Terminator

Are you still upset that he called the board "insufferable"?

They guy was known as Drunk Jays Fans for a decade. Now the score owns that name and Stoeten can't take it with him. The only other name recognition he has is his real name, Andrew Stoeten. After getting kicked to the curb I can see him trying to drag his followers with him and the easiest way to identify himself is to use what is most recognizable.

What's so bad about andrewstoeten.com? I don't get it.

I have those same concerns but the one thing he does have going for him is that he's young for a FA. A 5 year deal only pays him through his age 32 season. I could see him holding up that long.

Corner OF/1B isn't even a position of need either.

This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

This trade isn't THAT bad. Lind is a platoon DH (or piss poor defensive 1B if you're willing) with big injury concerns that makes 7.5 million. He isn't going to get you much in a trade especially when one trick ponies like him are plentiful in FA (assuming your team doesn't already have a guy like him already). To get Estrada who is a serviceable swingman who will pull in around 4 million isn't that bad of a deal.

Well you just rattled off 8 replacement level players. Right there would be a good start?

Agreed. I'd rather have Francisco.

That's ridiculous.

It does make some sense and they've got a ton of money to spend so why not. But my point is that the cult of the GM is just way too overblown. There are 1000's of people out there who could be really good GM's.

GM's and managers can be replaced. Their skillsets aren't as rare as good players. Rays ownership just needs to make the right hire at the top although there is definitely a chance that they are unable to do that.

I wouldn't resign Melky but hopefully it's nothing longer than 3 years if we do.

That's not the worst deal they've given out but that's A LOT of money for a GM.

So far you're the only one to get the point of the article. He does kind of have a good point IMO but I see yours as well. As the article says, there doesn't seem to be a ton of new breakout developments lately are there? A decade ago you could easily point them out. Now I don't find it to be so clear. But that's all conjecture based upon my own opinions so I could be wrong.

I thought it was an interesting read so I thought I'd share. https://sports.vice.com/article/how-wall-street-strangled-the-life-out-of-sabermetrics?utm_vicesportstwitter

Interesting article on some of the poor character guys Friedman has signed. I forgot about Willy Aybar. After the Ray Rice incident something like that wouldn't fly today. https://sports.vice.com/article/moneyball-or-sleazeball-andrew-friedman-and-the-future-of-the-dodgers?utm_vicesportstwitter

Oh ok I understand now.

Ownership letting a GM doing what it wants was not the point of my post. Ownership deciding that they want to employ a modern team building philosophy is my point. The Rays are who they are because ownership employs a modern team building approach. The Jays are who they are because Rogers employs whatever-the-hell style you'd call it to build the team. Like I said before, and Hurl agreed with, there are hundreds of Friedman's out there. The most important front office decision is to find one and hire them. As for Billy Beane, he, like Friedman, is another example of someone who is treated as a demigod and it's simply unwarranted. He's not a genius, he's just someone who embraces the right way to build a team.

So you are devoted to him because he is relatable rather than because you think he is a unique talent? And you only see him as special in that he was the one lucky enough to get a GM job? That makes way more sense to me know.

Friedman isn't a 70's era Bill James where he's one of just a couple of people on the planet who has a deep understanding of advanced statistics. The cat is out of the bag when it comes to sabremetrics and there is a whole generation of fans who have grown up embracing them. The only reason Friedman stands out is because he is one of the statheads who was actually given the chance to use this advanced team building philosophy. Yes, he's very smart and a good GM but he stands out because not many teams are employing forward thinking front offices like the Rays do. What Friedman brings to the table isn't so unique that plenty of other people couldn't bring that same approach, save for Friedman's experience. Matter of fact, Friedman comes from a business and finance background and hires statisticians to do a lot of his heavy lifting. As baseball slowly embraces Friedman's modern approach, you'll see more and more Friedman-like GM's until eventually almost every team has one. I would place a bet that there are hundreds of people out there who could build a winning baseball team, including some on this board. That's why it's so funny to me that Friedman has a cult-like following on this board. He's a dude who has good management skills, decision making, and is open-minded enough to employ forward thinking staff members around him. I'm sure that there are plenty of people who could be good GM's in the same way that Friedman is. Friedman's talent shouldn't be mistaken for someone like Jose Bautista. Being able to hit a baseball like Bautista is incredibly rare, being good at making decisions like Friedman is not as rare. There is one front office decision that matters more than anything else right now, and that's ownership's willingness to embrace the modern team building philosophy. Friedman is gone, but the Rays are going to hire someone just like him and the dropoff won't be as nearly as large as people think (they could hire someone better for all we know) because their ownership embraces that philosophy. The Rays made a good decision in hiring their last GM, my guess is they can do it again.

Can a fanboy please explain to me why they love Friedman so much? Hurl, BTS, anybody?