It seems to be the day for interviews.
A few snippets that might be of interest to Jays fans:
On how much credit Beane should get: "... well, I don’t say Billy was responsible for rethinking the game at any point. Sandy (Alderson) introduces him to Bill James, Paul DePodesta does most of the actual thinking, so I felt I had to make that clear."
DePodesta was one of the candidates for the Jays' GM job - not that I would have preferred him to J.P. With all the fancy metrics, the most important single skill is the ability to judge talent - J.P. might be among the best in the business.
On Beane's relationship to his players: "... They fear him, he doesn’t fear them, almost on the level of physical intimidation. And when you’re trying to take such a intractable, unchangeable culture as a major league baseball team, and change it, there’s a kind of violence involved there. And he’s very well suited to practice that violence."
Probably with a lesser degree of violence, J.P. has stamped our club with his philosophy of how the game should be played. The guys who weren't deemed suitable were shipped out and only a few "relics" remain. By spring of next year, this team figures to be completely on board with J.P.'s thinking.
A few snippets that might be of interest to Jays fans:
On how much credit Beane should get: "... well, I don’t say Billy was responsible for rethinking the game at any point. Sandy (Alderson) introduces him to Bill James, Paul DePodesta does most of the actual thinking, so I felt I had to make that clear."
DePodesta was one of the candidates for the Jays' GM job - not that I would have preferred him to J.P. With all the fancy metrics, the most important single skill is the ability to judge talent - J.P. might be among the best in the business.
On Beane's relationship to his players: "... They fear him, he doesn’t fear them, almost on the level of physical intimidation. And when you’re trying to take such a intractable, unchangeable culture as a major league baseball team, and change it, there’s a kind of violence involved there. And he’s very well suited to practice that violence."
Probably with a lesser degree of violence, J.P. has stamped our club with his philosophy of how the game should be played. The guys who weren't deemed suitable were shipped out and only a few "relics" remain. By spring of next year, this team figures to be completely on board with J.P.'s thinking.
