Elktonnick

What about Ryan, Callahan, Abrahams, MacAdams Buckley, Fegler and Mazz are they all dopes too. I can't name one prominent Boston sport writer or commentator who sin't saying the same. Can you ?

But Ryan, Abrahams, Dennis, Callahan, Merloni, but I could go on do.

Lou Merloni, Dan Shaughnessy and Bob Ryan made exactly the same points as you Pumpsie no more than two hours ago on CSNE. In fact,I haven't heard one knowledgeable baseball analyst make any other. Lou Merloni et al believe it has distracted from other tasks that the front office needs to be doing for the upcoming season. The winter meeetings are less than a week away. Not only no manager but also no pitching coach, I don't know but I'd think most competent baseball execs would want their pitching coach's input on any deal involving pitchers for example

Yes!!

You aren't alone in wondering. I think you are correct. The problem is Cherington who clearly doesn't want Valentine. Lucchino et al effectively castrated Cherington over Sveum. The delay has the intended effect of rehabilitating Cherington's image that he really is more than a figurehead. Cherington is using the time IMHO to find some way to keep Bobby V from getting the job. In the end whether its Valentine or Lamont this process has not done anyting to restore confidence that RS management has its act together.

fictional positions what the heck are you talking about? I quoted you directly.

Once again you didn't address my comments You are now walking back because quite frankly you were rude to Fred. and never should make the comments you made. You have a tremendous interest in sabeermetrics but I suggest you read more on the subject because your understanding appears to be not as detailed as you think.

You made a blanket statement once again demanding intelelctual purity about the sabermetric movement. Telling someone( Fred who has forgotten more about baseball then you'll ever know )that he can't comment. This a board so one doesn't have time to write a ten page list of citations, The point is that Fred was right and you were wrong. Finally every time you tell posters that they aren't allowed to comment on sabermetrics because they don't agree with your view I am going to call you on it. You believe you are an expert please give me a list of your publications so I can read them and decide for myself.

Originally Posted by User Name? If you don't actually understand the sabermetrics movement, don't comment about it. That is what you posted. Here is my reply The sabermetrics movement isn't the Holy Quran. Non believers are free to comment. There was an interesting article the other day on how statistics were used to prove two opposite hypotheses regarding human behavior. And before you say we are talking baseball not psychology, we are stalking about statistics ( sabermatrics) and human behavior in a game (baseball). It is relevant. I ddin't misrepresent anyhthing. Your arrogance is on insisting what people can post and opine unbecoming. Your not the high priest of intellectual purity on sabermetrics. Moreover I am not convinced that you have a firm understanding of advanced mathematics. I could be wrong but you don't post as if you do?

Once again you are wrong and Fred is right How about Mark Pankin . Are familiar with his work on Markov's chains and baseball Here is what Mark wrote: you may find it enlightening, What do Rock/Paper/Scissors and Baseball Have in Common? - Game Theory, a mathhematical analysis method, applies to both. R/P/S is very simple in that regard, and the solution is not very interesting. Baseball, on the other hand, is far more complicated and has many facets to which game theory can be applied. The presentation, which has virtually no math in it, looks at the possibility of bunting and defending against bunts with a runner on first and none out. Most analysis has shown that bunting, except by very weak hitters such as pitchers, is not an effective way to try to score. Game theory says that being too predictable is not a good idea, and the analysis shows that bunting some fraction of the time, particularly when it is not expected, may be helpful. The link has the slides and some notes from my presentation given at SABR 39 in Washingtion in July 2009. Fred's point about being too predictable is borne out by game theory.

Steve Phillips recommends Valentine for Red Sox job. You can knock me over with a feather.

If he were, it is only because Epstein and Carmine gave their okay.

How can the sox get in any action, their crack new GM is too busy researching managerial candidates.

