Author Topic: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8  (Read 3223 times)

OregonStrosFan

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Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« on: December 08, 2009, 01:16:19 am »
JdJO will have a live chat with Brad Mills at 11:00 CST over at his blog.
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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2009, 08:23:38 am »
JdJO: Welcome to Houston, whitey.
Mills: Thanks.  Did you just call me 'whitey'?
JdJO: Brad, what do you have against minorities?

S.P. Rodriguez

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #2 on: December 08, 2009, 09:02:21 am »
As much as I'd like to read what Mills has to say, I am unofficially boycotting JdJo... known, from here on as dill-wad.  Dill-wad has made no secret of his contempt for the Astros mgmt, specifically Wade.  He pulls no punches, again, in the Chron article with his quotes from Valverde

Quote
“Another arbitration wasn't for me. If they want to win with young players, that's good. But a team like that has to invest to win. The GM said he wanted me, but if he really wanted me, he would have offered something. He never offered me any type of offer or anything. They had a chance to make an offer, and they never made it. It was always, ‘Well talk tomorrow.' Then when the time ended for the first offer, they said we'd talk later. They never, never made me an offer.”

Here's a news flash for both dill-wad and Valverde, they are not obligated to make a specific monetary offer.  The arbitration offer WAS their offer.  From reading this, I hope their intent was to go after the draft picks.  And I would not be surprised to see Valverde with a team like the Nats or Baltimore.  So much the better. 

To me, Wade layed out a sound strategy and executed it perfectly.  It was reasonable to expect the market to develop slowly (based on economy, the needs of the competition - and lack of need for the big spenders -, and an abundance of options that while not as good as Valverde are still effective).  So they took a gamble offering arbitration, knowing that Valverde had stated repeatedly he planned to go to FA.  His comments in the above quote all but confirm he never planned to accept arbitration.  So, with this knowledge, what was the real risk to Houston?  None, really.  Just a good opportunity to further add to the farm system. 

A quick comparison:  Boston did as much with Billy Wagner.  Everyone knew they would offer arbitration, including Wagner.  They made no public effort to re-sign him.  And the Boston media is doling out compliments to Epstein for being shrewd and effective.  On the other hand, dill-wad is leading with the comments from a player known for being highly emotional, which in my opinion attempt to portray Wade as disingenuous, at best, and not really interested in winning (the greatest pro-sport sin!!).

Personally, I am impressed that Wade saw the opportunity and took a risk.  Out-friggin-standing.  The only way I could be more impressed is if Wade either manages to trade Matsui, re-sign Valverde for less than what he payed last year, land Wolf for the reported deal they had in place last year (3yr 21/24mil), or bring back Tejada for 7-8mil/yr on a 2 yr deal.  Do I expect any of those to happen?  Nope,  not in the slightest.  It's completely unreasonable to expect any of that to happen.  Unlike the Valverde situation.  My compliments to the Astros Brass.  Nicely done, gentelman. 

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domedogs

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #3 on: December 08, 2009, 10:16:16 am »
I second that boycott.  Inferiority complexes turn "journalists" into inferior "journalists"

It drives me crazy that he insists on predicating every entry on "________ told ME, yada yada, yada."

I wish Levine worked for a more reputable news outlet.  Then I would never have a reason to visit chron online ever again.


GreatBagwellsBeard

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2009, 11:13:08 am »
Holy shit.  The questions that they're letting in to this chat are awful.  Perhaps someone forgot the difference between manager and general manager.
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S.P. Rodriguez

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2009, 11:40:02 am »
ok.... I broke on my unofficial boycott... and found this

Quote
11:21
   
   
Jose de Jesus Ortiz:
Pravata just asked this, but somehow we're having computer problems here: "Jose de Jesus Ortiz has written, "...if the Astros really want to win, they'll [...]try to spend big bucks on quality starting pitching. Anything short of that is just a case of waiting out the clock until the farm system stops being considered one of the worst in baseball in about 2011 or 2012." When you took the job with the Astros, did you think that the organization didn't "really want to win" or that they are "waiting out the clock" for the next 3 years

Dude should know, Pravata is dead.  Just saying... The King is DEAD...Long live the King!
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. "

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Ron Brand

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2009, 11:55:54 am »
Go get 'em Prav!
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ferret

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2009, 12:01:09 pm »
ok.... I broke on my unofficial boycott... and found this

Dude should know, Pravata is dead.  Just saying... The King is DEAD...Long live the King!

Computers don't connect in the Void. 

S.P. Rodriguez

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2009, 12:01:48 pm »
Go get 'em Prav!

