Designated Yost Thread... Latest: No accountability and lack of urgency (part 5)

[logan82]

endaround wrote:

And this is why a baseball savy press corp would be nice. But since the beat reporters think Branyan's a scrub they won't ask why he's not in there.

But he strikes out and has a bad batting average. It is obvious Branyan doesn't belong in MLHB.

[Fatter than Joey]

Also, TH, learn how to punctuate. Its not like were idiots to!

 

or were you being clever?

[TooLiveBrew]

Trying to be funny. Being an English nerd is rarely funny for one's own personal gain -- typically works the opposite way.

 

 

Why is Counsell starting at 3B?

 

Because that's where the 3B bats. God, why don't you people just get a couch in the dugout! Then maybe Ned could ask you to do his math for him... wait a second, this is starting to sound like a good idea...

 

 

"I'm don't do math well" -- Ned freaking Yost. Good thing baseball isn't a numbers game.

[giffted1]

Coming from a Yost supporter, there is no reason Counsell should be starting over Branyan as much as he has been.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I finally figured out why Mat Gamel won't be called up. He either needs to develop down into a #6 hitter or he needs to learn another position.

[rluzinski]

I don't know why anyone bothers to look for less obvious reasons to blast Yost, when he does stuff like this that has no explanation. There's no way around coming to the conclusion that Yost has no ability to value offensive or defensive worth. I have no doubt that Counsell plays better defense than Branyan at 3B. Yost couldn't possibly believe that makes up for Counsell's atrocious stick, right? I'm asking the wrong question, though. What's really going on here is obvious. Yost actually is valuing Counsell's offensive talents MORE than Branyan's! I bet if questioned, the phrase "good AB" would be muttered about a dozen times by Yost.

 

I still wonder if it's personal. Yost didn't want to play Branyan over Helms during his first go-around with the Crew. I guess we'll never know but it sure smells.

 

It seems like the second Branyan wasn't hitting a bomb every game, he sealed his fate.

[Thurston Fluff]

I still wonder if it's personal. Yost didn't want to play Branyan over Helms during his first go-around with the Crew. I guess we'll never know but sure smells.

 

I'm thinking along the same lines. I won't try to rationalize it because it defies reason. There has to be some sort if reason for it other than who is the better overall player. Either some sort of nagging injury or Branyan refuses to do something Ned feels is necessary and is paying the price for that refusal. No idea of which it is but htat is the only logical explanation.

[ozzybourne]

as long as neddy is trying to get everyon some ab's--counsel, durham today--what about rivera for kendall? give rivera 2 starts in a row, he may be needed. and kapler for cameron. russell should definately be starting over counsel.

 

and no suspension for prince?

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Yost on the fight . . . .

---

"It's not the first time it happened and it won't be the last.

"It's what happens. It makes teams better. It's not a problem. It's nobody's business."

You have GOT to be kidding me.

 

Anybody want to take Yost over Sweet Lou today?

[sheethead]

IIRC, Bill Hall is a Reds killer. Has Craig Counsell ever killed the Reds? I doubt it. I hate Ned Yost like Eric hates Kyle, only without the antisemitism.

[TooLiveBrew]

That's a perfect way to describe the point I'm nearing, sheethead. I'm trying to think of things I like about him, but most of it is stuff that I'd guess would be easy to find in a new hire, and all stuff I've posted before. Like Russ said, his decisions include as much 'gritty-battler-iness' as logic, if not far moreso.

[sheethead]

Don't you think you could simulate a better manager than Ned Yost? Just have a computer do his job. I doubt The Show would have Counsell batting 6th, playing 3B in this game. The Show is smarter than Ned Yost.

[yount19.u]

For what it's worth, Counsell is 5 for 12 in his last 3 games with 3 strikeouts. As a comparison, Branyan is 3 for 12 with 3 strikeouts and Hall is 2 for 12 with 4 strikeouts. Maybe Yost is going with the luke warm hand considering how cold the offense has been lately. As for hitting sixth, I don't think it makes any difference unless Cameron starts to hit more. As for Kendall, I cannot believe he is in there today.

