Squirrel

You need to not be so afraid of actual discussion with some nuance.

Are they good? I’d say no. And I don’t think anyone is saying they are. Just because someone suggests there are worse out there … and there are, believe it or not … is not calling the Pohlads good. There is context and perspective. I’d say Reinsdorf is way worse, and so is the Pittsburgh owner. I think it’s fine to say I hope we don’t get someone like that. But that is not saying we are unhappy about the Pohlads selling nor is it saying I wish they wouldn’t. It’s conversation about what’s next and who might buy them.

Oh come on … you are getting a little lost in the weeds and saying things no one is saying.

No one here is afraid. Expressing some caution isn’t fear. Wondering who might buy and will they be better isn’t fear. There is a lot on which to speculate. Most here I think are pleased with this news to varying degrees. Just because we aren’t all ‘yippee ki a-ing’ it up doesn’t mean we are unhappy and scared. Some also just want to wait and see who is interested and what they plan before we start dancing around like maniacs. As I said in an earlier post, I’m cautiously optimistic. But I also want to see it all play out before deciding just how good a thing this is or isn’t. I hope it’s very good, but just how good is a wait and see moment. We are at just different degrees.

I don't see anyone saying they are afraid, per se, unless you interpret cautious as fear, which I don't.

"Explore" selling the team ... okay ... so ... waiting for the right offer might take some time. Since I've always said, 'Change begins at the top,' this gives me hope. However, I will also echo some of the caution here as well. And as a moderator note ... please stop with the name calling.

I mean ... does there have to be a why beyond ... it was time for him and his career to move on? I think what DJL44 pointed out above could be part of the reason ... I don't see it as a huge conflict but perhaps a difference of philosophy and needing to find a better fit for himself? I guess?

From what I heard, it was his choice to leave at this time. don't know the internal dynamics, though, and what part that may have played. imo, given the constraints he was given, what more could he do?

Just to clarify … the players don’t want to consider a cap because owners won’t consider a reasonable floor. I’m sure there’s a compromise in there somewhere, but owners need to be more transparent about the money. They don’t want to be. Thats more of the problem.

This first paragraph is key, imo. Baseball no longer has a national presence because MLB regionalized it too much with the division and playing within the division more than playing the other divisions. That and blackouts makes what's going on a long time coming.

Maybe give him a different role and off 3 rd base?

Moderator note: Political talk has a place and that’s not on TD. while things do come up that are adjacent, please don’t take it there.

I don’t think anyone on these boards said managers never loses games. If Baldelli lost 4 games, how many did the players themselves cost us? It is never one answer, not in a team sport. I don’t think the manager is going to be a huge difference maker and he alone is not the reason we won’t be going to the playoffs. When you check what our numbers are with RISP, that is truly bad and I don’t lay that at the feet of the manager. If we made the playoffs, there’s always that possibility that the cards fall right and we win the World Series. Do you really think this team could win it all? With the players they have playing as they do? There is way more wrong here than Baldelli and I wouldn’t even say he’s reason one or two or even three on the list, imo. As long as our owners employ who they do, spend what they do, this is what we have. I said in another thread I wouldn’t be surprised if Baldelli is fired, and I wouldn’t expend tears over that, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he remains, and I wouldn’t be all angsty about it, either. Maybe a new manager would provide a new spark. How long before that would wear off and we’d be right back here? For those of you with the extreme dislike of Baldelli, what manager would you like to see get the job? My guess is that anyone you’d name wouldn’t even be on the list. Obviously I don’t know for certain any of this would be the case, but I have little faith that it wouldn’t given what else ails the organization.

Nope, no nerve was hit. I’m saying that you and others question, disrespectfully, others who don’t agree with you hook, line and sinker. You said … if we don’t agree with you we are defending Rocco. Just pointing out how these threads go.

I think ash was saying that I had to treat him to a DQ, so you can treat me and he can treat you.

I spend time on the backfields checking out minor leaguers … that has a modest price tag of free. I also spend time watching the activity before actual games start and that also has a free price tag. And the DQ is nearby. (But so is Sun Harvest for most excellent soft serve.)

If you are angry about it, I would surmise then it’s you taking it just as personally. I think what Brock is trying to say that anytime anyone brings up the manager for discussion, those that want him gone belittle and shout down anyone’s opinions on the matter that don’t match those who are angry and want him gone. We have five Rocco threads on this one page alone … and of those, there were more that were merged into those to try and create a more central discussion. But it never is a discussion when one side thinks the other is wrong and how dare they. And you just stated this is how it is … if we don’t agree with you exactly we are now defending that which you abho, so it’s you, Hosken, Chief and others who simply cannot have a nuanced discussion with varying levels of disagreement unless it’s all or nothing. Right. And that statement encapsulates why we can never have a discussion on the manager because you and others think anything but good riddance is defending him. Yet Brock is taking this personally and you aren’t? Got it. I’ve stated many time I don’t think the manager is the main problem, and if not Rocco, it would be someone else just like him, carrying forth what the FO wants. In today’s game, I really don’t believe the manager has that much effect on the outcome. Sure, a few games here or there, but enough the make a huge difference? No, I don’t think so. I’ve also said I don’t really know the answer either. I’ve also said I wouldn’t be surprised either way if he stayed or was let go, and I won’t shed a tear or gnash my teeth either way, either. It’s a game. Just a game. One I hope they win, one I’m disappointed they lose, but it’s still just a game and life is out there yet to live. Yet I’m mocked for having such an opinion and my baseball acumen questioned as others are as well. Others who bring a lot of nuance to the conversation, nope,you tune it out, don’t listen, shout it down as defending. And you do so to those who are really quite studied and on their game about things. This one aspect of it, that gets brought up over and over, and shouted about in every game thread we have, is tired and old and one I just don’t think makes one bit of difference.

This has been my stance since forever. Since the beginning of the 2000s, through the end of the Ryan years. We changed Ryan, and here we are again. For me, the root isn’t even in the FO.

As will I. Probably my favorite time in baseball season. A new beginning. However, I do hope for other things, too. I am only human, after all.

I mean, yeah, I sort of get this, but then what does any complaint on a website accomplish? Nothing, really. I doubt what is said here about any ‘focus’ is having any affect on needed change. I guess then there is nothing left to discuss.

My comment about being too young, as back in the 90s and early aughts is that this was pretty common knowledge in baseball discussion groups. Didn’t think I needed to provide much more because of that.

Google is your friend. Perhaps you are just too young to remember. There are plenty of articles out there about how the Braves didn’t sell out their games in the post season because winning in the season wasn’t enough to convince people to sell out the house in the post season. Winning wasn’t enough. This is just one of many. “Braves fans have a reputation for being apathetic, at least as far as NLDS attendance goes, given their “ho-hum” run of 14 consecutive division titles that ended in 2005. The Braves have sold out only five of their past 13 NLDS games at Turner Field.” https://www.ajc.com/sports/baseball/will-braves-fans-have-urgency-about-this-postseason/hQb49Sr0VEtGwizqpAbKNP/

🙄

Yes. The Braves fans in the 90s did.

I thought you were going to say, "After all the head scratching ... I'm now bald." But the other is good, too. No two people think alike, though. We agree on some things, think alike on some things, but not other things.