(RPB, this is for you)

A team with a payroll in the low to mid nine figures has underachieved for three seasons now. They've gotten rid of many everyday players, and the manager wanted/wants to get rid of Puig. They were the preseason heavy favorites along with the Nats (& their equally boneheaded manager) The previous heavy favorite for NL ROY is on the bench having hit in the 100s in August. No one can hit on that team. They've been no hit twice in the last two weeks, once in the juicebox by a bum.

The biggest problem seems to be the manager/former hitting coach whose entire MLB career was made on his consistency at the plate. He clearly can't teach, he has no apparent personality, isn't a motivator and doesn't have any recognizable ability to adjust to games. I said it last November, I'll say it again now, I'd fire his ass immediately.

Hell, I wouldn't mind if they threw his ass off the team plane in flight.

That Carl Crawford contract has to be one of the worst team deals ever signed. Nice job Theo.

Did it with the foresight that it would help the Cubs in the future.

(RPB, this is for you)

A team with a payroll in the low to mid nine figures has underachieved for three seasons now. They've gotten rid of many everyday players, and the manager wanted/wants to get rid of Puig. They were the preseason heavy favorites along with the Nats (& their equally boneheaded manager) The previous heavy favorite for NL ROY is on the bench having hit in the 100s in August. No one can hit on that team. They've been no hit twice in the last two weeks, once in the juicebox by a bum.

The biggest problem seems to be the manager/former hitting coach whose entire MLB career was made on his consistency at the plate. He clearly can't teach, he has no apparent personality, isn't a motivator and doesn't have any recognizable ability to adjust to games. I said it last November, I'll say it again now, I'd fire his ass immediately.

Hell, I wouldn't mind if they threw his ass off the team plane in flight.

This hatred for the great Don Mattingly seems irrational. Have you lost control of your senses, Regular Reader?

What did the great Don Mattingly ever do to you, besides being one of the greatest hitters of all time, and an exceptional Gold Glove first baseman?

Mattingly has a personality.

It's not to terribly pleasant however.

Shocking that you of all people would defend the one major Yankee in the last 90 years never to make an ALCS or World Series.

I didn't like the Yankees, but I always respected their greats. Munson, Jackson, Guidry, Hunter, (even) Winfield, Rickey, of course Jeter...but never that loser Mattingly. I always thought he was wildly overrated, was forced down our throats on the Game of the Week (or TWIB), had no personality and was something of a mush.

Kind of a natural Cubbie (see: Sandberg, R) if you ask me.

what part of .345 35 and 145 don't you understand?

Not sure what your point is. He was on pace to be a HOFer and his back disintegrated. No shame in that.

You're a tough audience RR. Mattingly was a pretty good player . Plus 300 career hitter, Avg 40 2B's and 100 RBI's per season over his career, 9 gold gloves.

The part where he never did it in any one season. .307 222 and 1099 over 14 years isn't that hot. Almost no power after '89 and being a ride along for the brief (one) playoff appearance is perhaps more telling. Gold Gloves are always a popularity contest, especially is a Yankee is a perennial favorite...when he was actually a player (six seasons).