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Anybody surprised by this outcome?

Wolf won't throw a fastball to anybody, yet decides to throw one to the pitcher with two strikes? :Sigh:

Wolf has called for more meetings today than a White House War Room.

I really dont like Jose Reyes. Guy is way too flashy for his game Agreed. Hanley Ramirez has always come across this way. Eckstein as well, for some odd reason. That said, Gomez kind of does too. Maybe it's a latin thing.

He may be getting squeezed on that inside pitch, but it's the other things I am noticing. I think he has stepped off atleast 4 times. Motioned at Lucroy to "Come on, give me a sign" atleast 5 times. Consistently shakes Lucroy off on the first pitch, only to throw a 65mph breaking pitch way off the plate outside. Just does not seem insync. That's why I'm not for pairing up rookie catchers and veteran pitchers. I know it cant always be avoided, but I would like Lucroy working with Narveson/Parra more than Wolf/Davis/etc

Wolf looks completely lost today.

So, Dish Network stopped providing the MLB Extra Innings package and I had to do the MLBtv thing. Can somebody tell me how to get the video and audio signals from my computer to my television? What kind of outputs are needed and what kind of cords? Do I need a tv card like the old days? Or can I hook up straight from my monitor? Appreciate any and all advice in advance.

Another question along those same lines would be how long after his firing did it take them to get back to being a competitive MLB franchise. They seem to have been hampered for some time by the decisions he made. In the 5 years Post-Melvin, they only won more than 80 games once and that was when they won 89 games and still finished 3rd in the division.

Here's an interesting question that I have no knowledge of...was Texas justified in firing Doug Melvin?

Just for comparison's sake: the 2005 Brewers were 6th in the NL in runs allowed, and the 2008 Brewers were 4th in the NL in runs allowed. It's incredibly obvious that the key to winning in the post season isn't pitching, pitching, pitching. Its some combination of pitching, hitting, and luck. I don't doubt that, except for the luck part and it's not just pitching, pitching, pitching...it's IMPACT PITCHING, per TheCrew07. In 2005, the Brewers went 81 -81 with that 6th in the NL in runs allowed. Considering where the franchise was at in 2005, I was very excited about that development.

In 2009, the Yankees were 6th in runs allowed in the AL (13 more than 4th) In 2006, the Cardinals were 5th in the NL in runs allowed. In 2004, the Red Sox were 4th in the AL in runs allowed. In 2003, the Marlins were 6th in the NL in runs allowed. (9 more than 4th). In general, If the top 4 teams make the playoffs, I wouldn't stand to complain if you have a top 4-6 staff in runs allowed (the metric you used).

You know what I would be for. Doug Melvin remaining the GM, but somebody like Matt Arnold or Feinstein as an Assistant GM to give a fresh set of eyes to this problem. Maybe Gord Ash doesnt provide enough of what Melvin needs.

No Big Changes expected. Better to rest on the laurels of changing luck.

The Rays media guide advises Freidman was part of the baseball ops staff in 2004. Again, no GM is 100% responsible for their roster. Calling the Rays "nice" and nickel and diming Freidman is really a disservice. Accolades such as executive of the year and organization of the year normally aren't because your org is "nice".

TheCrew07, Please provide a PO Box so might be able to send you a case of beer along with a MENSA application. Simply Genius.

And Hellickson was drafted in '05 before he got there. No, he arrived in 2004. He played a great role in those 2004 and 2005 drafts as the Dir of Baseball Ops.

Boss, could you stop with the long nested quotes? I like to read your replies but doing so on the iphone makes it really difficult.

A lot of GM's could have not punted on that farm system. He's put together a very nice orginazation, but he didn't build it from scratch (or alone) and it's once these guys start hitting arby years when it starts getting really tough No. Hellickson and Barnese are just a couple that could step in. Hes already bought out two fifths of the rotation with team friendly deals in David Price (6/8.5m) and Shields (4/11.5m). 6 years of David Price for less than the cost of 1 year of Suppan. Saying what Freidman has done as being "nice" is really a disservice.

Nobody implied it was simple. Its discouraging that this is what the discussion has evolved to because I certainly was respecting your points of view. On the polar opposite I'd say its not impossible. But the current strategy of "signing the 2nd tier veteran who will sign but is likely in decline" isnt working out. Why is it so hard for fans like me to want a GM to try a different method that appears to be working. Could we hire another Sal Bando? Maybe. Could we hire an Andrew Freidman? Maybe.

I'm well aware. It's still early right? I'm all for Melvin staying if he is willing to change his approach when the next crop of pitching gets "unlucky". Because everyday when I have the local radio on and get reminded of how the Rays have an entire starting rotation that costs less than one year of Jeff Suppan, I throw up in my mouth a little bit. There are other options besides what looks good on paper. Missing on an aging pitcher or two is going to happen. That is acceptable. Missing on an entire fleet of them is beyond unlucky and perhaps he should really consider a different tactic.

