MLB 2019: Mad Max Beyond Astrodome

Seen on Twitter:

Oh. Oh, no.

Also from David Kaplan:

 

I'm just more reminded that this is the exact method by which Phil Emery hired Marc Trestman.

 

I mean, it's not exact--Epstein had Espada and Ross do mock Spring Training speeches, Emery had candidates do mock press conferences--but it's pretty damn close.

I just don't like this hire in any way. Epstein's got a huge nepotism blindspot, and he always has. Sometimes it works (going out and getting Rizzo back from the Padres), sometimes it doesn't (prospect-hugging Almora way too long because he was his regime's first pick, letting McLeod run pitcher development into the ground for a decade, etc). I really do think a lot of it just comes down to that Ross has been Epstein's friend going back to Boston, and a longstanding guy he's worked with both as a player and in the front office, so Epstein slid him the job he wanted.

But he's still extremely buddy-buddy with guys like Lester and Rizzo and Heyward, Heyward especially (Heyward paid out of his own pocket for Ross's family to travel with the team in 2016). It's like ... you know, when an officer gets promoted from within the platoon, there's a reason the Army moves him to another company instead of having him command his own comrades.

That being said, despite my hangups with Ross, the manager ultimately doesn't matter if the Cubs have another offseason of Epstein doing nothing to improve the team. The Cubs need:

1. A starting pitcher
2. To at a minimum replace the loss of Strop, Cishek, and Kintzler in the pen
3. A fix for the glaring holes at 2B and CF

If Epstein's answers to those needs are 1. Chatwood, 2. Internal MiLB options and 3. Some combo of Happ / Nico / Russell / Descalso, then the best manager in the world doesn't take that shitshow to the postseason.

 

We may never know why that guy yelled a bunch of shitty things about a domestic abuser at some women wearing domestic abuse stuff.

Also we may never know why the organization released a statement calling the women liars and saying the story was fake news.

Really, can we know anything? What even is abuse? If it doesn't happen in a home is it really domestic? It's all just too complicated and hard to answer, so let's just stop. We added flashing lights when the train moves. Wanna see?

Jesus Christ, Astros. Dig UP.

 

Here's the thing. Taubman has had a long-running beef with one of the reporters that he was shouting at, because every time Osuna took the mound, she'd tweet out the number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. He complained about her in staff meetings. There's basically zero doubt that he knew what he was doing.

 

Sorry I missed this earlier. Basically:

Cole is worth every penny he'll get. Dude was unhittable during the regular season, he's only 29, and all of his peripherals are other-worldly. There's a reason Pittsburgh fans freaked the fuck out when he was traded for a bag of peanuts.

I don't see Strop coming back. Cischek, as you said, has the very real possibility of his arm falling off and then the rest of his body falling into a wood chipper (historically, submariners do not project to have extended careers, and when they fall off, it's pretty ugly). Kintzler needs regular game time.

Chatwood is, agreed, a bullpen arm, preferably in garbage time.

I saw Nico play a ton when he was with the Madison Mallards during the summer league a few years ago. He has pretty terrible field instincts and thus far he's only proven he can hit at low-A.

I'm sadly convinced the team is going to give Russell another shot at manning SS, because the Rickettses and Epstein have made it abundantly clear they do not consider domestic abuse an issue.