[fondybrewfan]

I was pretty optimistic that the hiring of Simmons would influence Ned in a good way since Ted is considered an excellent baseball mind. Either Ned flat out refuses to listen to Ted, Ted isn't all he was cracked up to be, our Ned has corrupted Ted.

[TooLiveBrew]

(All quotes from TH's blog)

 

Asked what would warrant removing a player from the lineup, Yost said, "non-hustle, being late, disrespecting the game in terms of hot dogging, no hustling, those types of things."

 

What about hustle, Ned?

 

 

"It's not anything that's going to linger or continue. Prince has apologized and we've talked to Manny."

 

What?! Prince has apologized to the media & everyone except Parra? The coaches have told Manny that what happened was OK, but that it was a tad too far? And this is acceptable? I've never encountered an incident where I've questioned the type of ship Ned skippers more than this one, and that's saying quite a bit, I think.

 

There's an attitude that what he did was acceptable. That is unacceptable to me. I was on the fence on Yost; I am now sufficiently on the 'He must go' side. Not once has anyone -- especially Fielder -- apologized. This is all classic rationalization & enabling. It makes me sick. And yes, I know this will likely have no effect on the field either way, but this is a classless approach by Yost, Fielder, and their bosses for allowing it. Disgusting.

 

 

By the way, here's basically what Manny Parra would have been told:

 

"It was a mistake on both sides, one that I think both of them regret"

 

Manny! Go tell Prince Fielder you're sorry for him attacking you!

 

 

"That one thing doesn't hurt his image. It was a mistake on both sides, one that I think both of them regret. It's over and done. At times, we all learn how to deal with certain situations. It's called experience. We think that Prince is a grizzled veteran but he's still a young guy. He's still learning how to compete at a high level in the major leagues."

 

Given the reaction of many of the Brewers players at the time of the scuffle, I don't see how Yost can carry much credibility anymore, if this is his actual message to them. I'm starting to think what he's saying in the media is what he's saying to the 'Family'

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As for hitting sixth, I don't think it makes any difference unless Cameron starts to hit more.

 

Cameron's last 6 games (24 PA): .238/.333/.571/.905 with 2 HR

 

 

I'm sorry, but Yost is just being an idiot. He doesn't understand how to play the hot bat, & he doesn't understand how to play platoon splits... among many other things.

[RU Rah Rah]

Amid all of his spinning, has Ned come out and said something along the lines of, "Obviously, this was unacceptable behavior; we can't have guys whupping on each other in the dugout in the middle of a game; they should know better"? That does have to be said by the manager, right?

[Invader3K]

After the big win last night, does Yost get any credit for not letting the fight derail the team, as some posters and a lot of people in the media were saying it would?

[jason21nl]

I don't think the fight had anything to do with last night. They finally hit the ball with guys on.

[Thurston Fluff]

Anybody want to take Yost over Sweet Lou today?

 

I would.

 

 

What?! Prince has apologized to the media & everyone except Parra? The coaches have told Manny that what happened was OK, but that it was a tad too far? And this is acceptable? I've never encountered an incident where I've questioned the type of ship Ned skippers more than this one, and that's saying quite a bit, I think.

 

i think what it says is Ned agree with Fielder that Parra should have stayed to watch the team. perhaps Parra was getting a little too self centered or something. I don't think the problem was what prince said as much as how he said it. Prince did apologize for how he said what he said just not what he said. Sometimes players do need to be straightened out a bit. I know I had a teammate talk to me once after a spat of minor injuries left me less than thrilled with the world and it started to effect my attitude around other teammates. I didn't like hearing it at the time but it needed to be said.

 

As far as the Counsell thing goes I did not and will not defend it other than to say he did turn in the defensive play of the game. It was a big play at a critical time in the game. That does not make it the right decision in my mind but I'm not very good at determining the worth of defense or even how much better one player is than the other so I'm in no way qualified to know who is better when in that regard. In the end Counsell did end up contributing in no small way to the win. If you want to say it was wrong fine but also mention it worked out the way Ned chose to do it.

[afeter]

todays lineup was really shocking. I just can't get my brain around neds reasoning.

 

JJ cold as ice continues to start up until edison yesterday. Finally breaks out. Reward = bench.

Counsell, with his seventh consecutive start. This should never happen barring injury.

