Dana Brown needs to prove out as a genius in scouting and player development, because he sure does come off terribly in interviews as the face of the front office. Exudes zero confidence, speaks pretty much only in non-sequiters. Every clip I see of him is, as the kids say, very cringe.
I see you have never really spent a lot of time in suburbs of New York. Yes, they are quite real and I would say about 1/3 of NY is just like this. Some of the women are a little different - and then you have the people that immigrate to NY, but those people will have kids - and their kids be just like these guys. Don't ever bring up B. Joel or F. Sinatra either unless you want to see them go into a mental overload. As you can see there are three types of Yankees fans - The Grimace shaped guy that sells perfume in the mall but for some reason thinks that he is God's gift to mankind, even though his mother pays his rent. The guy shaped like a thumb that has a difficult time expressing his emotions or having relationships with people, so he paints his face and his entire identity is that a drunk girl at the game one time told him he looks like Luke Volt. The third type is the older Yankee fan that usually looks like Thurman Munson or Lou Pinella. These guys have worked for "the local" for 45 years, retire with a full pension at 52 years old - and killed people for the mob when they were teenagers. They think that Thomas Jefferson was Sherman Hemsley from The Jefferson's and they believe Don Mattingly should be a first ballot Hall of Famer.
He isn't himself in interviews - I don't think he really wants to do them, and tries to be overly nice or an "every man". I have seen some cringe interviews - the Rockets GM is pretty bad and actually Jerry West was a bad interview, because he wasn't himself either. Dana Brown will talk in circles - and never gives a definitive answer until sometimes AFTER the fact. I remember him casually after the 2023 season in an interview say "I knew we were a pitcher and a half short, even with Verlander. I did everything possible but no one was helping us out".... this is after he made the statement that the Astros pitching was good enough during the 2023 season. I think Brown is smart and knows what he is doing - but it is hard to know how much ACTUAL control he has. He had to step lightly around Baker for a year. He then had his free agency last year really neutered because of Hader and the fascination Crane has with him. It is a lot like the situation with Click - you can get a general idea of "pass" or "fail" but it is hard to know just how good they are because so many decisions were made before them, there are budget and organizational limits as well.
He's going to be 10/$400 minimum. I'm thinking it'll be closer to 12/$500... the table has been set for all star players.
100%, Brown is likely a very smart baseball man. His time with Toronto and Atlanta attest to it. He's in an impossible situation due to Crane and his merry HOF misfits have a very bad direction for the organization compared to the direction that created the 1st real long lasting dynasty in Houston professional sports. His moves have generally worked out, while being hamstrung by Crane's horrible financial decisions. Signning Bregman to an awful deal would be another horrible decision dictated from Crane, when you can easily replicate Bregman's bat in the aggregrate. A forward thinking organization would be looking to trade Framber and Tucker, to rebuild the lineup and minors while also bringing in FAs to replace them for more cost control. It's not ideal, but it's also reality. Crane says he is willing to spend, but he spends in unintelligent ways.
From Pin Stripe Alley: I'm not cynical on this site but my quick takes: Soto- As the final numbers come out, I cannot believe people can say with a straight face that he was not greedy. His worth is NOT 800 million dollars. He never cared for NYY, the fans in RF, the gestures were all part of a well thought out marketing scheme. The red flag was him saying he was open for business literally 10 minutes after a devastating world series loss. I understand he worked hard to be in this position, but it was straight up disrespectful for every one of his teammates that were playing their hearts out for pennies. Good luck playing for the Mets, if he doesn't win a couple of rings then I feel sorry for their fanbase. I've never seen a Yankee fan base rally around someone like the way they did Soto, this is a town where Jeter was booed. and... It is true that he was especially candid right after the WS ended. Most players would reflect on the game, say they need time, etc. Soto’s mind entered free agency immediately. I am enjoying this a little too much.
Cole did the same thing, and they were happy to sign him. Funny NYY are crying at being a poverty franchise.
Not sarcastic. Just realistic. If Soto is worth 600+ to dh in the future, tucker isn’t worth under 400.
I am hearing the big Soto difference was Verlander's money that came off the books by not reaching the IP milestone.
There were reports that Houston are the dark horse. Thank god, Titanic avoided. He is worth a lot of money, but not close to a billion dollar. Good for Soto, a lot of muh la las. I love Soto signing with NY Mets, it is a slap in the face to the Spankees. I'm sure hatred will begin once NY Mets take more headline. Spoiled team (Spankees) vs rich spoiled team (Mets). Are they still paying Bobby Bonilla
