Spoke to my buddy awhile the other day about everything offseason.
Me - ”Any rumors to Brad Ausmus”?
Him - “I hope not. Everything I’ve heard is he’s anti-analytics and isn’t suited to the job. Sounds like we’d continue going in reverse.” “We were shocked last season when he was mentioned as a GM candidate.”
Me - “What are your personal top 5 choices then”?
Him - “AJ Hinch, Omar Lopez, Mark Kotsay, Rodney Linares, Joe Espada” “any rumors to Showalter, Maddon, Bannister, Ausmus, Washington or Counsell are just fabricated to create noise”
Me - “Whatever Bagwell wants Bagwell gets”
Him - “The perception of the public that Bagwell is calling the shots is extremely overshot. He’s around and Jim definitely likes him and listens. But in no way is he the shot caller. Baggy is awesome with us downstairs. I enjoy talking with him every time he comes down
He does exactly what his title says, advises/gives his opinion. But at the end of the day, Jim and Dana make final shot calls.
He gets aired out for Abreu, Montero, and Brantley signings when that was actually all Jim.
Jim was outbidding himself on Abreu.
Montero’s agent took Jim to cleaners.
Brantley deal was negotiated at Jim’s golf course in Florida.
Ever since cheating scandal, Jim has wanted to be more hands on so he doesn’t get burned by not knowing things. Which has had pros but definitely cons as well. I compare what he’s doing to Jerry Jones a lot, not in a good way“
“He’s gotta trust his baseball guys though. He wants to win consistently but stuff like outbidding yourself on Abreu and overpaying Montero is gonna hurt these next two off seasons. Because between the two of them there’s roughly $8M annually we could have saved and spent on someone else. That’s Neris money we don’t have or for anyone else we wanna go after”