
  9. I genuinely hope so. But it was taken off of twitter and I have a long-standing policy of "assume the worst" about anything posted on that medium. And I am worried both sides are going to start taking to more militarized phrasing about their political struggle. We know the gun nuts on the right have been doing that for awhile and right-wing radio has been pimping the culture "war" for some time. I think once both sides start embracing that terminology more regularly we might really be in trouble. So, yeah, I'm not keen on "freedom fighters" any more than I am "culture war". That's a bad road to go down IMO.
  10. Remember when you implied you didn't understand ashbury's post? Yeah. That. You didn't understand it. And subsequently that has colored all of your responses since. (not favorably I might add) We can talk about civility though, I'm not interested in ignoring that. I think the role of civility vs. disruption in protest is fascinating because it is a tenuous balancing act.
  11. Freedom Fighters are typically associated with violent resistance to a government. You appear to have completely missed the relevant context. That isn't a strawman, it's the crux of what generated the discussion.
  12. I'm sorry there is no echo chamber here for you, but "freedom fighter" is not a term to be taken lightly. If you are being criticized for it, maybe it's because of the danger it represents. You are welcome to clarify your stance rather than taking it personally. Perhaps you'd like to share if you embrace that term. Careful though, there is always someone further out on the fringe ready to label you an "apologist" or "enabler".
  13. I will take the manager job. You can pay me 150k and I can promise to be +/- 3 wins from anyone else you hire. I'll also stay true to the time honored traditions of sitting around in my pajamas all day, I know how to use a rotary phone, and I will promise to use snazzy analytics terms while also saying things like "fundamentals", "that's how we played back in my day", and "eye for an eye" if that makes you old-timers feel warm and fuzzy. Oh, and if I don't already have the job, I promise anyone related to Nick Punto will never make our team.
  14. Yes, there is a difference between empathy and coddling. There is also a difference between protest and "freedom fighter". If you've bought into those implications,then maybe the left is further gone than I thought too.
  15. He’s not a known quantity come November.
  16. I value clubhouse chemistry, but right now this clubhouse is producing losses. Everyone loves Eddie, but the duty of the FO is to field talent. They would be negligent not to see what kind of talent Esco’s season might yield.
  17. If you want to extend him...what do you offer? 4/40M?
  18. No, they are a well oiled propaganda machine. They know how to message, even when the message is preposterous. They have used their side's political involvement to dominate every level of government and use those advantages to give them advantages in national elections. I could definitely go on. I wish we had more Republican posters, it would be interesting to engage with them on those topics. I feel like talking about them in this group is just an unhelpful (and uninteresting) echo chamber.
  19. Here is the goal for selling: Trade your human who plays baseball and you won't have for more than a few months for another human that plays baseball and you might be able to keep longer. That's it, that's the bar to meet for me. Don't sit on your hands. Don't trade them for cash. Get young baseball playing people - any really, I won't be picky - and I'll call the deadline a win.
  20. That's fine, that's his right as a FA. But the future of the Twins requires them to at least explore moving him.
  21. I thought that's what you meant. And I agree - anytime you engage in this form of identity politics you are, immediately and by definition, being divisive. That's a problem. And we aren't even talking much about social media - a cesspool of liberal woke-ism that is taking a serious run at the right's onslaught of conspiracy theory, lie spreading whackos for who can hurt America more.
  22. To add to this, many rural towns are facing extinction. As the agricultural economy gets more and more corporate, many of the small towns that required that industry to function are slowly shriveling and dying. They have a few small businesses, a cafe, maybe a few other places of employment but otherwise there is little for small communities to offer. This has been a major part of the opioid epidemic. While we can all agree the Republicans, and Trump specifically, are lying about bringing back their jobs.....it's nonetheless compelling. "Make America Great Again" is stupid.....but it's a crafty stupid. It appeals to people who see their way of life crumbling and literally know nothing else. I've seen some reports in Minnesota about trying to reach out to save community hospital and other core economic drivers to save these towns, but make no mistake - they are in a crisis right now. And the Democrats have been largely silent. I think it's cost them in huge ways and will continue to do so.
  23. This person said what I was trying to say with much better tact: That was a good read overall too. I hadn't considered how much advocacy/money the left had applied to the Court as a way to push the agenda. That was an interesting point the commentator made.
  24. Oh I agree completely, they don't have to run away from the needs of LGBTQ individuals, or racial issues,or any other political issues of that nature...but they need to talk more intelligently about them. Many of the issues that plague blacks economically are shared by rural whites. The Healthcare policy could be a gold mine with the right person, with enough courage, to sell the hell out of it. These should be unifying issues. It's maddening they can't find a way to capitalize on that. They're not that far away from winning back rural whites....just be aware you need them. Message with that in mind because left leaning policies are needed and could be very appealing to many people. Just cut out the parts that sound elitist or white trash bashing or urban vs. rural superiority. It's doable.
  25. Man, there needs to be an irony warning on this post. After that first sentence the second paragraph gets almost too rich.
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