Moneyballers Of The World...Unite!
What the hell is going on here? Now Theo Epstein has resigned from the Red Sox? Earlier in the week, Paul DePodesta was canned by the Dodgers. And Manny has again demanded a trade. My whole world is crumbling. Just to put out scenarios here, the ideal solution would be if Billy Beane came to Boston and DePodesta went to the A's. As for Manny, he asks for a trade once a week, so I am really not worried. Who the hell wants to pick up that salary? Actually, now that McCourt canned DePodesta, I can totally see them being stupid enough to take on that money. I don't think Beane will leave Oakland, though. He was offered the job once before, took it, and then changed his mind.
Here are a sampling of articles on the Epstein and DePodesta matters. I will add more as I find them. Please feel free to put some links in the comments section. Or comments, for that matter.
ESPN on Epstein
Epstein's Statement
Pete Gammons on Epstein (ESPN Insider)
ESPN on DePodesta
Jerry Crasnick on DePodesta
ESPN on Pat Gillick replacing DePodesta
Matt Welch on Depodesta
Pete Gammons on DePodesta (ESPN Insider)
Atheletics Nation on Depodesta
Scott Miller on DePodesta
Bob Keisser on DePodesta
Deadspin on DePodesta
Geoff Baker on the "death" of Moneyball
Athletics Nation on the Oakland Project
Bill Simmons on Epstein
posted by andy grabia @ 5:06 PM
4 long time listeners, first time callers
4 Comments:
If the competition want to be irrational, then by all means let them be. It means more wins for us.
I expect more will come out about the Epstein situation. It could be a personality clash with the ownership, but it could just as easily be about cash.
The $1.2 M he was offered isn't quite the equal of what some of the league's other GM's get. Cashman gets $1.66 M, Phil Garner just extended for $1.5 M (while 137-99 with the Astros, his Brewers and Pirates stints mean he's only 845-901 lifetime). Beane apparently makes $2.5 M (on the face of it, not a very Moneyball investment, but I bet he's worth it in terms of value created).
Shouldn't the leader of the team with baseball's 2nd highest payroll, and who has delivered high performance (a World Series and consistent playoff trips), have a salary that's in the top 5 among managers? I'd think so. And no "youth" argument would make me think otherwise. The scope of the job and level of performance say he's earned it.
As for Manny, well, that's just "Manny being Manny", right?
Theo's departure is seriously depressing for me, partly because of him and what he brought to the club, partly because his assistant (and the logical successor) has already bolted for Arizona, and partly because it's likely that they'll hire some old-school baseball schmuck like Pat Gillick to run the club, and his solution will be to throw $100 million at Johnny Damon and AJ Burnett.
I'll try to post something on the GM carousel tomorrow.
What are we supposed to make of this: "In my time as General Manager, I gave my entire heart and soul to the organization. During the process leading up to today's decision, I came to the conclusion that I can no longer do so."?
Guesses...
"I can no longer give my entire heart and soul to the organization" because:
A) Phil Garner works half as hard as me and gets paid more
B) I really don't like my boss
C) I'm having a personal crisis
D) I'm in love! I don't care about working, I just want to take long walks on the beach in Nantucket.
The "Death of Moneyball" article by Baker makes me so angry I can barely think straight.
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