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2020 Final Series Pirates @ Indians, Sep. 25-27

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I don't think they'd do Alomar dirty, especially because I don't think he'd cost that much, but if the decision was mine to make I would hire someone who isn't Alomar if Francona is forced to retire.

Francona might be the best manager this franchise has EVER had. Anyone else will be a step down.
 
True but the Yankees supposed big advantage is their offense. They dont have much an edge statistically.

Their away team OPS is .677.

Our home OPS is .674.

The huge statistical advantage...pitching...belongs to the Indians.

Tribe home ERA is 3.67.

NYC road OPS is 5.27.

I know this is difficult, if not impossible, to grasp (It is for me)...but the Royals had better pitching and hitting on the road than NY.

ERA...4.45
OPS...680

What does that mean for a three game post season series? I dunno, but on paper we should be the favs....but we the dogs on the betting line.

Tanaka terrifies me. Didn’t our hitters turn to mush against him, in 2017? That’s where the slide started, choking away our last, best chance at a WS title...
 
Oh I mean, I am pretty confident Alomar will get the permanent job if Francona were unable to return.

I just haven't been overly impressed with him as a tactician and would prefer they look elsewhere.

But there is always a learning curve to taking over a team. Technically Sarbaugh is more prepared to be a manager than Alomar since he has at least been a manager in the minors and won a lot of games.

Alomar was only a position coach before he started coaching in Cleveland. Like anything else, its not how you handle the easy times, its how you adjust to the hard times and recover. I am giving Alomar some of the benefit of the doubt based off of his actual management experience.
 
Lou Boudreau begs to differ.

Was thinking about him, and I’m sure that he was a fine manager, but those teams were so talented, I don’t know how much managing they needed. Same with the teams from the 90s.

Nobody has done more with less than Francona has. If we had won the WS in 2016, that might have been the greatest managerial feat in human history. He was our MVP that year.

Also, the game is way more complicated now. There is much more information available and many more decisions to be made. Being a manager is a much harder job in the 21st century. And our run of success is one of the best this franchise has ever had. I’ve criticized Tito, but also thought we were lucky to have him.
 
Cole has obviously been impressive against us, but Tanaka and Happ not so much. Their ERA and OPS @ the Prog...

Cole.........2.57...566
Tanaka....5.09...916
Happ.......10.61...8.63

Very small sample sizes, but still not fearsome numbers. And, like their hitters, their pitchers as a whole fair much better in Yankee Stadium.

I cant find double splits that show how our three have done vs NY at the Prog.
 
Boudreau was a good manager, but nobody would put him in the HOF for being a manager. He had a very good four year run...1946-1949...in Cleveland. And in 1948 he pushed every right button. His 1948 season ss player manager made him a legend.

Because of 1948, I'd probably list him as one of the top three/four Indian position players of all time.
 
Cole has obviously been impressive against us, but Tanaka and Happ not so much. Their ERA and OPS @ the Prog...

Cole.........2.57...566
Tanaka....5.09...916
Happ.......10.61...8.63

Very small sample sizes, but still not fearsome numbers. And, like their hitters, their pitchers as a whole fair much better in Yankee Stadium.

I cant find double splits that show how our three have done vs NY at the Prog.
we've faced each of these guys once in the playoffs - cole, 7ip, 3h, 1r - tanaka 7ip, 3h, 0r, happ, 5ip, 4h, 2r
 
We can't expect to be scoring 5-6 runs in this series, or even in the playoffs as a whole, however long they last for us. We'll have to gut out enough 3-2ish wins with excellent pitching and plus defense to survive. Work counts, get into bullpens early, don't make baserunning blunders (eh, good luck with that), and finally find some clutch hitting somewhere. We have a puncher's chance, but we're in the game!
 
I have been critical of Francona at times during his tenure, but there is no doubt he has been an excellent manager despite my spoiled nitpicking. The Indians are at the beginning of a rebuild, not a tear down though, more of a facelift or kitchen remodel. Perfect execution/luck over the next 1-2 years will determine if we don't miss a beat or stumble as our internal options never come to fruition.

Extremely hard to see how those options look right now. This off-season could be one of madness for several teams.. Hard to gauge who is buying and who is selling.
 
I have been critical of Francona at times during his tenure, but there is no doubt he has been an excellent manager despite my spoiled nitpicking. The Indians are at the beginning of a rebuild, not a tear down though, more of a facelift or kitchen remodel. Perfect execution/luck over the next 1-2 years will determine if we don't miss a beat or stumble as our internal options never come to fruition.

Extremely hard to see how those options look right now. This off-season could be one of madness for several teams.. Hard to gauge who is buying and who is selling.
Re-load would be more apt....no?

Instead of Kluber, Bauer and Clevinger.. it's Bieber, Plesac Carrasco, and Civale.. with McStix, Allen (x2), Quantrill, Burns, Hankins, Espino, Vargas, Torres, etc etc etc..

Instead of Bebo/Los/Cesar/Frankie and JRam... it's Bo/JRam/Tyler/Arias/Nolan..

Instead of Naquin/Delino/Jordan/Oscar..it's Valera/Johnson/Halpin/Brad?/Benson..

The pen will remain a group in flux.. but Wild Thing II will move to the closer roll and be preceeded by Clase, Maton, etc etc..

This is a deep team.. deep minor league squad.. and we haven't even considered the returns to come for guys who are leaving..
 

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