Connie Mack Award

Alright, now we get in to the fun part of being in the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (not that there's not a fun part...). So it's awards time, which means that we get a chance to talk about other teams, and how good they are - this time not necessarily in comparison to the Astros. The Connie Mack Award highlights the best manager in each league.

We'll start with the National League. Because it's superior.

3rd place

Don Mattingly, Los Angeles. Mattingly was up against a limited payroll, limited options for improvement, and limited hope of doing anything noteworthy. So finishing up 82-79 is impressive, given his circumstances.

2nd place

Ron Roenicke, Milwaukee. Yes, Milwaukee won the NL Central, but they were decent last year, and got better in the offseason in an attempt to make a run at the title. You shouldn't get first place votes for doing what you're supposed to do.

1st place

Kirk Gibson, Arizona. Now this, this is impressive. They went 65-97 (34-49 under Gibson), and turned around to win the NL West in impressive fashion.

American League

3rd place

Ron Washington, Texas. He falls in Ron Roenicke territory. They were good, they're still good, and they did what they were supposed to do.

2nd place

Jim Leyland, Detroit. The Tigers, on the other hand, were supposed to be okay. Maybe challenge for the AL Central. They were certainly not supposed to win it by 15 games.

1st place

Joe Maddon, Tampa. Maddon took a Longoria-less Rays to the post-season, taking advantage of the historic collapse of the Red Sox (as if "collapse" isn't enough, you have to preface it with "historic") to do it, and playing in probably the most exciting game of the season. Seriously, Maddon deserves the award just for pinch-hitting Dan Johnson in the 9th inning.

Goose Gossage Reliever of the Year

So the next Baseball Bloggers Allicance award in which we are participating is the Goose Gossage Reliever of the Year Award.

American League

3rd place:
Neftali Feliz - Texas

2nd place:
Joakim Soria - Kansas City

1st place:
Rafael Soriano - Tampa Bay

National League

3rd place:
Brian Wilson - San Francisco

2nd place:
Carlos Marmol - Chicago

1st place:
Heath Bell - San Diego

Astros County's Connie Mack ballot

You're probably thinking, "Okay, yeah, the Crawfish Boxes had a Manager of the Year post this morning. Way to gravy train it, Astros County." And we could see how you would think that. However, it's not true. I mean, yes, the Crawfish Boxes did have an identical post this morning, but there's a different story to why we're doing it today. As a member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, we are to vote on major awards, and the deadline for the Manager of the Year voting is tomorrow. So, in the absence of any real Astros news from the last 24 hours, we'll take this opportunity to put our votes forward today.

Each ballot must have three names, so you'll see the voting and rationale below. Quick disclaimer: This award is ridiculous. We hate it. Our old friend Anonymous can write in telling us how stupid we are and make a good case.

American League

3rd Place: Terry Francona - Boston

Francona dealt with an astounding number of injuries throughout the season, and while the Red Sox were never really in the hunt for a playoff spot - thanks to their divisional competition - their 89-73 record was quite impressive.

2nd Place: Ron Gardenhire - Minnesota

The Twins did what the Twins do, and that's win the AL Central and go to the playoffs with a fairly low payroll.

1st Place: Ron Washington - Texas

Not 15 months ago Ron Washington was snorting coke after a game. Now he's managing the Rangers in the playoffs for the first time this decade, having destroyed AL West competition! No team won their division by a wider margin than the Rangers' nine-ame cushion.




National League

3rd Place: Dusty Baker - Cincinnati

Basically everybody put the Magic Number for the Cardinals at 162 from Opening Day. So when the Reds got swept by the Cardinals in August, but finished the month 19-8, anyway, it showed their resilience. With the mixture of veterans and youth, and the emergence of Joey Votto as a superstar, Baker stood at the helm.

2nd Place: Bobby Cox - Atlanta

Cox will likely get votes based on his Last Season, and all that, but it's pretty well-deserved. The Braves went toe-to-toe with the Phillies all season, and still made the playoffs despite losing Chipper Jones (in Houston. Sorry, Larry Wayne) and a number of others to injury.

1st Place: Bud Black - San Diego

This is a team that was paying its players $2.13/hour + tips, and if it hadn't been for a 10-game losing streak late in the season, would be in the playoffs getting the crap kicked out of them by the Phillies. Bud Black took a team of Adrian Gonzalez, Heath Bell, and 23 Other Guys from a 75-87 record to the brink of the postseason.

