MLB 2018 regular season thread

Hard to believe they're only four years removed from a division title and ALCS appearance, and two removed from a wild card.
Weird decade for them. They went from six straight 90-loss seasons, to three playoff appearances in five years, and back to a 115-loss season. Teams always wax and wane, but that's a wild swing in 12 years.

 

Molitor out in Minnesota:

 

Even was given a three-year extension after last season.

But the Twins hired a new brain trust after Molitor was hired. They sure couldn't fire him after last season. But now?

I could see Sandy Alomar being a hot candidate. Both Twins and Jays are run by former Indians execs.

 

THey got lucky in a bunch of ways, maybe because both the Yankees and Red Sox were in a down cycle.

 

I think he'd love to manage, but I believe he'd be an all-time great coach (if there is such a thing). You can see it in his broadcasting and everything you've ever read about him. The guy is a natural-born coach. He LOVES talking about hitting and when you see him demonstrate his points, you think he could make Greg Bird into Babe Ruth.

That said, I don't think he connects well enough with humans (whether it's players or front office or media) to be effective as a manager. He'll make millions as a broadcaster for far less work and scrutiny, and I think, ultimately, that's better for him.

 

Somewhat off topic, they caught the L.A. burglars who robbed Puig multiple times as well as other celebrities. It was a crew of teenaged gang members who got away with it for a while.

Burglars hit homes of Yasiel Puig and Rihanna but also set sights on LeBron James and Matt Damon, police say - Los Angeles Times

 

It's interesting how some great players make great coaches—Larry Bird, say—but some just can't make the transition. I'm thinking Wayne Gretzky, for instance. I think he knew the game in a way that made it hard for lesser talents to follow him. I feel like A-Rod has the baseball intellect; I just don't know that he has the personality for it.

 

Ted Williams and Ty Cobb are two prominent baseball examples of superstar players who were just OK managers. Pete Rose was a decent manager, but he had a huge blind spot when it came to putting himself in the lineup over clearly better players (hello, Nick Esasky) while trying to break Cobb’s hits record.

Not counting pre-1950 player-managers, the best examples of great players who became great managers were probably Joe Torre and Red Schoendienst. Most of the other top managers of the modern era have been back-up catchers (Bochy, Leyland, Maddon, Girardi) and utility infielders (Cox, LaRussa, Weaver, Anderson, Martin).

 

Duquette and Showalter gone from the Orioles.

 

To quote John Lennon, I think he passed the audition.

2018 MLB Rookie Of The Year: Shohei Ohtani

 

Meh. He wasn't ready.