33 thoughts on “October 24, 2014: Brew Day”

1. Remember to pitch the yeast.

   1. Maybe that's what Hunter Strickland's problem was.

      1. I was trying to think of a joke along these lines. I think you got it.

2. As long as you're not doing it in the next four hours, you've got my number.

3. I think you're supposed to throw some random things into it to add unique character from unexpected wild yeasts and bacteria.
   Do you have any old grapes lying around?

4. Due to circumstances mostly beyond my control, today's fall and winter baseball reports have been delayed. They will still appear today, though, unless something else happens.

5. Oh my

   @Buster_ESPN
   Sources: Manager Joe Maddon has exercised an opt-out clause in his contract and is leaving the Tampa Bay Rays immediately.

   1. [scooby face]

   2. For the love of God, open the managerial search back up!

      1. I don't want him. He's so likeable and charmingly quirky and makes such good decisions that I just can't stand him.

         1. I'm with you on the Scioscia hate, but this is just crazy talk.

            1. I understand there's no rational basis there, and I'm likely to be a minority voice.
               I don't detest him like Scioscia. (CC to MikeS: nice job capitalizing on the best record there!)
               But... he seems too perfect. There's nothing for me to dislike about the guy, and I hate that.

               1. ....what nibs said. Did you accidentally shave your beard or do something equally destabilizing this morning?

                  1. No no, whiskers.

                     Hairy men who continued to visit the barber, trim their mustaches, or wax their locks wore whiskers; men who let their facial hair grow unrestrained sported beards.

                     1. No, I'm a beard guy.

                        1. That came out wrong. I'm a bearded guy.

      2. Git. Er. Done. Billy. Smith.

         They'll just need to sell him on all the rad breweries and bike trails there are in the Twin Cities. How could he resist!?

      3. Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal
         Source: Maddon NOT heading to #Dodgers.

   3. My assumption is that he either already has another job lined up or he's gotten crosswise with someone in management and so said the heck with it. Either way, I don't see him coming to Minnesota.

      1. unless maybe Bartlett comes back!

      2. If he has another job lined up, wouldn't that be tampering or something like that?
         (Not sure what rules are for staff contra players.)

   4. The Twins are the only other team without a manager. Maddon says he's exploring other opportunities in baseball. Unless he's talking about something other than managing or a team is ready to fire it's current manager to hire Maddon, who else but the Twins? If Maddon left the Rays because he was going to a different job, that's a pretty big leap to leave a job with guaranteed money if the other job hasn't even fired a guy they already have in place.

      1. I saw Twitter speculation that maybe he'd be Andrew Friedmann's GM in Los Angeles. That makes sense.

         Watching the teams he manages is Maddoning to me, but I'd definitely embrace him if the Twins hired him. He's easily a top 5 manager.

         1. I have no strong opinions one way or the other on Maddon. He seems quirky and interesting, I suppose.

            But what is the expected difference between a top-5 manager and a bottom-5 manager?

            Here is one take, in which the estimated marginal impact of managers appears to be nil.

            Importantly, as in Mirabile and Witte (2012), we find that a manager's past performance influences his current salary, but his current salary, which in efficient markets is a sufficient measure of his expected productivity, is insignificant in predicting any of the three team performance metrics. Such a disconnect renders relative salaries unreliable measures of relative productivities. The results are consistent with a market characterized by extreme barriers to entry and human capital that is relatively easily acquired; equilibrium then has an excess supply of managers who have relatively similar ability.

            1. For some reason Maddon drives me up the wall. I don't know what it is, but I'd probably get over it.

               1. It's the hipster glasses, I think.

               2. Glad I'm not the only one.

                  1. You all crazy. Maddon is awesome.

                     Terry was hinting this by saying there might be a new candidate.

                     1. I'll believe it when I see it, but if nothing else, hiring Maddon would make things interesting.

                        1. much higher expectations with Maddon, and more likely to be fired after a few rough years.

   5. I read somewhere that Maddon was seeking 5 yrs/$25M. No thanks. If the Twins are going to spend that, I'd rather they add it to the payroll and try and sign a top starting pitcher.

      1. I'm generally with you, but what kind of "top" starting pitcher are you going to get for $5M per year?

6. Time lapse video of turf installation at the Saints new ballpark.

Comments are closed.