I heard it on the telecast, and Hotcorner pointed it out in the game thread, but did anyone else see McKeon's comments to Minervini about the kids as a final shot to Beinfest (he does, after all, handle promotions/demotions) "I wish I had some of these kids sooner."

 

Interesting quote to say the least, especially considering how we all clamoured for Hermida's promotion when we lost Delgado and McKeon was forced to start Aguila for several days...

 

 

I don't think I'd characterize his statement quite that way TSwift (although it's possible...).

 

Because Jack wasn't exactly known for playing the young guys brought up on the bench, even when they were here... Now he didn't have a choice with Hermida because he didn't come up 'til late. But he never played Willy during his short stint up here, didn't play Dillon, Aguila, etc.

 

I don't think it was a shot at Beinfest, although he may have been a little miffed they didn't call up Jeremy sooner, who knows.

 

That's fair, but I don't necessarily think it's accurate to lump Hermida and Willingham in the same group as Joe Dillon, Chris Aguila, and even last year, Admin Sutton. McKeon didn't play a lot of the young guys, but in his defense, he only had Willingham and Hermida during the stretch-run, and since McKeon was essentially playing for his job next year, he'd rather lose with the veterans he knew than the youngsters he didn't know, or the youngsters who'd be going through adjustment growing pains in the thick of a pennant race.

 

I took the quote to mean that if Hermida had been with the big club on August 1 instead of August 31, he would have seen more of the kid, and gotten a chance to use him more, and perhaps make the playoffs. After all, it's been known since '03 that McKeon's not a big fan of Encarnacion.

he supposedly bench Enc before todays game for showing up late...

Best Manager Ever? Did someone actually post that? Hmmm.

 

I wish Jack well and in '03 his whip and gut feelings worked out well for us.

 

Anyhoe that saw Jack manage in the Reds, Padres or even before that knows he is a pretty poor manager. He has never been able to manage a bullpen and has always run into problems with communication in the clubhouse. Jack has always worn out his welcome much like Billy Martin, Mike Keenan, etc, etc. When Jack's gut feeligs work out he looks like a genius but that's no way to manage a team long term because usually thise moves just end up looking ridiculous.

 

Thanks for the memories, sure. Great manager? Come on now.

 

P.S. Did Jack say in the post game show that he wises these young players were here earlier in the season? Dillon was. Willingham was. Aguila was. Hermida he said would platoon with Conine but that ended after one bad game. Good luck Jack but I am not sorry to see you go. We need to move forward now

 

you can't keep the hate out of a farewell thread for Jack?

 

Jack's record disaprove your point that he isn't a great manager.

 

 

I don't hate Jack. Why must everything be love w/o exception or hate? I just have never liked his style of managing. That has nothing to do with the person he is. I think it's fair to say that we have had two under-performing seasons.

I think it's fair to say that we have had two under-performing seasons.

 

 

Or dare I say that it's been two over-rated teams.

Collectively as a team, over-rated

Certain individuals - underperformed

 

Overall though not sure expectations of 2004 were as great as 2005. We lost some talent in from 2003 team that could not replace.

I think it's fair to say that we have had two under-performing seasons.

 

 

Or dare I say that it's been two over-rated teams.

 

The 2005 team was not over-rated. The offense underperformed badly in the clutch. The bullpen was injury riddled and the FO should have made more significant moves to bolster it. Expecting a few AA call ups to address the bullpen needs was a mistake. We needed them to take the same aggressive approach as in 2003.