I'd like to take a moment of silence for the careers of Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Homer Bailey, and Johnny Cueto.
Why?
Because the Reds hired this man...
I've maintained for years that Dusty Baker is a good manager to have when you have a lot of vets on a squad and are not trying to integrate rookies into the mix. Put him on a team that's trying to rebuild however, and you've got problems.
Simply put, Baker can't help himself but abuse young pitchers and unless they got powerful arms able to withstand abuse, he's going to ruin some careers. We've seen it several times, most notably in Chicago, where he may have destroyed the careers of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.
Morisato
One can put and sum up Baker's signing in one word ............uninspiring !
And that may well be how the team will perform in '08 and beyond.
I don't see how this helps the Reds, but again the NL is weak so maybe Dusty gives them whatever they've been missing all these years. The Reds are terrible in too many aspects of the game, for this signing to mean much.
Dusty Rhodes would have been a better hire. I can't respect any baseball man who uses the phrase "clog the basepaths."
Dusty Rhodes as manager? I smell comedy emmy: Ya thee Mithta Tom Brenaman, we gotta get people on the bathepaths for Adam Dunn to get us to dah pay winduh. Then we throw our Athe, Mr Arroyo, if you wheel.
You liar, they wouldn't do...holy colon cobra they really did!
You might think his management style with pitchers is overblown...but every time you hear him on TV, he's basically validating everyone's criticism. He often says things like "I would have let him pitch his way out of trouble"....or "he could have lasted another inning". I honestly think he is truly that delusional.
I can't say that he destroyed Kerry Wood & Mark Prior, but he certainly didn't help them.
But ultimately, the Reds will have to make major personnel moves in order to win. Signing Baker should have little or no affect on their success.
I guess the good news is that Cincy can't get any worse than they are already. Oh wait, yes they can...they could be the Pirates.
Thank God I don't have to worry about the Reds for 3 years. Look for a mass exdous from Cincy come next years end. Dusty did ruin Prior's career and probably finished Wood's. May Cincy fold like a lawn chair under his leadership. With Cincy making that hiring Marge just rolled over in her grave and Harry is laughing at her.
I'm a long time Texas Rangers fan who has come to love baseball as a whole. I recently began this blog as a way for me to showcase my opinions, provide some analysis, and hopefully entertain those who happen to stumble upon my little soapbox online. I'll toss in an NFL, College, or NBA nugget every now and then. Enjoy the posts everyone, and yes, getting a little love in a Deadspin post was probably the highlight of the year, blogwise.
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