Trade Proposal Showdown

As many of you know (or if you read the sidebar), Astros County is a part of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. In light of the recent events with Mr Berkman and Mr Oswalt, I've asked the BBA to submit their best trade proposals for either player, a package deal, or to confirm a complete and total lack of interest. We will then vote on the best proposal we get. Two have already rolled in, and I'll wait to get a few more, and update it as they come in.

HumandChuck's thoughts on Arnsberg

So now that some time has passed, and some perspective has been granted, I thought it would be a good time to go back and see what Blue Jays fans thought about losing Brad Arnsberg to the Astros. As mentioned before, Astros County is a part of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, as is the Blue Jays blog Hum and Chuck. So, Joanna, now how do you feel about losing Arnsberg?

Arnie, as he is known, is insanely popular with most pitchers. One of the reasons he was originally hired by JP Riccardi was because Arnie had a very personal relationship with AJ Burnett from his Marlins days and JP wanted AJ. To the point of obsession.

Arnie was more or less used as a lure to get AJ in a Jays uni. They tried to do the same thing with Matt Clement the year before, when he was still a decent pitcher, and apparently that was a consideration for Clement before he ultimately chose Boston.

I'm not sure you know all that much about Jays pitching, but the last five seasons or so, our pitching, when healthy, has been downright filthy.

A healthy Roy Halladay, AJ Burnett, Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum is more than enough to get any team outside the AL East deep into the playoffs. How much of that was Arnsberg, I dunno, but AJ Burnett did say his time in Toronto (under Doc and Arnsberg) changed him as a pitcher. That's nice, I guess. But he looks more or less the same pitcher in pinstripes. Except he's richer. And more obnoxious. Post game cream pies were stolen flat out from the Jays. So he should be writing a cheque every time he pies Jeter or CC or ARod.

We also had a great bullpen, anchored by BJ Ryan, Scott Downs and Jason Frasor. Again, I don't know how much of that is Arnsberg.

He, for sure, took Ricky Romero under his wing this season, and Romero posted very decent numbers in his rookie season.

One season, the Jays the first team in 50 years to have the best ERA in baseball from both their starters and relievers in the same season. Our hitting was for shit, so it didn't do us much good, but it's nice anyway.

Now, for the down sides. He and Ted Lilly used to butt heads. A Jays starting 3 of Doc, AJ and Lilly was what Joe Torre answered while still in New York about which team he wouldn't want to face in the playoffs. Arnsberg publicly said that Lilly was uncoachable. They apparently had a disagreement over Lilly's position on the rubber. Lilly was a quiet dude, but apparently very stubborn. So that might be all Lilly.

And now for the thing that concerns me about Arnsberg. I probably don't pay enough attention to other teams, but there seemed to be an excessive amount of guys going under the knife and being generally injured. And not old, broken down guys. But I'm talking about kids. Off the top of my head, Shawn Marcum, BJ Ryan and Jesse Litsch had TJ under Arnsberg's watch. Dustin McGowan, who is insanely talented, has been injury plagued. He is diabetic, which contributes to his frailty. Ryan was released from the Jays this season after coming back from TJ as a shadow of his former self.

All of this might just be coincidence or just the guys, but it might also be conditioning. I can't find the data to back it up, but it seems a lot of guys were injured under his watch on the Marlins. I know for sure AJ had his Tommy John surgery in that time. So again, young guy breaking down.

So maybe you should expect a lot of brilliant pitching when/if the dudes are healthy.

He seems a very affable guy and Roy Halladay really likes him. And if you know anything about Roy Halladay, you would understand what a compliment that is.

Read more of Joanna's work at Hum and Chuck.

Unrest in Toronto clubhouse brought Arnsberg to Toronto, and Jays fans ain't happy...

As was alluded to in the previous post, I'm hoping to get a personal note from the Toronto members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (of which Astros County is a part) to get some reaction on the Arnsberg move, but some early reaction indicates what's going down.

The Toronto Star:
The fact the Jays would allow Halladay's best friend in the clubhouse, pitching coach Brad Arnsberg, to seek the same job with another team solidifies the belief the Jays plan to trade their ace. While Anthopoulos claimed Friday he did not tell Arnsberg to look for a job, that the Astros called him asking for permission to talk, Houston's GM Ed Wade had a different view on how the Arnsberg deal came about.

"We were really excited when we found out he was available," Wade said. "There were some unresolved issues, and they gave him a chance to go out and look around, and he very quickly moved up to the top of our list."

That sounds far different than the scenario described by the Jays. The fact is, when Gaston was asked Saturday about his personal relationship with Arnsberg, he skated around it as gracefully as Tie Domi on Battle of the Blades.