Here's the article Bobby Valentine and Ben Cherington will meet all day Monday to discuss the Boston Red Sox’s managerial job. They will trade philosophies, assess personnel and feel out each other’s personalities. Then Cherington, Boston’s new general manager, will return to ownership with his verdict. If Cherington approves, sources said Sunday, Valentine in all likelihood will be the Red Sox’s next manager. If he doesn’t, we’ll learn just how much the Red Sox’s oft-criticized ownership values the opinion of the highest-ranking person in its baseball-operations department – a tug of war over power that pervaded Theo Epstein’s time as GM and looks to be changing no time soon. More From Jeff Passan. Strike of '94 shook some sense into baseball Nov 18, 2011 Will Yu Darvish cross the Pacific to pitch? Nov 15, 2011 . Bobby Valentine managed in Japan for six years before the bubble burst. (Getty Images) Ownership, after all, already has met with Valentine and thought him a compelling enough candidate that the interview with Cherington, first reported by Yahoo! Sports, was a fait accompli. In the Red Sox’s structure of authority, what John Henry, Tom Werner and especially Larry Lucchino say is gospel. And when they liked the 61-year-old Valentine, he shot to the top of their ever-changing list. The Red Sox’s seeming schizophrenia – four of the five candidates they have interviewed came without appreciable major league managing experience, and Valentine would arrive with 15 seasons plus another six in Japan – does nothing to dispel the notion of Cherington as a figurehead. This is not fair to him. Longtime colleagues as well as executives from other teams and agents believe him to be eminently capable of running the team. Epstein’s departure only emboldened Lucchino’s grasp on the larger pieces of Boston’s day-to-day operations. His fondness of Valentine comes as no surprise. At the annual gala for Craig Breslow’s(notes) Strike 3 Foundation, which Valentine emceed Saturday night, those in attendance openly talked about how he would fit as Terry Francona’s replacement – and whether Fenway Park is large enough to fit Valentine and Lucchino’s egos. Valentine’s reputation as a bright game manager and astute handler of clubhouses remains strong enough that even though his last major league job ended in 2002, his candidacy with Boston isn’t looked upon with the raised eyebrows that accompanied Dan Duquette’s hiring as Baltimore GM after a decade away from the game. Since his 2009 return from Japan, where he was ousted as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines in a power play despite the protestation of more than 100,000 of the team’s fans, Valentine has interviewed with the Baltimore Orioles, Florida Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers. The flirtations – which got especially heavy with the Marlins – yielded nothing, so Valentine has bided his time working as an analyst for ESPN and, since January, acting as director of public safety in his hometown of Stamford, Conn. The Red Sox’s job makes far more sense for him than the others did. Even after one of the worst collapses in baseball history, they return a roster loaded with enough high-impact players to win the loaded American League East Division. Having managed the New York Mets, Valentine understands the rigors of a large media market and the accompanying pressure. [Related: Dale Sveum has the mental makeup the Cubs sought] Whether Valentine is right for the Red Sox is the more pertinent question. He’s certainly the flashiest candidate. If the Red Sox do want to go retread – something Epstein shunned in his new job with the Chicago Cubs as he hired Dale Sveum, one of the Red Sox’s original interview candidates – Valentine inspires plenty more confidence than the other option they’ve spoken with, Gene Lamont. Valentine would win in Boston. Frankly, it would take a dolt not to with the talent Boston has amassed. How he wins, and how much he wins, would determine whether he is indeed the right person for the job. Because the fear one executive outlined Sunday – a rightful fear – is that with Valentine practically hand-picked by Lucchino, it could marginalize Cherington. What Bobby V. wants, Lucchino could deliver. Perhaps Valentine, having run the Marines from top to bottom for half a decade under incredible restraints, would arrive with greater respect for a GM’s job and facilitate things through Cherington. The mutual admiration and respect between Francona and Epstein provided the bedrock for Boston’s two championships since 2002. The manager-GM relationship matters, especially in such a big-budget, high-tension environment. Skipping that level could torpedo the partnership from the get-go, which makes Monday a touchstone moment for Boston. Should Cherington and Valentine get along, it could be the first piece of the foundation that yields another partnership and steadies the balance of power in the Red Sox hierarchy. And if not, well, it will give us an even more honest look at the Red Sox than the ugliness that leaked out of Francona’s firing and Epstein’s departure. Ownership could listen to Cherington and affirm that he is indeed the one in charge. Or Henry and Werner and Lucchino could do what they want because they’re the ones who write the checks. The tug of war is starting. A mud pit awaits. As is always the case with the Red Sox, someone is bound to get dirty.

Wasn't that wack job Steve Philips theGM of the Mets in 2002 who fired Bobby V. Philips probably will go down in baseall history as the most incompetent GM in post WW2 baseball history. Here is a summary of Bobby V's Japanese resume "In 2004, Valentine began his second stint as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines. On October 17, 2005, he led the Marines to their first Pacific League pennant in 31 years after emerging victorious in a close playoff with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Nine days later on October 26, the Marines won the Japan Series in a four game sweep of the Hanshin Tigers for the first time since 1974. On October 27, 2005, Valentine issued a challenge to the World Series champion Chicago White Sox on behalf of the Chiba Lotte Marines. Valentine called for a seven-game World Series to be played between the American and Japanese championship teams. Unlike the World Baseball Classic, a competition featuring sixteen national all-star teams, a World Series-styled tournament between the winners of both the American and Japanese championships has never been played. Following their Japan Series championship, the Marines won the inaugural Asia Series by defeating the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization in November 2005. In 2008, Valentine was the subject of the ESPN Films documentary "The Zen of Bobby V." The film followed Valentine and his 2007 Chiba Lotte Marines team. "The Zen of Bobby V." was an official selection at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. The Marines decided to let Valentine go after the 2009 season after an extensive smear campaign led by Korean-Japanese club president Ryuzo Setoyama, which ironically backfired & resulted in an overflow of support for Valentine by local fans. In the end, Valentine was fired, even though a petition to extend his contract was presented to the organization with 112,000 signatures. Japan Times Article"