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TheLeviathan

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Everything posted by TheLeviathan

  1. See, the thing is, I agree with you but I'm guessing the guys in charge have vetted these decisions as money makers for them. The problem we have is there is still a sizable part of the population that enjoys the lowest common denominator.
  2. But they do, you're kind of caught in an is/ought fallacy here. We agree about the ought, but that doesn't mean we can ignore the "is".
  3. Sano and Buxton haven't followed the same development path so I have trouble lumping them into the same decision. Sano has shown the ability to dominate AA - he's ready. I have to see that from Buxton before I'm ready for him to come up.
  4. I agree in principle.....but isn't there a sizable portion of both the groups that you described that this holds true for? I don't like it, I think we should grow from it, and it's an indictment of our species to a degree.....but is it really insulting to have a business model that is largely successful because both of these things are kind of true?
  5. Sometimes the baseball gods smile upon those that dare to be daring.
  6. Well, that was the whole "strive to be better" part at the end of my post. I get the impression (often) that people seem to think our nature is easy to overcome on both a micro and macro level and as someone (like Ben) that has worked with people his entire life..... I can tell you that is most certainly not the case. It's not an excuse for the status quo, but it has to be a consideration in a discussion.
  7. I don't agree with everything glunn said (particularly about genetic engineering), but don't you think there is a natural/biological/evolutionary component to all human behavior that compels us? That goes for a wide range of male and female behaviors. That isn't to remove responsibility, just to acknowledge reality as we strive to better ourselves.
  8. I found it amazing how many of those lines were within 1 or 2 games.
  9. Using empirical evidence doesn't preclude context or player development curves. For example, there was empirical evidence to believe Phil Hughes would be better away from NY. There was minor league empirical evidence to believe an investment of playing time in Koskie or Hunter was a wise idea. Sometimes empirical evidence is contradictory and you need to weigh the pros and cons, sometimes it flies in the face of the eye test, and sometimes it supports it. The key is that it is consulted and consulted heavily in decision making. I don't need it to be the 100% reason for managerial decisions, but having it a major part is absolutely required.
  10. "Too much influence" is a complete independent problem and I'm going to do my best to make the most sense out of this post that I can. Managers should be in control of what happens during games and there are a bevy of sabermetric ideas that can be employed from lineup construction, to matchups, to shifting, to the running game, and anything else the manager normally calls the shots on. Sabermetric thinking isn't just referencing new fangled stats (that's part), it's really using any empirical evidence to make decisions rather than eye tests and gut feelings.
  11. 15 wins is a lot. However, I do think the Twins can plan on 3-6 wins based on better luck next year. If that's the case, 9 or 10 wins becomes very possible with full-time seasons from some young guys and an aggressive offseason.
  12. No, I agree. I think the best thing to do is acknowledge our nature as we work to make it better. Thousands of years of biology are difficult to overcome in a day or many days, but well worth working on.
  13. That would make a lot of sense....had he said that. In any case, I don't put much stock into that interview, but I do think a manager needs to be comfortable using new school ideas. One of the most irritating things with Gardy, for example, was his lineup construction and how antithetical it was to new wave ideas. SABR ideas should be employed in roster construction and implemented in day-to-day play to maximize their advantage. If Dougie is a guy that can do that - great! He's just a bit more of a mystery on that than Molitor at this point.
  14. I would take it a step further - I think "culture" is often portrayed as the driving cause and I think a lot of what is considered sexism is some basic biological stuff.
  15. None of that explains Clayton Kershaw tonight. Or Scherzer last night. Or Joe Nathan in virtually every Twins playoff appearance. Baseball is a funny sport, it has a tendency to make generalizations about "the right build to win" look very silly, very often.
  16. The power, strike-throwing Tigers are now down 0-2 to a relatively weak Baltimore pitching staff. Conclusion: Don't draw sweeping conclusions about the baseball playoffs. It's just a crapshoot.
  17. Man I wish I could feel this was a possibility.
  18. And vice-versa - Molitor being older doesn't preclude him from being new school. There seem to be a lot of sweeping conclusions being drawn based solely on age.
  19. Team defensive stats is not the best place to check on how successful shifting is for your team, that's not where the results will show up.
  20. I'm unclear what you're asking. My point was that Nick's suggestion that SABR theories are more for GMs than Managers is not something I can get behind.
  21. I guess I don't understand why this distinction is all that important. We have to do that for either guy. What can be said on SABR is that we KNOW Molitor believes in parts of it and has been a major part in implementing it with the big league club. Dougie is a mystery, but his comments indicate he's not as likely to be a proponent. One of the biggest day to day weaknesses of this club the last few years has been an unwillingness to embrace SABR ideas in a day to day context, I think characterizing that knowledge as more for GMs than managers is a really hard opinion to swallow. In fact, I couldn't disagree more vehemently with that characterization.
  22. Can't it be an opportunity built on sexism? (Not saying that's a good thing, just saying)
  23. SD Buhr nailed my thoughts, this came off as a Dougie pimping, Molly downplaying article. I'm really not sure this was the most fair presentation of the debate and certainly didn't fit the title. I'm ok with either of these guys, but I was hoping when I clicked on this to hear the actual merits of both candidates. I did not get that here until SD's comments. So it appears to me that this is what each guy has going for him: Molly More open to SABR thinking, shifting, etc. Our two best position prospects are vocal cheerleaders for him Keen mind for the game More of a "teacher" type of coach Dougie Has actual managerial experience (including winning baseball at his level) More of a "motivator" type of coach Younger and more identifiable with young players Has more recent experience in other organizations I can see the case both ways - maybe we can have both with one serving as the bench coach?
  24. Well that's a poor way to judge things. He was dealt from LAA because they already have a pretty nice CF you may have heard of. He didn't work well in St. Louis but his defense is exceptional and both of his complete years in LAA were fine offensively. It's price dependent, but he'd fit a variety of needs for the club. (Buy low, defensive CF, cheap, good speed)
  25. I'm not going to hold off on improving CF to wait on Buxton. If Boujos can rebound from his buy low point now, then you have a good problem to have when Buxton is ready. Bourjos alone would make me pretty optimistic going into next year.
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