Kenny Williams a possible GM for Dodgers?

[caulfield12]

Just a note for KW if he's sticking around...

 

CONTACT from our minor league hitters would be helpful. (Aoki's the perfect example from their second half run, despite Greg not being a big fan.)

 

 

You can call it good luck for the Royals and bad luck for the Orioles, but that's Royals baseball: They had the lowest strikeout rate in the majors, and sometimes just putting the ball in play can result in good things. So give Gordon credit there. And, conversely, the knock against the Orioles' rotation is that it was 11th in the American League in strikeout rate and Tillman's 17.2 percent K rate was below the team's 18.2 percent average.

 

This is one of the more intriguing subtexts of this series. The Royals have the best contact rate among the remaining playoff teams and the Orioles the worst. As Joe Sheehan pointed out in his ALCS preview newsletter, teams with the better regular-season contact rate are 29-10 in playoff series since 2009. It's possible that not striking out is turning into a positive predictive tool.

 

(By the way, Gordon then made a diving catch with two runners on to end the bottom of the inning.)

 

Dave Schoenfield www.espn.com

Edited October 11, 2014 by caulfield12

[Chicago White Sox]

Caulfield, I agree that contact is very important and often undervalued by advanced metrics. I say it all the time, but context does matter and anything that minimizes the deviations in run production in relation to the team's average output will help them win more games in the long-run, and is especially valuable in October when games are generally lower scoring.

 

Linear weights simply can't value how the distribution of run production actually impacts winning games, it only considers gross output.

Edited October 11, 2014 by Chicago White Sox

[SoxAce]

Yeah, what has that bum done for us lately. We never even heard anything about that 1b he scouted last offseason, that must have wound up as a disaster.

He was also the guy that was adamant on Mitchell and Alex Jackson over Rodon (although to be fair, time will tell on that one). Like any scout, he ain't perfect.

Edited October 11, 2014 by SoxAce

[Boopa1219]

He was also the guy that was adamant on Mitchell and Alex Jackson over Rodon (although to be fair, time will tell on that one). Like any scout, he ain't perfect.

 

I think Alex Jackson could be better than Rodon, he's gonna be a fast rise through the farm.

[kev211]

This is just not true. While many scouts and people around baseball questioned Abreu's bat speed and athleticism, there are also some who compared him to Pujols and Cabrera. Looking in the predictions thread on this forum, even some folks came close in their Abreu projections.

 

Let's be honest here, KW does not have psychic ability, even he didn't see this coming from Jose. If

he did, our bid would be much higher. The contract we are paying him is that of an above average first basemen.

Lol. No we wouldn't. We won the bidding war, why bid more than what you need? The bids were not blind.

[LDF]

This is just not true. While many scouts and people around baseball questioned Abreu's bat speed and athleticism, there are also some who compared him to Pujols and Cabrera. Looking in the predictions thread on this forum, even some folks came close in their Abreu projections.

 

Let's be honest here, KW does not have psychic ability, even he didn't see this coming from Jose. If

he did, our bid would be much higher. The contract we are paying him is that of an above average first basemen.

 

What?

 

He was essentially the best hitter in Cuban history. Some scouts had doubts about his transition,

but the potential for a star hitter was always known. Secondly, a TON of us were very hopeful of

signing him from day one because the situation was ripe for it -- we had low payroll commitments,

had a franchise icon 1B announcing his retirement, were looking to spend on high-end talent without

draft pick compensation attached thanks to being in year one of a rebuild, and all the teams that could

outspend us had long-term, expensive solutions at 1B already.

 

Every team in the ML had eyes on him, but the Sox were in the best position to spend and the best

position to be the team that ultimately took the gamble. It was an obvious fit from day one.

 

all that that was posted here is correct. I am talking about outside this forum. the rest of the baseball

world in the professional ranks, they did not see this coming. if they did, they would have outbid the sox.

 

the word potential has a double edge sword with different meaning.

[LDF]

Yeah, what has that bum done for us lately. We never even heard anything about that 1b he scouted last offseason, that must have wound up as a disaster.

 

some poster may take this as being a real response.

[GreenSox]

You can call it good luck for the Royals and bad luck for the Orioles, but that's Royals baseball: They had the lowest strikeout rate in the majors, and sometimes just putting the ball in play can result in good things. So give Gordon credit there. And, conversely, the knock against the Orioles' rotation is that it was 11th in the American League in strikeout rate and Tillman's 17.2 percent K rate was below the team's 18.2 percent average.

KC is also #1 in running the bases and in defense. Just not striking out doesn't get you very far.

[thxfrthmmrs]

Lol. No we wouldn't. We won the bidding war, why bid more than what you need? The bids were not blind.

 

Unless you can find proof that they were ready to pay more than 6/$68 mil, which still means KW didn't expect this production from him.

[caulfield12]

KC is also #1 in running the bases and in defense. Just not striking out doesn't get you very far.

 

See aj pierzynski and Juan Pierre.

 

With kc though, that bullpen is the killer....wade Davis just immolated the orioles after the royals blew the top of the ninth.

 

Both Davis and Herrera pitched multiple innings with only eighteen pitches each and can go again today with the Sunday off day.

Edited October 11, 2014 by caulfield12

[Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm]

Kenny Williams is as fiercely loyal to Jerry Reinsdorf as the rest of the inner circle. He has stated numerous times that the only scenario leading to his departure from the Sox is to go be the GM of the Raiders.

