He will make a strange move from time to time (especially more lately) based on an instinct, or a statistical anomaly, or stuff that we as fans cannot honestly figure out. Also, it might be because of stuff that Duncan talks about. Or it might be the GM saying that this player that was acquired needs to be used to justify a trade. Or it might be because he wants to make a point.cards2468 wrote:Cronos, I side with you a lot, but c'mon.... this guy has [expletive] us over way too many times, and tonight was a glistening example of a classic ball game being ruined by him. I don't know if it was him or Lilliquist that made the decision, eitherway, it [expletive] ruined this game.
Most of the time, he makes the right move. Even today. I empathize with him most of the time when he leaves a starter in longer than he should or takes him out to soon because he wants to give them a boost of morale. If it doesn't work, it might backfire, but he has to try and provide as much support for whatever player he happens to target because that player really needs it.
If there is one thing that TLR is masterful at, it is knowing whether to build a guy up or knock him down a peg in order to get the most out of him. Pujols is a guy who needs to be built up. Edmonds was a guy who needed to be knocked down a peg. Same with Rolen (how did he respond to being benched in the '06 playoffs?). I know I'm biased, but the mental and psychological aspect of the game is lost on/ignored by most. And TLR pays attention to it rather than treating the players like robots, which I appreciate.
As far as whether or not he should still be a part of the org moving forward? As I've said before, if there is an inherent problem with the way the organization is run as a whole, the problem is that there are too many cooks in the kitchen. There's a lot of baseball experience and smarts in the organization. But with too many voices comes problems when it comes down to what the players are taught and told to do and who they can really trust.
