I think in his mind he had a players manager and look what happened. The players ran a sign stealing operation and the manager did nothing.

Now he wants a hard nosed manager who'll run a tight ship and keep things in line.

Yea that could be a factor too.

wangus12 said:

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AggiEE said:

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LA City Council to vote on resolution demanding Dodgers be given 2017 and 2018 World Series trophies

https://sports.yahoo.com/los-angeles-dodgers-world-series-astros-red-sox-cheating-trophies-043201984.html


This whole thing is blowing up right now. So many other teams are going to be implicated. If MLB doesn't investigate all these claims that are now coming out and only impose harsh punishments on the Astros, that's going to be completely ****ed up.

I hope people keep talking

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What aggravates me is that we got in trouble because Mike Fiers brought this stuff to light and people chased it. Now Logan Morrison, another active player, is saying other teams including the Dodgers were/are doing it, but we hear no mention of them being investigated. Same thing goes with MLB Network saying the Astros new of or provided evidence that several other teams were doing the same thing.

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Because this was a rumor for a long time. MLB got their man and wants to move on.

Ag_07 said:

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Plus with ST so close no one would be quick to give them the flack for hiring the guy already on staff.

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There's already been an article questioning whether hiring Espada is truly cleaning house. There would be more if he was just given the position this quick. And while a promising candidate that interviewed for open manager jobs, He didn't get any, so is he truly ready?

Quote:

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LA City Council to vote on resolution demanding Dodgers be given 2017 and 2018 World Series trophies

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City governments are too stupid to insult

That's a good point about him not getting a job and his readiness. I'm in no position to say if he is or isn't ready.

I was just saying I don't think these names we're seeing are for PR purposes. I think they're legit candidates and it's my guess we end up with one.

Not the direction I would go but I'm not a billionaire who gets to make those kinds of decisions.

I think Crane is going to do what he thinks will get him in the most favored light possible with MLB, the media, owners, etc. I hope I'm wrong, but that is my guess as to his motivation. I do not think the Showalter interview was for show.

WelchAg said:

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I think Crane is going to do what he thinks will get him in the most favored light possible with MLB, the media, owners, etc. I hope I'm wrong, but that is my guess as to his motivation. I do not think the Showalter interview was for show.

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Agreed. My tinfoil hat belief is that Crane was told he could keep the franchise and trophy IF (a) Luhnow and Hinch were gone, (b) he cleans house in the front office, and (c) brings in a trusted manager. Baseball owners do not want a trigger-happy commissioner (they don't want to be the next Donald Sterling, nor do they want the league investigating their teams), so I'm not sure how much leverage Manfred really had. Doesn't matter because Crane folded without calling his bluff.

AggiEE said:

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LA City Council to vote on resolution demanding Dodgers be given 2017 and 2018 World Series trophies

https://sports.yahoo.com/los-angeles-dodgers-world-series-astros-red-sox-cheating-trophies-043201984.html


This whole thing is blowing up right now. So many other teams are going to be implicated. If MLB doesn't investigate all these claims that are now coming out and only impose harsh punishments on the Astros, that's going to be completely ****ed up.

I hope people keep talking

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LA is quickly becoming the Tonya Harding of this whole scandal. Couldn't have happened to a nicer city.

Working on our new hashtag...

#bucked
#gibbed
#espada'd

I could see us getting #bucked quite a bit.

iBrad said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Plus with ST so close no one would be quick to give them the flack for hiring the guy already on staff.

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There's already been an article questioning whether hiring Espada is truly cleaning house. There would be more if he was just given the position this quick. And while a promising candidate that interviewed for open manager jobs, He didn't get any, so is he truly ready?

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If we don't hire Espada, they will cry racism

It's a no win situation orchestrated by the New York overlords

What is you hire Raul Ibanez?

MAROON said:

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Ideally he needs to hire the new GM and then let the GM hire the Manager. But due to the time crunch what he should do is hire Espada as an interim. Then hire the GM, who then can evaluate Espada over the season and then decide if he wants to go in a different direction or take the interim tag off.

Buck, Bruce, and Dusty will still be available next year if that is really who the new GM would want.

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That's exactly what I've been saying the past few days. Ideally you want the manager to be the GM's guy. Helps keep everyone aligned and accountable. It worked very well with Hinch as Luhnow's guy. They were always on the same page.

However, I'm starting to think that Crane doesn't want someone with zero manager experience (Espada) managing the team this year with all the inevitable distractions. Spring training is going to be a zoo and every local beatwriter on every road trip we take is going to want to talk about the scandal. Might be best to have an experienced, external hand in charge.

Regardless of which manager we bring in, hope Crane makes it imperative that they keep Strom/Espada for continuity. Like others have rightly pointed out, we have a good thing going and need to retain most of it.

I know one thing...It'll be interesting to see how an old school manager would deal with some of the guys on this team.

