On this week’s episode, The Athletic’s Eno Sarris joins me to talk about Buster Posey’s ascension to President of Baseball Operations, the concept of over-steering, the worrisome brain drain that seems to be happening over time, the importance of critical listening skills, and the most effective ways to provide players with the resources to help them succeed.
enjoyed the interview. thanks! you all talked a lot about some of the good concepts that were swept away and the worry that may be over compensating or veering to far in the opposite direction. fair points. but important to note, they had a losing record with those concepts so i guess there are many ways to field a mediocre team. (note: the 107 win season is such a weird outlier, i don't know if we can point to any one particular factor other than something somewhat intangible, such as the mythic presence of Buster Posey).
Loved the discussion with Eno…until the hand wringing over Pete Putila’s departure when his role wasn’t at all clear under FZ and before BP and ZM have been in their seats less than 2 months? Weak IMhO
I get both sides of that. On the one hand, Buster needs to have a lieutenant who is the right fit for him and given that Putilla was a chose fit for Zaidi, he was unlikely to be the right match for Buster. On the other hand, it's one of many departures from the org of well-respected minds, and the fact that he took Schwartze with him (who I understand led most of the major league side analytics team and directed getting information to the Giants' players in game prep) doesn't help that ongoing brain drain any. I think Eno's idea of "oversteering" was absolutely right on with what is going on in Giants organization the last couple of years. There's some babies going out with this bath water
enjoyed the interview. thanks! you all talked a lot about some of the good concepts that were swept away and the worry that may be over compensating or veering to far in the opposite direction. fair points. but important to note, they had a losing record with those concepts so i guess there are many ways to field a mediocre team. (note: the 107 win season is such a weird outlier, i don't know if we can point to any one particular factor other than something somewhat intangible, such as the mythic presence of Buster Posey).
Maybe the best interviewee you’ve ever had! Excellent, thoughtful content. Buster needs to hire Eno Sarris.
I should have said “premature” rather than “weak”
Loved the discussion with Eno…until the hand wringing over Pete Putila’s departure when his role wasn’t at all clear under FZ and before BP and ZM have been in their seats less than 2 months? Weak IMhO
I get both sides of that. On the one hand, Buster needs to have a lieutenant who is the right fit for him and given that Putilla was a chose fit for Zaidi, he was unlikely to be the right match for Buster. On the other hand, it's one of many departures from the org of well-respected minds, and the fact that he took Schwartze with him (who I understand led most of the major league side analytics team and directed getting information to the Giants' players in game prep) doesn't help that ongoing brain drain any. I think Eno's idea of "oversteering" was absolutely right on with what is going on in Giants organization the last couple of years. There's some babies going out with this bath water