If my math is correct the 27 outs Jeff Mathis has a firm hand in creating are 9 times more valuable than 3 he gives up with bat.#angels—
Lyle Spencer (@LyleMSpencer) August 16, 2011

Vernon Wells' "maybe it's just society" quote really should become a meme – bit.ly/mPdqTw—
Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) September 19, 2011

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/19/no-surprise-vernon-wells-wont-opt-out-of-massive-contract/
http://www.fangraphs.com/not/index.php/create-a-meme-maybe-its-just-society/

He is a quirky manager, though, but so has Leyland been. I think most of the older managers are prone make some counter-factual moves. That so many of them seem to work out tells me that they know something we don’t when they make those moves. Or maybe it’s just faith in their players.

Besides, I got slammed pretty good a few times yesterday. I can take it. And I do believe I see Napoli flipping his middle finger in a generally Western direction…

He makes odd decisions. Playing vlad in the outfield in the world series. Benching Nelson Cruz for a week for no reason in 2010, not walking/walking Cabrera. Not using feliz/using feliz.

I think getting a managerial job is less lucky that what happens after you have it.

I think he makes bad decisions more often that he should. He gets bailed out by the quality of his team.

Don’t forget he got the dreaded “vote of confidence” from Tom Hicks midway through the 2008 or 9 season. There was a Ron Washington death watch at the time. Everyone expected him to be fired, then the rangers started winning.

Joe Girardi, Terry Francona, Tony LaRussa, Jim Leyland, Bruce Bochy, in fact any MLB manager is “lucky” even to have a job that they last in. Those guys are lucky, it’s a defining trait of being a manager and themselves as people. The unlucky don’t get the job or last, regardless of worth as a manager (see Wakamatsu, Don or Riggleman, Jim; good sound, knowledgeable baseball guys & relatively decent people if reports are to be gone by. Not lucky with the situation they found himself in though = no longer managing).

Success = Lucky + good manager of resources + good resources + recognizing when you have good resources. For the reverse of this case see Scioscia, Mike & Napoli, Mike…and Buatista, Jose + 5 different teams in one season, Cruz, Nelson and waivers, etc,..say, who kept sending that guy Cruz, Nelson out there to hit even when he wasn’t playing so hot? Wasn’t that Washington, Ron? So that = “recognizing when you have good resources”.

Articles reflecting on the sucktitude of the Mets, the Braves collapse, and making fun of the Marlins new stadium are questionable, but would be considered acceptable for these purposes since the offseason is upon us and the whole content drives pageviews thing.

In all seriousness, when the day closes, there will be at least 2 or 3 people on this thread pointing out to you, either with cherry picked facts/stats or the old ad hominem attack why you are wrong. So I thought I’d beat them to it and get this tip of the old Blue Jays cap to you (and Ron Washington, too) before the blitz starts.

As for Scioscia, the Angels always play hard and they have excellent starting pitching. Clearly their no-bid on Lackey was the right move. But I’ve said it here before about losing an offensive force like Napoli, you simply don’t do that in an era of declining offense.

What’s my opinion of Napoli’s performance!? What the BLEEP do you think is my opinion of it? I think it was BLEEPING BLEEP. Put that in, I don’t give a BLEEP. Opinion of his performance!!? What the BLEEP do you mean, “What is my opinion of his performance?” How could you ask me a question like that, “What is my opinion of his performance?” BLEEP. I’m BLEEPING pissed off he had that BLEEPING game. And you ask me my opinion of his performance! BLEEP. That’s a tough question to ask me, isn’t it? “What is my opinion of his performance?”

On another tangent……I’d like to hear from other fantasy owners who had Napoli (admittedly got him cheap….$1) and dumped him in June when he was hitting something like .188 and Mr. Washington couldn’t seem to get him into the lineup with much regularity. Of course, he got hotter than Beyonce’s thong the DAY after I dropped him……….bastard!

The scary thing, for Angels fans, is not just how starkly this calls into question Scioscia’s ability to judge offensive talent; that was a given, with the considerable record he has of putting his trust in RISP and RISP2 hitting as a repeatable skill. This makes Scioscia look like an ignoramus about the defensive aspect of catching as well. Whoever is the next Angels GM — and the current reports are that the organization is interviewing people from the Yankees — will have considerable reason to doubt he’s all that. The glow from 2002 is finally worn off, and Scioscia’s nonsensical adherence to religious tenets about the game learned while with the Dodgers make him look stupid and dogmatic.