"He was always sitting talking with Halladay," Gaston said. "Arnie was a hard worker, but I didn't have as much (of a relationship) with Brad as the other (Jays) pitching coaches (I've worked with)."
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The Vancouver Sun:
In a conference call Saturday, Gaston used oblique language to confirm his uneasy relationship with Arnsberg. While acknowledging that Arnsberg worked hard and “did his job,” Gaston stopped well short of a ringing endorsement.

“A lot of times I didn’t have much with him as far as I did with the other pitching coaches (on his previous staffs). . . . He probably sees that if I’m going to be here one more year, he’s looking for more than that,” Gaston said. “He’s close to home (in Texas) and I’m pretty sure he’ll do a good job down there in Houston...”

...Arnsberg had a close personal and professional relationship with his pitching staff, especially Roy (Doc) Halladay. He had also earned abiding respect from previous skipper John Gibbons.

But Arnsberg and Gaston never had the same rapport...

...Gaston and Arnsberg were rarely seen in conversation, even in the dugout during games. In an ambiguous comment Saturday, Gaston said Arnsberg “would pretty much sit down with Doc most of the time.”
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Bluebird Banter:

So, basically, we have traded the best pitching coach in baseball for one year of Cito. One year. A year that should be a building year. So if Cito is leaving after this building year, wouldn't you rather build with the manager that's going to be there after the year. If say Buck Showalter (or whoever) was going to be the guy, wouldn't you want him here now so he evaluate the team?

There is one excuse that Anthopoulos could give us that I would accept. It is possible that Arnsberg decided to go to Houston first. Maybe the sequence of events wasn't Cito's staying so Arnsberg is going. Maybe it was that Arnsberg decided he wanted to work closer to home. Or he wanted a new challenge. Or Houston just made too good an offer. But man, if I'm in Anthopoulos' spot I do whatever I have to to keep Brad.

I'll admit. I was drinking the koolaid as much or more than anyone else. I was very happy when Alex got the GM job. All the stories about renewed enthusiasm with in the organization sounded great. Then the announcement that Paul Beeston was staying. And the team would have more money for players. And I liked all the moves to reorganize the front office. Yep, I was sold. Things were turning, life was good.

And then this.

And well, I'm not drinking the koolaid anymore. I was sold on Alex, he didn't quite have me at hello, but he had me soon after. Now they have to sell me all over again.
It is going to be a much harder sell this time.
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Drunk Jays Fans (note, asterisk-ed up as this is a family blog):

It has just been announced, according to Sportsnet, that Cito Gaston will be back coaching this team in 2010—after which he will retire. Brad Arnsberg has moved on to the Houston Astros organization, where he will be pitching coach. Bullpen coach Bruce Walton has been promoted to pitching coach, and Gene Tenace has retired from baseball.

Seriously, f*** this team.

How can anybody have the slightest f***ing faith in Anthopolous and Beeston now? They watched Gaston’s bumbling f***ing s***show of an attempt at managing a baseball team all year, and have now f***ing endorsed it? I’m sorry, but this is flat out retarded. There is no excuse for this, and no reason to have the slightest faith in this management team to not be complete f***ing idiots.

Sorry guys, but you f***ed up. Large. I don’t care if you’re throwing away a season. Throw away a season with a manager that won’t frustrate the living f*** out of anybody watching who isn’t a nostalgia-consumed twat. I’m sure Cito is a great dude and everything, I’m sure it would have taken a lot of balls to do the right thing and ask him to quietly shuffle into some bulls*** front office position, but seriously… f*** you.

I imagine that at some point I’ll calm down and actually be able to stomach the thought of watching another season of this absolute f***ing horseshit, but good f***ing chr***… what a disaster. Just so f***ing stupid, words cannot describe.

I guess it’s good to know it’s only one more year, but for a team with a consumer confidence problem, this is a hell of a f***ing kick in the balls to anybody who actually pays attention to the team. Will it really mean anything to the casual fans they’re courting? I f***ing doubt it. But s***, I guess sometimes loyalty is more important than making decisions with a semblance of making an ounce of f***ing sense.
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The Tao of Stieb:

Cito Gaston, the manager who completely lost the clubhouse at the end of last season, will be returning to fulfill the final lame duck year of his contract.

Brad Arnsberg, in the biggest non-coincidence in the history of baseball, will not be.

And to think....I was set to post about "turning the page" this weekend and embracing the new Blue Jays front office regime.

Instead - unless I can bottle my rage - I think I'm taking the rest of the weekend off. It's better for all of us this way.

F*** this.
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Early returns look like this is quite an upgrade for the Astros, and Roy ought to have a new best friend by mid-February. Well done by Ed Wade.