Comments on: A Letter From Chris Antonetti – Reading Between the Lines

By: While We’re Waiting… Antonetti’s Letter, Capturing A NBA Star, And Browns’ Snap Counts | WaitingForNextYear

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 13:00:16 +0000

[...] First up, Stephanie Liscio of It’s Pronounced “Lajaway” analyzes the letter that Chris Antonetti sent to season ticket holders following Manny Acta’s termination, “I think that by saying “the coaching staff will remain intact through the end of the season,” it’s pretty clear that most of them will likely be let go. There’s no talk of them being in the running for positions moving forward, and they’ll probably want to let the new manager choose his own staff. This isn’t necessarily heartbreaking for me, but I like Steve Smith and it seems like he hasn’t made any egregious errors. Now let’s get to the players that were discussed (or more telling, the players not discussed). At first, I noticed that Chris Perez’s name was missing (not a huge surprise). To be fair, Vinnie Pestano’s name isn’t mentioned either, and I highly doubt he’s going anywhere. The bullpen was oddly left out of this e-mail altogether (except to say it’s deep), which seemed kind of strange. I can only think that it may be undergoing a face lift in the offseason.” [It's Pronounced "Lajaway"] [...]

By: Stephanie Liscio

Stephanie Liscio — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 07:23:34 +0000

HAHA! I think I initially used Connie Mack on Facebook as well…I guess great minds do think alike! (I do think Susan and another commenter mentioning Casey Stengel is also an admirable option).

By: Dan C

Dan C — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 23:24:34 +0000

Ha I used the exact same Connie Mack line in a Facebook post yesterday. Since I posted before this was up, and since we are not Facebook friends, I’ll just have to assume great minds think alike. Cheers!

And good article

By: Stephanie Liscio

Stephanie Liscio — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 19:48:45 +0000

Joey – Thank you! And that’s interesting about Boras…I hadn’t noticed that until you mentioned it. I’m involved with SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) and Shapiro (and his father, though at different times) came to speak when our convention was in Cleveland in 2008. I agree 100% about Tampa Bay, I’m a big fan of their operation and of Maddon. It’s one of the reasons I’m a little afraid that Russ Canzler is going to turn into a pumpkin. Tampa Bay doesn’t often miss when it comes to evaluating young talent. For a team that is somewhat starved offensively, I doubt they’d release a player that they felt had real potential.

Steve – You’re right, it has been a bit tougher to pick some of their moves. I think when they jumped quickly at that Lowe deal last year, it seemed like it would be the first of several moves. It kind of was one of the only moves! I think your theory about Choo is a good one. In fact, one of the reasons I’m wary of them trading Perez is not because I think he’s not replaceable, but because I’m afraid the Indians look desperate to get rid of him at this point.

By: Steve Alex

Steve Alex — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:43:26 +0000

Good luck trying to decipher Antonetti’s plans. Remember, there was plenty of talk last off-season about being “heavily engaged” in improving the team, and that led to very little real activity. The reference to Choo was probably misdirection for opposing GMs who think the team is going to trade him right away for whatever they can get. They’ll be lining up for the next fleecing so our GM has to show a little guile and act like he plans to keep him. Nothing wrong with that.

By: joey

joey — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 11:56:31 +0000

has anyone noticed that all/most of the top talent coming out of the recent drafts are boras clients…shapiro dosent draft his guys cuz of the manny ramierez negotiations…also shapiro’s dad is a agent and doesnt get along with him…at least thats what i hear…i dont know them personally…maybe u think thats y r drafts suck? we need to get rid of the whole front office…discount dolans rnt going anywhere,so if i was them…i would buy tampa bays whole system…front office,scouts,maddon…all of em…thats r only hope.by the way…i love reading ur stuff…u do a great job.