Branyan continues to rot away on the bench. One total AB (with no one on) at little league field. He'd prolly have hit 5 Hrs in 4 ABs against Bailey today.

Old man kendall out for another day game. You could say, well he had a nice game yesterday ---but so did JJ.

 

I seriously question the starts for 3 of 9 guys out there. And oh yeah, craiger bats 2 today because he was playing shortstop. My lord. Ned must really have been paying attention to this sites call for lineup continuity last year. He must be scared to put too many variations out there. Scared the media, or fans will tell him he is mixing it up too much. This has to be unusal. I have never heard of any other manager setting a lineup by defensive positions. But Ned is a trend setter. see platoon home and away pitchers.

 

Kudos for the Win today, but i am very reluctant to give him any credit. I just don't see how he put his team in the best position to win with that lineup. sheesh

[RU Rah Rah]

With JJ, I think his rationale was that a day off today, plus the regular off day tomorrow, would give him two days off in a row, which would be good heading down the stretch. I might agree with that in another situation, but afeter has a point about the slump -- when you finally break out of an 0-for-29 funk, the last thing you need is a couple of days off.

 

Of course, the same logic justifying sitting JJ (sneaking in two days off is good for regulars) should have applied to Kendall, too -- perhaps even more so because Kendall is a catcher and takes even more of a pounding than a SS.

[scrapiron]

People complain of the Brewer's atrocious defense all the time, but when he plays their best defensive player, he gets ripped.

 

You can't have it both ways. Is it all glove and no bat, or all bat and no glove? Pick one. With Branyan/Hall/Counsell you can't have both, pick a poison, learn to live with the downside, and quit complaining.

 

While I don't necessarily agree, it seems Yost is thinking that Counsell's defense is more valuable than what Hall and Branyan can do with their bat. Is that flawed? Well, I dunno, but people scream just as loud when Hall or Branyan screw up in the field or K just as much as when Counsell comes up and doesn't produce. It seems to me Yost is in a no win situation at 3rd right now.

 

How does the game unfold if Hall/Branyan CAN'T make that play in the 1st on Tuesday that Counsell made? I don't much care for Counsell, but Ned is in between a rock an a hard place.

 

As far as fan relations goes, the best option for Ned is to play Branyan all the time, until of course he begins to hit around his usual .225 clip. Just remember, Branyan's exile to the bench pretty much came after is HORRIBLE defensive showing in the San Fransisco series' last game. A game where he committed one brutal error, OLAY-ED another ball in the ninth, and forgot to touch third in a critical situation, one which would have cost the Brewers dearly had the umpire NOT had his head up his butt. He hasn't seen the field much since then. By that reasoning, you can see why Ned is playing Counsell at third.

[TooLiveBrew]

From Dave Fultz's brewers.com article "Yost recognizes cycle of game":

 

"Craig Counsell, who was back in the starting lineup on Friday, turned a hot streak into more playing time.

'You definitely try to ride the hot hand, and he's been playing well,' Yost said. 'We were struggling trying to get runners on, and Counsell had a good on-base percentage, works the count and took advantage of the opportunity.'"

The red-hot Craig Counsell, who, over the last 28 days, has a line of .206/.243/.235/.479! I think the Brewers are lucky to have a manager that understands statistics & how to use them. The babble that spews from his mouth is just... unfathomable.

 

I'm really concerned that Melvin either has no pull with Yost, or that Doug actually thinks Ned's decision-making processes are okey-dokey, and that.

[Loopee]

People complain of the Brewer's atrocious defense all the time, but when he plays their best defensive player, he gets ripped.

I don't think the issue is that he's playing counsell...but WHERE he's playing him and who he's replacing. I'd have no qualms with Craig getting some starts at the defensively crucial 2B spot, especially considering Weeks/Durham < Hall/Branyan offensively.

 

Counsell probably can play 1B better than Fielder....should he play there next? Maybe throw Kapler in for Braun? Can Counsell pitch?

 

 

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http://www.brewerfan.net/images/icons/lock.gifLocked.

 

We'll go with the flow with Yost threads for the time being. If a new one needs to be 'designated," it'll be added to the list.

 

--1992casey

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