Whoever we hire, only 3 rules. 1.Do not feed the players after midnight 2. Do not get them wet. 3. Do not expose them to sunlight.
The decisions by Dusty to rest players during the seasons and not go for sweeps like many of you complained about is a reason Dusty has a ring and why the bullpen was so dominant.
The decisions by Dusty to rest players during the seasons and not go for sweeps like many of you complained about is a reason Dusty has a ring and why the bullpen was so dominant.
Last year, he didnt have Seattle and Arlington breathing down our necks for the division title. He had the luxury of a good lead in the division to be able to do that. And I agree with you it helped us in the playoffs. This past year, he didnt have that luxury. Not only did we not have a good size division lead, we didnt lead the division at all for much of the year. We barely won the division on the last day. Sure, we could have gotten into the playoffs via wildcard, maybe, but I dont think an extra series is what we needed. Some guys were on fumes as it was.
Don't know about the Angels, because who can understand what they do?... He was fired in Detroit for being too lackadaisical in the clubhouse, buddy-buddy with the players (I saw a quote in the DetFreePress from a player calling it a "country club"), and also making some consistently questionable pitching decisions (which is weird, given he's Ausmus).
But "anyone can win with this team" according to most on here, as long as they get the lineups right. So none of what you say should be relevant. He could be a clubhouse disaster, but as long as he plays Diaz and Chas, the Astros should win the WS, if I understand correctly, because baseball is just math.
He should have been on everyone's list if they needed production at 1B. He was a steady and consistent producer, 2014 173 OPS+ 2015 135 OPS+ 2016 124 OPS+ 2017 141 OPS+ 2018 117 OPS+ 2019 118 OPS+ 2020 165 OPS+ MVP 2021 124 OPS+ 2022 124 OPS+ Why would you be overly concerned? He had his worst year, but this was as solid a decision as you can get at the time. I absolutely believe last year is the aberration.
Two completely different seasons. Dusty failed to adapt. What allowed the team to be dominant in 2022 did not work in 2023 but Dusty did the same thing anyway. The injuries and stiffer competition meant the Astros needed every win, to allow the type of reduced stress and freshness heading into the postseason, but because he gave up wins throughout the season that time wasn't available in September. Dusty's management style was perfect for 2022 but absolutely killed the team in 2023.
The Braves and Dodgers and Orioles and Rays and Twins and Brewers had lots of reduced stress and freshness heading into the postseason. You know who didn't? The two teams that barely made the playoffs and couldn't set their rotations or even have 2 days off between the regular season and playoffs and are playing for the World Series now. People just create whatever narratives they want to believe in so they can blame whoever they prefer to blame.
That's fine. But I believe if Dusty had played every game to win by keeping Maldy, Julks, and Dubon on the bench 75-90% of the games they started, then the team would have had the division sewn up days or maybe a week sooner and that may have helped the pitchers who were underwhelming in the ALCS. We will never know.
Dusty in a nutshell. But I will add, he wasnt the only manager out there who does things only one way. In our new skipper needs to be able to recognize changing circumstances.
So briefly, the depth AND AN EARLY LEAD should be managed differently than an injury plagued team PLAYING FROM BEHIND. What a concept which has nothing to do with RACE. Just BASEBALL. FYI My problem with Dusty has always been tactical decisions, not strategic ones until this past season when it became both.
Nothing to do with Race yet you wanted him fired/gone 1 year after winning a chip. Don’t really remember anyone wanting Hinch out after his mismanagement against the Royals…
Dusty couldn’t rest players in 2023 because most major players were hurt early, or lost a season after the WBC…..So the depth was not the same.
Still a question of TACTICS. Your lens is painted BLACK. You can't see through it. I gave AJ a longer leash because he used analytics to make tactical decisions most of the time.
