This is my point. This is exactly who I think AJ is/was.

And the other point is fans will always disagree with a move a manager makes.

Basketball and Chain said:

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Weird for an analytics organization to hire a manager carrying the "old school" tag. Guess that's what you get when a non-baseball guy is calling the shots. We just need someone to come in and keep the status quo. Baker seems like a big personality that doesn't really fit with what we have going on. I guess we'll see....

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The Astros are perceived as an analytically advanced organization because that's how Luhnow built the club. Now that he's gone, there's no telling how forward-thinking the club will continue to be.

I'm fine with agreeing to disagree. I just think it's more in the middle with AJ and you don't think so.

I'm sure there is some aspect of pushing a button, but I also guarantee there was aspects of him making decisions on his own.

I think you really hurt your own argument when you look at the 2017 WS. Dave Roberts was like a robot, sticking with the same formula 4 games in a row. Don't allow a starter to go 6 innings and then get to that BP.

Hinch literally did things he had not done. Is the game plan throw LMJ for 4 innings, go to Liriano (only game he pitched in) and then close it out with 3 innings from CFM? The numbers might have favored all of that, but Hinch still had to interpret those numbers and decide to roll with that. How that Game 7 played out in 2017, and like Deluxe said, game 6, I can guarantee you it wasn't on any analytical gameplan.

Anyway - I'll end there. I will also say if we were discussing AJs approach with offensive philosophy, I'd be much more on board with you there.

So, as far as Dusty Baker goes, if that's the guy, he's not my favorite hire, but he's not the end of the world for the Astros.

As long as we keep Strom around, I'm going to stay confident in the pitching.

Honestly, if Dusty has an offensive philosophy that is a little more aggressive than AJ, I think we could be even more potent on offense. If he even can in still just a little bit more of just moving guys over in certain situations, we might be able to increase rally chances. Despite the record setting pace of the offense the last few years, that's been my one and only real complaint. We saw it killed us in the WS against elite pitching when we might have had them more on the ropes than they'd like to have been.

how popular was hinch when he was hired? surely not very popular, was a retread, had failed at his only other manager job

Nino Brown said:

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Told ya. Dusty won't put up with **** from the media and will allow players to play. Perfect for the current situation.

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You know... this is a good take. And I think it's the exact reason he was hired.

Even if I did freak out a little when I saw it.

So instead of "Hinched" do we say "Bakered"?

We have a dude at work with Baker as his last name. We definitely say "Bakered up" when he ****s something up, or "you got Bakered" when he calls in sick over and over.

JABQ04 said:

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So instead of "Hinched" do we say "Bakered"?

We have a dude at work with Baker as his last name. We definitely say "Bakered up" when he ****s something up, or "you got Bakered" when he calls in sick over and over.

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I take exception to that.

ClickClack said:

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JABQ04 said:

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So instead of "Hinched" do we say "Bakered"?

We have a dude at work with Baker as his last name. We definitely say "Bakered up" when he ****s something up, or "you got Bakered" when he calls in sick over and over.

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I take exception to that.

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Baked?

Rustys-Beef-o-Reeno said:

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ClickClack said:

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JABQ04 said:

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So instead of "Hinched" do we say "Bakered"?

We have a dude at work with Baker as his last name. We definitely say "Bakered up" when he ****s something up, or "you got Bakered" when he calls in sick over and over.

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I take exception to that.

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Baked?

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Baker'ing something up should be a good thing.

My dad was nicknamed after Dusty when he played high school ball.

Etc.

Dusty. Just a weird name.

AJ was far from analytics only. Maybe his gut was different than yours but he certainly had the freedom in-game to do what he wanted to do.

suburban cowboy said:

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Dusty. Just a weird name.

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Sigh. Baker. My last name's Baker.

Dusty
Banister
Ausmus

Those were the final three candidates in order per my little birdie

DVC2010 said:

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Basketball and Chain said:

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Weird for an analytics organization to hire a manager carrying the "old school" tag. Guess that's what you get when a non-baseball guy is calling the shots. We just need someone to come in and keep the status quo. Baker seems like a big personality that doesn't really fit with what we have going on. I guess we'll see....

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The Astros are perceived as an analytically advanced organization because that's how Luhnow built the club. Now that he's gone, there's no telling how forward-thinking the club will continue to be.

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Would be insanely dumb to go against the strategy that built a championship. I'd like to think Crane is smarter than that.

I'm pretty convinced that Jim was 100 percent in on analytics after Luhnow was through with him. He bought every bit of technology Jeff asked for to make the club as cutting edge as it is.

The daily meetings between the analytics people and Dusty would be quite entertaining to observe.
On the bright side, we didn't get stuck with Ausmus.

Dusty would probably just fall asleep.

Baseball is like every other industry nowadays, you need know hows and you need analytics.
Relying solely on the computer's thoughts has been pretty stupid from my observations in business.

So official announcement tomorrow?

I hope not lost in all this Baker BS is that the MLB's VP of baseball ops is being considered as the new GM... a mole directly from the office of the ***** Manfred himself. Likely involved in the investigation. If hired, no doubt in my mind the MLB forced him on us.

You can't make this **** up. It's like when the US tries to install leadership after a successful invasion and it goes terribly wrong. Same *****

Want to continue to innovate? Why not hire the Giants washed up GM who signs old players to sunset contracts or the league suit who was an assistant GM of a terrible diamondbacks team and was washed up to end up in the league office.

I know he was big on original money all, but the game has come a long way since then.

that's what I liked best about Luhnow --- he understood not to give long-term contracts to old players.

I think 5 years was the most he ever gave a player...contract or extension. (Altuve)

one thing about Dusty...he was never afraid or intimidated by Tony LaRussa --- like so many other managers were.

he'll mix it up with anybody...opposing manager or player

Teddy Perkins said:

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So official announcement tomorrow?

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Lets hope that "new coach" isn't replacing Espada or Strom or Pettis.

Espada seems like the likely candidate since he didn't get the job. Kind of an odd position to be in to work for the guy who beat you out for the job.

Assuming we hire Baker and keep Strom, our manager and pitching coach will be 70 and 71 years old, respectively.

Aren't there some movies or prominent sports examples out there where the old coach/professor inherits a team/class full of younger folks and, after smoothing over some initial generational differences, both sides learn something from eachother and everyone is ultimately better off?