[southsider2k5]

Kenny Williams is as fiercely loyal to Jerry Reinsdorf as the rest of the inner circle. He has stated numerous times that the only scenario leading to his departure from the Sox is to go be the GM of the Raiders.

 

A few million dollars a year could change anyone's mind.

[caulfield12]

Better dating and restauranteuring possibilities?

[oldsox]

They should hire Magic Johnson.

Edited October 11, 2014 by oldsox

[caulfield12]

They should hire Magic Johnson.

 

Hopefully not as a broadcaster...

[ptatc]

I think we all Sox fans (including us) need to keep in mind that while KW had a hand in some good moves, he also made moves that were bad. Im not going to turn this into a debate where we list KW's good and bad moves but I will say that I respect KW for 2005 and in recent times trying to put together a winner, but KW is also a reason for the rebuild we are enduring now. It must not have been easy for Hahn to step into the roll of GM.

People also forget that KW recommended that the team would have been torn down and this re-building started 2 years earlier if JR listened to KW. He wanted to do it earlier but the big brass wanted to try a couple more years before the re-building would start. The decision to always go for it was not KW's alone, although it was his preferred method. Just like the decision to change directions was not KW's alone. The brass decided to change it and it was the logical time for Hahn to take over. They were all in it together before and they are all init together now.

[LDF]

 

no matter what posters have to say, whether it is bad or good.

 

the 2005 world championship ring wipes the history clean.

 

KW, is still young, he may want another challenge like most people

would. Why not?

[Balta1701]

Why not?

The serious answer? He told us that physically the stress of being a GM for that long was more than he could take and I don't blame him one bit for that. Making multi-million dollar gut instinct decisions and then having to wait 2-3 years to see if the results work out while still focusing on every game? The stress levels are inhuman, and Kenny spelled that out very well on "The club". Billy Beane in Moneyball is doing the same thing, not watching games to manage the stress. Kenny could take it for a while but had to call it quits at some point.

[greg775]

A few million dollars a year could change anyone's mind.

Yep. Great post. Money talks. Why the Dodgers think they have to pay him a ton of money though is beyond me. He's just another guy IMO although I will give him props for '05.

[LDF]

The serious answer? He told us that physically the stress of being a GM for that long was more than he could take and I don't blame him one bit for that. Making multi-million dollar gut instinct decisions and then having to wait 2-3 years to see if the results work out while still focusing on every game? The stress levels are inhuman, and Kenny spelled that out very well on "The club". Billy Beane in Moneyball is doing the same thing, not watching games to manage the stress. Kenny could take it for a while but had to call it quits at some point.

 

what you are saying may be very true.

 

however wouldn't that be a good answer to give when the sox brass want to move

Hahn in as gm and move KW to a higher position?

[GreenSox]

See aj pierzynski and Juan Pierre.

 

With kc though, that bullpen is the killer....wade Davis just immolated the orioles after the royals blew the top of the ninth.

 

Both Davis and Herrera pitched multiple innings with only eighteen pitches each and can go again today with the Sunday off day.

AJ does all 3 - he makes contact, he runs the bases very well, and has power. Under-appreciated offensive player (not by Sox fans but by the sabre world).

 

KC has a great pen. But those come and go and are really dependent on your system. Their starters are also capable, which puts less pressure on the pen.

Edited October 12, 2014 by GreenSox

[Balta1701]

what you are saying may be very true.

 

however wouldn't that be a good answer to give when the sox brass want to move

Hahn in as gm and move KW to a higher position?

Kenny was saying things like that years before he moved to the executive position.

[Dick Allen]

Kenny was saying things like that years before he moved to the executive position.

He did get re-married and his wife is an anchor at NBC in Chicago, so I would doubt that he would move. These days he can do that job from somewhere other than LA. I think he lived in AZ for a couple years when he was the GM for the White Sox.

 

He also wouldn't be the first guy who said the job ate him up and ultimately was up for getting back in. if the Dodgers really want him, with all of their resources, IMO, a big offer would be hard to turn down if he is as competitve as he and others say.

 

There are only 30 of these jobs in the world. If he thinks that perhaps, maybe, possibly....he might want to do it again sometime, if this is available to him, he may have to jump. A year or two from now he may not be a consideration for similar positions.

Edited October 12, 2014 by Dick Allen

[Balta1701]

He did get re-married and his wife is an anchor at NBC in Chicago, so I would doubt that he would move. These days he can do that job from somewhere other than LA. I think he lived in AZ for a couple years when he was the GM for the White Sox.

 

He also wouldn't be the first guy who said the job ate him up and ultimately was up for getting back in. if the Dodgers really want him, with all of their resources, IMO, a big offer would be hard to turn down if he is as competitve as he and others say.

 

There are only 30 of these jobs in the world. If he thinks that perhaps, maybe, possibly....he might want to do it again sometime, if this is available to him, he may have to jump. A year or two from now he may not be a consideration for similar positions.

One other thing to consider is that someone was talking a couple days ago about a rumor the Dodgers would have to do a big payroll cut this year to get down to below $200 million. That could be a really tough position to be in - having to drop people right away and maybe watching the team backtrack if that one were true.

[Texsox]

It is always nice when other teams are interested in your guys.