...Hicks ever thinks before he opens his mouth, and as a result, even the best spin on his ridiculous comments at times do no good. He really loves to throw people under the bus. Just go ask anyone in Liverpool.

I think its more along the lines of Ryan would provide a buffer zone between Hicks and Daniels so when Hicks says he wants to win now Ryan can talk some sense into him before he forces his GM, brand new at the time, to make a bad move

JD has had some bad moves, mostly because he wasn’t strong enough to stand up to his manager’s (i.e., Buck).

I still say that Nolan’s presence empowers JD as much as it weakens him.

I think it was meant as a PR confidence builder in Ryan than a slam on JD, but it was worded horribly. Hicks has no talent for words.

these are the types of things that make me really wish he’d sell the team. He just doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. There is no reason at all to say such a thing, and guys like norm hitzges need to get as upset about these statements as they did about jd saying washingtons job was secure until the asb (another poor thing to say).

This is an indication to me that daniels is either on his way out, or is losing a large majority of any power he had.

JD is young, sometimes you don’t want to say no in your first year or 2 on the job to someone who’s been in the league for a long time and is respected, for the most part, around the league. But, Nolan would have said, “Buck, just shut the fuck up and let JD do his job!”...

I truly think he tries to say something either complimentary or prideful, and it just comes out with garbled meaning.

...if they can win a world series. I really could not care. I just want the title.

I think it is good to have multiple, intelligent opinions surrounding the GM. I really don’t know what Ryan’s baseball IQ is, but it sounds like he won’t be dragging this team down. Levine seems to be a bright guy as well. San Diego has done a good job of this, having Sandy Alderson, Grady Fuson, and Paul DePodesta around Kevin Towers. However, you never see a Padres article portraying Alderson will a disproportionate amount of authority. Hard to believe that Towers is the longest tenured GM in baseball. I wonder how much a role guys like Fuson and DePodesta play in his success?

had wanted Washington gone, he would have been gone. Not saying this would have been good, bad or whatever, just the way things would have been..

I can’t stand listening to the morning guys “talk” baseball. Neither of them seem to know anything insightful about the game. At least Rhyner followed baseball enough that he has some decent knowledge. He comes across as stereotypical sports media sometimes (I say this due to a rant he went on about sports bloggers when they were doing the compound), but for the most part he’s pretty sharp. I think he overreacts to the team a lot, but that’s to be expected of a major media market personality.

It just bugs the hell out of me when the morning show guys pretend to be baseball fans.

was going to be fired by JD, a move that would’ve added to his portfolio of mistakes, and Nolan stopped him. Ryan probably saved JD’s job.
And just because he’s the youngest GM doesn’t give him a license to screw up at-will…that’s just wrong
I just want to watch a contender.
So why the unconditional defense of Daniels by everyone here? I don’t get it?
Don’t you guys want to watch a contender, too…or just be proud of having the youngest GM in the majors? Any trophies for that?

He’s made mistakes - and owned up to them. He followed his owner’s (and his staff’s) desire to go for it early one to disastrous results - and didn’t duck any blame. He rebuilt the farm system in dramatic fashion—and gave most of the credit to his scouting and draft teams. He has an owner that continually throws him under the bus, and he’s in a no-win situation with a TX legend above him in Ryan who will get all the credit if the Rangers turn into a winner. How exactly is he lucky?

Unlike most fans, I do not have ridiculously unrealistic expectations of my GM. I expect him to take risks and make mistakes while adhering to a plan. Daniels is doing that while acting like a man in accepting responsibility for mistakes and liberally doling out credit to his underlings when things go well. This is the kind of leader you want.

I really don’t like hearing comparisons of Scott Feldman to Roy Halladay, but the nuts and bolts baseball aspects of that article were very insightful.

Also, I loved seeing Josh and Tom interview Mark Connor during the game a few days ago. I can’t remember when that was, but I really wish they would do more stuff like that. It was funny to hear Connor’s nicknames for everyone end in a y: Milly, Vinny, Feldy, Gabby, etc. At least that’s better than all the basketball players whose nicknames are their initials.

I have an insufferable Houston friend who tells me about them All. The. Time. My response: “It’s easy to do well in the NL, and especially the NL central. That is why you never have the silver boot.” He gets really steamed at that.

wouldnt it be something if scooter is suddenly a viable back of the rotation starter? a guy some people kept screaming needed to be sent packing last year.