The whole Holliday thing was silly to begin with.

I interpreted TLR’s comments about analysis of players differently than you did. The scout vs. numbers argument is almost as old as baseball itself and will likely never go away. A little dissent or cynicism is healthy.

For instance, D. Duncan or one of the other pitching coaches in the organization pulls a young pitcher aside and tells him he can get minor leaguers out all day long but he is going to have to improve his secondary pitches if he wants to pitch at the next level. He can continue to use his best pitch in the tight situations and put up the good numbers that excite all the numbers crunchers or he can start using his other pitches in those situations. In the short term, his numbers might suffer but, eventually, he may have another out pitch so the major league hitters will not be able to sit on the pitch that got him the outs at lower levels.

I’m hoping Mitchell Boggs is one of the guys working on something Duncan may have suggested a year or two ago.

Brian, I liked your comment about woof. Shawn Estes is trying out for the Dodgers this year and Vin Scully will drive me up the wall if I have to listen to him pronounce the guy’s name as S Tease all year long.

Disclaimer: Vin Scully is the greatest announcer ever in any sport and is still my favorite. At 80, he is past his prime, though.

The best way to lead is by example.

There was also sniping in the same article about how word was not relayed to La Russa and Duncan about Carp’s surgery until after the fact. I find it interesting that the internal communications seem to be just as much of a problem at times as the external communications are presented. Again, I cannot think of a positive reason that such an internally-focused matter should be in the newspaper.

Another point reinforced in the article that I did not mention is that TLR says he is not going to manage anywhere else. While decisions can change, it would signal to me that he thinking about staying on. He didn’t rule out other baseball jobs, but I have a feeling that he wants to pass John McGraw to become #2 in managerial wins all-time. He may also want to stay just ahead of Bobby Cox. TLR is just over 300 victories short of McGraw currently, so we are talking four more seasons including 2009, if my theory is accurate. At the end of the 2012 season, La Russa will be 68 years old.

He has a pattern of public comments that might get a manager with a lesser reputation fired. His views are well known. We don’t need to hear them again, ad nauseum.

Management is taking the organization in a particular direction, right or wrong. He should give his views to them privately so they can be weighed in the decision-making process. But when a decision has been made with which he does not agree, he then has a choice. He can either comply with the decision that his superiors have made or he can find a position elsewhere in which he is more comfortable.

Any player that plays under TLR knows full well that expressing their displeasure with him and his moves publicly is a good way to find themselves either benched or traded. I find it fascinating that TLR doesn’t expect the same treatment from his superiors.