Quote Originally Posted by RedsManRick View Post
At the risk of over simplifying... Dusty Baker. If you watched his tenure in Chicago, this season should look (and sound) VERY familiar.
This team was bad before Dusty and will be bad after he leaves.

There is no plan, and it starts at the top. The owner wants to "WIN NOW!!!!!!!!" and quits on any GM who doesn't bring him instant gratification. The GMs have not been all that good, but what can you do when you are a small market and your crazy owner is demanding that you win THIS YEAR? I guess you sign a "name" manager and then just randomly sign the best pitcher you can afford, then pray it somehow works out.

If you have a bad April, though, you will be fired, so instead of playing the great rookie who dominated AAA but had a rough spring, you sign a veteran CF because, again, you don't have time to let any young players develop.

Also, the public face of your team whines and complains about every young hitter that doesn't hit .500, so that makes it even harder to rebuild. Oh, he also hates your best offensive player for some reason, and the fans do to. So he will probably be gone after this year, as will your veteran star player. Sounds like a great time to rebuild! But, of course, you now have an old closer making $10+ million a year and an overpaid manager who prefers to manage veterans. Sounds awesome.

No plan in the owner's booth, the GM's office or in the manager's head ultimately leads to no plan at the plate.