And why did you choose 15 years to be the benchmark? How about comparing Melvin's 8 year tenor to the previous 8 years before him? Because that is what Zach had said, 15 years of suckage before him. 8 years does seem like a better comparison. But again .475 to .445 is 4-5 more wins per year. And the 2nd Tier FA pitching/expensive bullpens are a direct result from a lack of minor league pitching being developed. That falls more on Jack Z then it does on Melvin. That's fine, but then we can't be heralding him for Braun, Fielder, Weeks, Escobar, Lawrie, Cain etc. More playoff victories than the cubs since 2004. Now that's something I can hang my hat on!

Strawboss, I agree with the points you make, but at some point when all this minor league pitching talent is getting unlucky, why is it not being addressed? Why is the answer to see failures in Suppan & Looper and replace them with Davis & Wolf. If you're backup plan is to pitch Chris Narveson anyways if Davis/Suppan fail, why not just start the season with AAAA guys and save yourself some cash? If my house is failing apart DM seemingly gets off the hook for Jack Z not getting any pitching, but gets hailed for putting together a great lineup? Well, can't have that both ways. I just can't believe that when your minor leaguers are "having bad luck", that the answer is to go out and spend more money on average veterans. What does it matter at the end of the day if you pitch your AAAA guys, spend 60M and win .455 pct of your games, or you pitch average MLB'ers, spend 90M and win .475 pct of your games? Besides worsening draft position?

However, I don't think that two years of less than par baseball after a good 2-3 year run should be something to fire DM for, after coming off 15 years of crap. Can we stop comparing DM to 15 years ago? Should Dean Taylor and his 35M payroll in 2000 be comparable to Doug Melvin and his success in 2008 with his $80M payroll? DM's winning percentage is .475. The 15 years prior to DM we won .455 pct of our games. A 2% increase while working with $60-90M payroll instead of $30M payrolls. I think it's silly compare these two timeframes. To me, all of those moves seem like win now moves. To recap, he's put together one of the best lineups in all of baseball, did his best to improve his pitching staff through FA (and most signs pointed to those moves being quality moves), and still has a lot of exciting talent in the farm. To me that is a successful GM. He is a successful GM, but why is he the man to get us to the next level? Because .475 and 1 playoff win over going on 8 seasons while spending $90M dollars doesnt seem like something worthy of continuing forward. If he were being given $60M, then yeah, I'd be tickled. But new ownership has come to expect more. Sometimes the answer isn't spending that money on the best FA pitcher that will come here. How about smart trades like Tampa always pulls off? Frankly, that is the kind of GM I think we need to get to the next level. Not 2nd Tier FA pitching, expensive bullpens and nuggets.

Once again, this assumes that Melvin could have foreseen the ridiculous number of player disappointments that have happened this season. Going into the season, the division was somewhat weak, and it seemed worth a shot to make a go with the Braun/Fielder combo one more year if we could plug a few pitching holes. It didn't work, and assuming there isn't a huge team turn-around, now is the point where they have to start considering a plan that doesn't include Fielder. I get that, but then what about 2009, when we spent $80M to get a .493 win pct? That was with guys performing over their heads and no real ridiculous falloff. I realize that hindsight is 20/20, but you had a lot of ppl, not only on here but on several publications who study baseball saying that this $90M roster put together by Melvin was not going to be very good. Now, we are stuck being not very good and very expensive. Trouble is, our youth is a year or two away so going on a youth movement wasn't an option this year. One thing Melvin did well this offseason was maintaining a lot of financial flexibility. The Brewers heading into next offseason could have as much as 40 million off the books. The one thing that disappoints me about Melvin to this point is his sticking behind Macha. I really despise Macha's distaste for young players. Our team needs a manager who is capable of handling a youth movement. I also don't like the hiring of Macha, but if a youth movement is one or two years away, then why do we need a manager capable of a youth movement? I hope that his option isn't picked up for 2011, as I agree. If we all see a youth movement coming for 2011 or 2012, then let's do in 2010 what we need to be ready for when it comes. Foolish spending in 2010 just makes me nervous for what decisions Melvin will make to surround that youth movement when it gets here. I don't like calling for anybody's head really, but I'm nervous right now. This team is at a critical juncture in my opinion. If you let Melvin handle this 2010 draft/trade deadline/off-season, you might as well let him go until 2015 because what he does in the next 8 months might have reprecussions until then. Just like the Suppan decisions in 2007 are having an effect today. Just very nervous.

As I've discussed before. The Rays do not really have a financial burden when it comes to Fielder. I like the Rays in that list. In 2013, Niemann, Sonnastine, Garza will still be arbitration eligible. Not to mention, Hellickson and Barnese, Jennings, Beckham, etc who aren't even at the show yet. Pena, Crawford, Soriano, Burrell leaving saves $36M annually off of a payroll that is at $76M before then. Adding Fielder at $6M for half of this year and $15M for his final arbitration year probably wouldn't hurt too badly. The Rays attendance is at 1.7M irregardless of their successes (see 2007-2010), so it's not like their monies are attendance dependent when the lose Crawford and Pena. Jennings, Beckham, and Fielder could replaced the same excitement level for fans as does Pena and Crawford. The numbers that Shields, Price, Garza, will be at in 2012 are absolutely sick. Prince Fielder would not be a financial burden on the Rays.