Could you imagine Buck Showalter dealing with and addressing Bregman's camera stare downs, Correa's inevitable phantom injury, Springer's postgame music choice, Reddick's robes and belts, etc etc.

wangus12 said:

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What aggravates me is that we got in trouble because Mike Fiers brought this stuff to light and people chased it. Now Logan Morrison, another active player, is saying other teams including the Dodgers were/are doing it, but we hear no mention of them being investigated. Same thing goes with MLB Network saying the Astros new of or provided evidence that several other teams were doing the same thing.

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After reading Alex Wood's comments, I have zero sympathy for the Dodgers. He basically said the Dodgers were aware of the Astros sign stealing and that he effectively switched up his signs to conceal them during his game 4 outing, in which he pitched 5.2 innings of 1 hit/1 run ball. Fair enough. That's how a good competitor should act.

But if you were aware the Astros were stealing signs and you had a proven method for concealing them, WHY DID YOU NOT HAVE ALL YOUR PITCHERS SWITCH UP THEIR SIGN SEQUENCING?

I think its going to be Espada, Crane has to make it look like he did his due diligence to hire outside the organization, but it just makes too much sense to roll with Joe

Ag_07 said:

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I know one thing...It'll be interesting to see how an old school manager would deal with some of the guys on this team.

Could you imagine Buck Showalter dealing with and addressing Bregman's camera stare downs, Correa's inevitable phantom injury, Springer's postgame music choice, Reddick's robes and belts, etc etc.

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I hadn't thought of that. Would be a funny dynamic...

CFTXAG10 said:

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I think its going to be Espada, Crane has to make it look like he did his due diligence to hire outside the organization, but it just makes too much sense to roll with Joe

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From a baseball standpoint, x's and o's standpoint and continuity standpoint... I agree. And in MLB circles, he was clearly "on deck" in terms of candidates to fill future openings, although that it's possible other front offices would now shy away given his association to the 2018 Astros.

I just don't know if you want a first time manager in charge of dealing with the media circus that will be the 2020 Astros. And not sure you want someone associated with the 2018 team (which was convicted in the Manfred Report) fielding questions on a new Astros culture.

But I could certainly be wrong.

BMX Bandit said:

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Springer agreed to $21mm for 2020

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Yes!

BMX Bandit said:

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Springer agreed to $21mm for 2020

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Very good news

Edit: nevermind, saw this was already discussed. Still hilarious

LA City Council expected to pass a vote that requests the MLB to revoke the Astros and Red Sox titles in '17 and '18 and award them both to the Dodgers hahah can't make this stuff up

. . . said:

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Ken Rosenthal probably talked him out of it!

I guess we will see just how much change there is by seeing how many IBB's we issue and how much we shift. That will be the most obvious set of metrics.

third coast.. said:

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Aggie8587 said:

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Edit: nevermind, saw this was already discussed. Still hilarious

LA City Council expected to pass a vote that requests the MLB to revoke the Astros and Red Sox titles in '17 and '18 and award them both to the Dodgers hahah can't make this stuff up

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Yep. Must have solved all the issues LA is facing. Bravo to them. They deserve it.

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In their minds governments should be totalitarian so they probably see no issue with governments determining who won a game.

Deluxe said:

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CFTXAG10 said:

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I think its going to be Espada, Crane has to make it look like he did his due diligence to hire outside the organization, but it just makes too much sense to roll with Joe

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From a baseball standpoint, x's and o's standpoint and continuity standpoint... I agree. And in MLB circles, he was clearly "on deck" in terms of candidates to fill future openings, although that it's possible other front offices would now shy away given his association to the 2018 Astros.

I just don't know if you want a first time manager in charge of dealing with the media circus that will be the 2020 Astros. And not sure you want someone associated with the 2018 team (which was convicted in the Manfred Report) fielding questions on a new Astros culture.

But I could certainly be wrong.

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And you could be right. That is kind of the eerie feeling now because nobody really knows what Crane's intentions are. I have asked around to a few people who interact with him on a somewhat regular basis, and even they are in the dark.

I think the media part will be fine. By the time they have to answer to the media sometime on or after February 15th they will be well coached on what to say and what not to say. I expect a lot of "We are focused on this season, not the past" , "We are only worried about who is here in the clubhouse", etc.

Fair points. Now that Bochy is basically out of the running, I can't say any of the external candidates excite me enough to justify passing on Espada...

Bannister - meathead, Rangers connection, vocal denier of analytics
Showalter/Baker - old school, too clashy with current players (do they know what "analytics" are?)
Gibbons - seems like decent dude but track record not very impressive
Ibanez/Venable - might as well just keep Espada if we're going the inexperienced route

Venable is interesting - played basketball and baseball at Princeton University - played 8 seasons in MLB - only 37 years old so he lacks the old/tired harda** mentality - Been with the Cubs for 3 seasons as 1B/3B coach - I wonder if you could hire Espada as manager and bring in Venable as the new bench coach?

Venable is an interesting candidate

No managerial experience but he did serve as an assistant to Theo Epstein before joining the coaching staff of the Cubs.