Lou (zer) Piniella

[Solecismic]

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/8557593

Three years after whining his way out of his Mariner contract, Piniella is at it again, complaining that he can't compete with the lowest payroll in baseball.

The man doesn't have the sack just to up and quit. He's trying to get himself fired, so that he still gets the rest of the money from his contract.

Could someone please explain why anyone would want Lou Piniella managing any team? He's constantly burning players by getting into stupid personal conflicts. He's a lousy tactician, cost the Mariners countless games with his worship of "littleball." He's arrogant, he's got a two-year-old's temper, he has no respect for anyone.

And now, he's basically telling his players he has no confidence in them. Sure, the odds are stacked against teams with very low budgets, but they still start every game at 0-0 in the first inning.

[korme]

Piniella is the man, sorry. He's on the shit D-Rays, what's he expect? Maybe he can wait a few years for all their nice prospects like Delmon Young to come up.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Shorty3281

Piniella is the man, sorry. He's on the shit D-Rays, what's he expect? Maybe he can wait a few years for all their nice prospects like Delmon Young to come up.

Yes, but we were saying the same thing a few years ago, waiting for Hamilton, Upton, Baldelli, et al to make it to the bigs. Its just possible that their prospects arent that nice, and they will continue to suck. I'd say that they would have a much better time if this was OOTP than in real life.

[VPI97]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

Could someone please explain why anyone would want Lou Piniella managing any team? He's constantly burning players by getting into stupid personal conflicts. He's a lousy tactician, cost the Mariners countless games with his worship of "littleball." He's arrogant, he's got a two-year-old's temper, he has no respect for anyone.

That's still better than anyone who has managed the Reds since he left.

/pours out a 40 in memory of the 'Nasty Boys'/

[Klinglerware]

Well, he was promised by the management that they would expand the payroll by his third year. Management did not fulfill that promise, so I would say that at least some of Piniella's complaining is warranted...

[MrBug708]

He was promised an increase in payroll and has not seen it. I also question managements decision to have a high priced manager but no players.

Tampa Bay also was the second biggest money maker in baseball last year per Jim Rome

[Young Drachma]

I don't blame him for complaining about it and someone has to talk about it. That team is a sham.

[Solecismic]

I don't believe they're anywhere near the most profitable. Maybe they just have a lousy accountant.

Workplaces change, and the owners have the right not to open their wallets for mediocre free agents if they so choose.

If Piniella doesn't like it, he should be man enough to leave. Throwing his own players under the bus is unacceptable. But that's what he does, time and time again.

The Reds won despite his efforts. The Mariners had more talent than any team in baseball for a few years there, and never played in a World Series.

If he wants to complain, he should go to his bosses, not the media.

[Ksyrup]

His problem is they've got new ownership, and the team is back where they were when he was hired - looking 4 years out.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I don't believe they're anywhere near the most profitable. Maybe they just have a lousy accountant.

Workplaces change, and the owners have the right not to open their wallets for mediocre free agents if they so choose.

If Piniella doesn't like it, he should be man enough to leave. Throwing his own players under the bus is unacceptable. But that's what he does, time and time again.

The Reds won despite his efforts. The Mariners had more talent than any team in baseball for a few years there, and never played in a World Series.

If he wants to complain, he should go to his bosses, not the media.

If he opts out of the contract it'll look even worse as he's quitting.

As for not being profitable, their payroll is at 29 million. I don't think the numbers meant they made the most, but in terms of their payrolls and how much they made

[SackAttack]

Scuttlebutt has it that if Tampa Bay buys out the contract, the Yanks are interested in Piniella.

Shouldn't we hope this happens so he can run the Yanks into the ground?

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

If he wants to complain, he should go to his bosses, not the media.

Who is to say that he hasn't already complained privately to the ownership? Of course, the ownership can ultimately do whatever it wants. But, making his criticisms public puts Piniella in a better position than if he stayed silent. Going public means Piniella put the ball in ownership's court: there is now some public pressure on the ownership to at least publicly defend their actions (or inaction as the case may be). If Piniella stayed silent, there would be no pressure on the ownership to do anything at all.

Solecismic, you may be right in that Piniella's comments may be a little CYA. But CYA makes the world go round--self-preservation may be unmanly, but it is certainly pretty smart. If they fired him, anything he would say after the firing would sound like sour grapes. Piniella's comments probably won't move ownership to change their style, but better to at least set things up so he won't get the brunt of the public blame in the event that he is fired...

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I don't believe they're anywhere near the most profitable. Maybe they just have a lousy accountant.

Workplaces change, and the owners have the right not to open their wallets for mediocre free agents if they so choose.

If Piniella doesn't like it, he should be man enough to leave. Throwing his own players under the bus is unacceptable. But that's what he does, time and time again.

The Reds won despite his efforts. The Mariners had more talent than any team in baseball for a few years there, and never played in a World Series.

If he wants to complain, he should go to his bosses, not the media.

Lou's survived for so long because the media likes an idiot who attempts to show that he's caring - apparently, berating one's players (ben Grieve, anyone ? ) is Lou's method. What a jackass.