I can get used to a lot of things if I’m winning.

I loved Orel on the field, but he’s known in many circles as a presumptuous blowhard, too.

I could also go for someone with a little life. Maybe a manager like Billy Martin? Or Don Zimmer. We need Don Zimmer.

i want the guy who sits in the middle from Shark Tank.

What about your Jack McKeon idea? I liked that one.

I want to be underwhelmed. The sort of splashy managerial hire that anyone would even notice is going to be expensive. Given that I don’t believe the WAR of a manager is all that high, even for guys like LaRussa, I’d rather the club spend the money elsewhere. Or make the beer cheaper.

I don’t care what you say, I am still wild for Farrell

With the Indians, Farrell has been instrumental in the development of such pitchers as Fernando Cabrera, Jason Davis, Jeremy Guthrie, Edward Mujica, Rafael Perez, and Jeremy Sowers.

I mean, what else do you need to hear?

Agreed. The best I can hope for is someone that at least looks like a badass.

Skinner was 448-333 and made the playoffs five out of six years.

I remember an MLB.com article talking about how many times he’d interviewed for a position before being hired by the Mets. Apparently it never occurred to the author that the reason he’d never landed a job before was that he was bad.

i’m not sure it’s clear that willie is not good, is it?

Acta was my personal preference, but that’s just because I knew his name and liked some of the quotes I saw from him when he ran the Ex-Expos.

I still like Acta. I also like Farrell. I might consider applying myself—is that through indians.com?

Of all the lousy, dirty … So what? I’m sure Hendry got his dinner, and that’s what counts, right?

Cubs manager is a dream job for him. Can’t fault him for pushing for it, and I do credit him for going to the minors afterward.

Bah. Plural possessive fail.

Again, not sure I follow the logic behind a splashy/flashy/dashy hire. I like Angie’s idea better.

Alright, nothing against you DD but just for fun:

1.) For a candidate to be worth discussing seriously amongst fans, there should be at least an outside chance for it to be plausible. Farrell is more likely than LaRusa or Bobby Valenine or Willie Randolph or big time names in that he has a relationship with the Indians and Shapiro, as they worked side-by-side for 7 years. And while Farrell and Francona are former teammates and good friends, Farrell has meaningful ties to Cleveland: he lives in Westlake. So he has a reason to like the Indian’s job and Shaprio has a reason to like him.

I get what you’re saying but there are literally only a handful of guys who are “implausible” and none of them are going to get consideration from Shapiro. I just don’t buy “might actually get hired” as a reason to be excited about a guy.

2.) He knows the a lot of the major league players- their strengths and weaknesses. He was our Director of Player Development from 01-06. He would know Sowers, Laffey, Raffy Perez, J-Lew, Carmona, Sizemore, Marte, Peralta, Hafner. And probably some of our other parts deeper in the system.

As does Wedge. As do many other candidates (Skinner, Lovullo, Fryman, etc). And as did not dozens of managers who were successful with new clubs.

3.) Experience. As a major leaguer, a big time college program pitching coach, player development director, and major league pitching coach for one of the best teams over the last 3 seasons, he has worked with young players in a variety of aspects.

Anyone we hire is going to have significant experience that can be spun as just as valuable as Farrell’s. These guys’ resumes are all going to look pretty similar on paper.

4.) By all accounts, he’s good. The Indians system, under Shapiro, Antonetti, Huntington, and Farrell was extremely respected. Winning organization of the year awards and front office awards, during a quick and strong rebuild. The Red Sox love him. A good friend of mine and serious baseball and Red Sox fan has told me several times he is more scared of losing Farrell than just about any other single person on the team. He thinks he is more important to the success of the Red Sox and their clubhouse than Francona.

We only think of him as good because he went to a big market franchise and sat on the bench while he won a bunch of games. Of course the Red Sox love him-they love everyone in their system, as they should, because they do a lot of due dilligence and make good hires. You know who else loves their own? Shapiro. I don’t think your boss’ confidence means a lot, especially when you’re in a perfect situation. I’m the best firefighter in a town where all the buildings are made of cement and there’s no electricity!

And, for the record, your friend’s opinion is based on little more than anyone else’s potential affection for Fryman or Acta or whoever. I mean, really: his pitching coach resume is worse than Willis’. Players have both pitched well and pitched extremely poorly under him (Matsuzaka, Smoltz). I just caution against heaping a bunch of praise on the pitching coach of Beckett and Papelbon. I mean, Willis gets credit for turning Cliff Lee from a totally nothing asset to the best pitcher in baseball. That’s much more than Farrell’s ever done.

5.) He’s from out of the organization. Sure, he has a lot of experience in the Shapiro front office, but at the same time, he has been in a different organization for the last three seasons. Luvello and Skinner are fine choices, but one of the reasons I’m not as excited about them is that they are too close to the situation. They would have a similar point of view as anyone else within the organization. Farrell has worked with Francona, Epstein, and the rest of the Boston brain trust. Theoretically, he will have a different voice.

Yeah, theoretically. Or maybe everyone in Boston and Cleveland has the same robot speak approach to everything except when they say it in Boston money falls out of their mouths.

I think we talked about this here once, but the story I remember is that he came in to interview for the job that Charlie Manual eventually got. Walked in flashing his WS rings, sat down, and told everyone how they would be helping him run his team. Without regard to how right he may have been, it didn’t go over well in the job interview.

Man, if you thought Wedge sat youngsters. Cito was the absolute master. A young Shawn Green grew mold on the bench while Cito kept trotting Ruben Sierra out there. I think he was slow to play Olerud as well..

Not sure what that has to do with a guy who won back-to-back World Series.

It’s going to be a cold winter, again.

Buddy didn’t exactly look too bright when he was in Kansas City.

yup, that’s it. Thanks.

Mattingly? That seems to be a name Hoynes just pulled out of a hat.

Also!

The Indians, some believe, have become a victim of their own ability to sway the national media into believing they’re better than they really are.

I pulled a muscle rolling my eyes at this. Even though I think this is complete crap, and at most had an effect at the very very tiny margins, I’ll admit that its a juicy storyline. So I can’t kill Hoynes et al for it. Slick Shapiro, and his team of well-dressed sauve geniuses, charming the national media.

1/rec?

don’t the yankees consistently lose money on baseball operations? although, i guess it’s all academic, since their various other interests (e.g. ownership in YES network) more than make up for the team’s operating losses (-$25mm in ‘06, -$4mm in ’08).

My Dolan Beer Subsidy idea would work in any season, but other than that, I got nothin’.

As for what we pay, according to the 2009 Team Marketing Report Fan Cost Index, the Indians were 16th in average ticket price and 15th in Fan Cost Index, which includes “the prices of two (2) adult average-price tickets, two (2) child average-price tickets, two (2) small draft beers, four (4) small soft drinks, four (4) regular-size hot dogs, parking for one (1) car, two (2) game programs and two (2) least expensive, adult-size adjustable caps.” A Tribe family buying all that stuff would have paid only 44% of that paid by a family attending a Yankees game, not including the therapy required to recover from the trauma associated with attending a Yankees game.

Seriously. Newbie.