I use to like your stuff but now you’re just full of yourself.

http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Boy-That-Escalated-Quickly-Anchorman.gif

I know Wile E. Coyote had business cards made up proclaiming himself to be a super genius, but empirical evidence was really not on his side.

Much ado about blah blah blah…

It’s quite possible this is the case, but it’s also possible that Maddon is the type that can dish it out but can’t take it. He’s made comments like this before, but is also the first to use the “my team doesn’t do that” excuse as well.

Any who, hate the player, not the game…

Yeah, just look at how quickly the Royals and Pirates became successful with all of their high draft picks.

I don’t know it is the case, but you could interpret his comment as saying, “Here, I’ll give you something to harp on about me-silly, right?” Or he may have been slightly annoyed that Valentine brought up his name for no reason. Or any of a number of other possibilities. Actually, you could read Valentine as saying, essentially, “Look, the best manager in baseball gets to the ball park the same time I do.”

What is of course nonsense is thinking that Maddon is either a “tool” or arrogant. On the contrary, he is about as admirable a person as there is in sports. His “charitable” work is hands on, his compassion for people is real and his efforts to improve his community meaningful and creative.

How are Josh Hamilton, Dewon Brazelton, Rocco Baldelli, Wade Townsend, Josh Sale, and Levon Washington helping them? Delmon Young was traded for Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza. Bartlett was traded for 3 relievers last year, only 1 of which is still in the Organization. Garza was traded for Sam Fuld and 4 minor leaguers who have yet to make any meaningful contributions.

Maybe you should say “The Rays maximize draft picks, having the best rotation in baseball, and all of them are home grown. On 1 of those pitchers was picked ahead of round 4, which is extremely impressive. They cobbled together a bullpen made up of career castoffs, headlined by recently released Fernando Rodney, Kyle Farnesworth, and Joel Peralta. The fact that the Rays organization has been so successful with minimum contribututions from their top draft picks speaks volume about the quality of their scouts, farm system, GM, and manager”.

“So all those years the Rays got a top 5 draft pick, mostly the overall number one, they picked losers? Please… if you draft high every year it is only a matter of time before your team improves once all of that top talent starts to make it to the show.”

Where in there does it say that everyone that they have drafted in the first round is currently on the team? It says if you get high draft picks, which they did from 99-2008 (where their lowest pick was number 8) they will eventually be better, which they are. Throw in the good second and third round picks, mixed in with the trades, and you have a winning team.

Maddon gave an elbow to the chest of some who was trying to bring him into something he didn’t want to be involved in. If anyone ever said, “But Hittfamily does it too”, I will do something much more sever than make a joke at that person’s expense.