It just crossed my mind that no one has ever seen Alyson Footer AND Pravata at the same time.  Are they the same person?!  It would explain a great deal, at least I imagine it would.
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. "

-Mark Twain

GreatBagwellsBeard

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2009, 12:31:00 pm »
It just crossed my mind that no one has ever seen Alyson Footer AND Pravata at the same time.  Are they the same person?!  It would explain a great deal, at least I imagine it would.

It would certainly make my fantasy life a lot more complicated.
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Alkie

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #10 on: December 08, 2009, 12:41:16 pm »
It just crossed my mind that no one has ever seen Alyson Footer AND Pravata at the same time.  Are they the same person?!  It would explain a great deal, at least I imagine it would.

Not.

True.

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MusicMan

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2009, 12:56:00 pm »
It just crossed my mind that no one has ever seen Alyson Footer AND Pravata at the same time.  Are they the same person?!  It would explain a great deal, at least I imagine it would.

Delete post, ban user.
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S.P. Rodriguez

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #12 on: December 08, 2009, 02:27:20 pm »
as an act of contrition:

Footer tweets over the past hour:
Quote

#   "...to be a very good third baseman. Manzella hasn't given us any reason to believe he isn't going to be a very good shortstop."    4 minutes ago   from Tweetie

# Mills on left side of infield: "Tommy Manzella answers a lot of questions right there. You can put Keppinger there and Blum has the ability 5 minutes ago from Tweetie

# http://twitpic.com/sp97o - Across the room, La Russa talks w/media 9 minutes ago from TwitPic

# "...I'm interested to see what happens in Spring Training. We're going to give him every opportunity to make the ballclub." 12 minutes ago from Tweetie

# Mills on C Jason Castro: "Solid talent. (saw him play in AFL). "I was thrilled to see what he has, what he can bring to the table.... 13 minutes ago from Tweetie

# Mills on what kind of team they'll be: "we're going to try to utilize the personnel we have, the speed we have, the aggressiveness we have." 17 minutes ago from Tweetie


http://twitter.com/alysonfooter

From this, is any one else getting the picture that maybe Cooper was the disconnect (pitching and defense, just enough offense etc..) last season? 

If not, someone prep'd the hell out of Mills.  I like it already.  These kids may not hit, which is typical for young players, but their defense is going to be valued. 
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. "

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Ron Brand

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #13 on: December 08, 2009, 03:26:45 pm »
I think Mills is pretty clear on what he has, what he can expect to get, and that he needs to get everyone playing together and hope that hustle carries the day. It could happen.
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S.P. Rodriguez

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #14 on: December 08, 2009, 03:36:26 pm »
I think Mills is pretty clear on what he has, what he can expect to get, and that he needs to get everyone playing together and hope that hustle carries the day. It could happen.

If nothing else, it will be interesting.  At least to me.  They have a significant load riding on Norris and Paulino/Wright/Bazardo.  I enjoy that more than the Hampton/Ortiz
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. "

-Mark Twain

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #15 on: December 08, 2009, 04:29:31 pm »
Yeah, it should be fun next year (hopefully) watching young players blossom.  It will be a different kind of enjoyment than the playoff chase, but rewarding in its own way.  And that's not to say a playoff chase isn't possible (albeit highly unlikely).
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Limey

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #16 on: December 09, 2009, 12:39:38 pm »
Yeah, it should be fun next year (hopefully) watching young players blossom.  It will be a different kind of enjoyment than the playoff chase, but rewarding in its own way.  And that's not to say a playoff chase isn't possible (albeit highly unlikely).

There was very little about watching the '09 Astros that I would consider "fun".  Other than Miggy, most of 'em looked like it wasn't fun for them.  Grinch Cooper wasn't going to lighten the mood any either.

'10 can only be better, regardless of the Ws & Ls.
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Col. Sphinx Drummond

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #17 on: December 09, 2009, 01:49:14 pm »
Did Mills predict how many games the team wins?
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S.P. Rodriguez

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #18 on: December 09, 2009, 01:52:47 pm »
Did Mills predict how many games the team wins?

No, but he was asked that question.  He said he deals in what he knows.
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. "

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BlownRanger

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Re: Live Chat w/ Brad Mills on 12/8
« Reply #19 on: December 10, 2009, 04:01:12 pm »
It drives me crazy that he insists on predicating every entry on "________ told ME, yada yada, yada."


A little off-topic, but when a media hack says "__________ told me", it usually means the media hack was among a group of folks standing around listening to ___________ talk.
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