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TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips answers several questions surrounding the game each week. This week's topics include the strained relationship between LA Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Mike Scioscia, the future role of Jays youngster Aaron Sanchez, the enigmatic Yasiel Puig and contenders for division champs in 2015.

1) The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Los Angeles Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto has parted ways with the organization amid rumours of friction between the front office and coaching staff.  While there have been public problems such as the Josh Hamilton situation as well as the disastrous 2013 season where the team spent a lot of money in the off-season only to crash and burn, they have been mostly successful during his tenure including an MLB best 98-64 record last season and a solid start to the current campaign.  What in the end do you think is the reason things ultimately broke down for Dipoto and the Angels and if there was a rift between general manager and manager, did the team do the right thing sticking with Mike Scioscia?

Angels’ general manager Jerry Dipoto resigned his job on Wednesday after information leaked out about conflicts inside of the organization.  Specifically, Dipoto ran into resistance from manager Mike Scioscia and his staff in using statistics and advanced analytics in their game preparation.  Most every team in baseball uses some sort statistical analysis to help prepare a strategy to attack opposing hitters and pitchers.  Advanced metrics are used in positioning players defensively much more aggressively than ever before. 

Dipoto is a bright successful former player, who is more of a new school thinker, whereas, Scioscia is an old school baseball guy.  Clashes like these are not uncommon in organization where the old time baseball guys like to base everything on what they see and new wave baseball executives believe that if you can’t quantify it, then it doesn’t matter.  I would consider Dipoto a hybrid of the two.  I was a hybrid as well.

Dipoto became frustrated when his desire to have scouting information and analysis relayed to the players through the coaching staff.  There are reports that an Angels’ coach became belligerent in a meeting over the weekend.  Without getting the desired support of his manager on the topic, Dipoto decided he would go directly to the players with the info and by-pass the manager and coaching staff.  This aired the club’s dirty laundry to the players.  It is one thing to battle behind closed doors but when a general manager goes around the manager to his players there is a problem.  It is also inappropriate for a manager to allow his staff to be disrespectful to the general manager.

This is bringing back bad memories for me.  When I was Mets’ general manager I had a particularly contentious relationship with my manager, Bobby Valentine.  Bobby and I didn’t battle over statistical analysis.  I never thought it was my place to tell the manager who to play and when to play them.  I didn’t tell him where the players should bat in the lineup or when he should go to the bullpen.  I didn’t tell him what stats were necessary or how to shift his infield.  He was the manager.  He was responsible for managing the players and games.  I would ask questions to see what he was thinking in situations and to understand his logic.  But I thought that if I was holding him accountable for the result on the field I couldn’t also tell him how to manage. 

Bobby and I battled not because I wanted to tell him what to do, but rather he wanted to tell me what to do.  He wanted control or significant input in to the player acquisitions.  My experience is that managers are not always great evaluators of talent.  They think players are disposable when they struggle.  It is the manager’s job to get the most out of the players, not look to get new players. 

There seemed to be some of this going on in LA.  Scioscia didn’t like or approve all of the moves Dipoto had made.  When managers are unhappy they talk to their coaching staff about it.  They vent to a sympathetic ear.  The coaches out of loyalty agree with the manager.  If they ever sense that the general manager is in conflict with the manager they side with the guy in the dugout.  General managers have to make tough decisions even when they know the manager might not like them. 

I fired coaches beneath my manager just like Jerry Dipoto did when he fired, Scioscia’s friend, hitting coach Mickey Hatcher.  I always believed the coaches report to the manager but they work for the organization.  If coaches don’t prepare the players’ properly and become “Yes Men” for the manager, then they were not doing their job properly.  I completely understood why Dipoto made the change he did a few years back.  I also understand why Scioscia was upset. 

The manager acknowledged he had moved beyond the firing in his relationship with Dipoto.  But my experience is that when new resentments form, the old ones crop again. It seems like this got bigger than just scouting info.  It brought all of the ”stuff” back again.

I outlasted Valentine when I was with the Mets.  The general manager should never get fired or resign when there is a conflict with the manager or coaches.  The general manager is above the manager on the organizational depth chart.  Or at least it used to be that way.  That is clearly not the case with the Angels.

Scioscia is in the seventh year of a 10-year, $50 million contract.  A contract of that length is unheard of in professional sports, especially baseball.  It tells you what owner Arte Moreno, thinks of his manager to have made that kind of commitment.  Dipoto, just had an option for next season exercised a month or so ago.  In the Angels’ organization Mike Scioscia sits above the general manager on the organizational chart.  Considering that Scioscia has an opt out clause in his contract after this season, ownership made a statement letting Scioscia stay and Dipoto leave. 

Understanding these facts, I am even more impressed with the job that Dipoto did in LA.  His team had 98 wins a year ago, the most in baseball, despite the dysfunction in the structure and fabric of the organization.

The other fact is that Scioscia beat Dipoto and Scioscia will control the next general manager as well. 

What a mess…Can’t we all just get along?

2) Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez is expected to return to the Jays staff in July after recovering from a strained lat.  There has been some debate as to which role he should be used in when he’s healthy again, back to the starting rotation where he’s appeared this year or into the bullpen where he excelled last year.  The closer position has been a problem for the Jays all season and Sanchez has the skills to solidify that spot, but then you lose him giving you a solid start each turn of the rotation.  At this point, given the state of both the Blue Jays rotation and bullpen where do you think he would make the most difference and how should the team fit him in on his return?

The Blue Jays will not make the playoffs unless they improve their rotation and their bullpen.  They are currently subpar in both areas.  The rotation is currently 30-24 with an AL second worst 4.42 ERA.  The bullpen is 11-14 with an AL’s sixth best 3.43 ERA.  Don’t be fool by the pen’s ERA, it has the fewest saves in the AL and is tied for the most blown saves with 12.  It is clear they need bullpen and starting pitching help. 

The Jays need an ace and a closer.  They need to solve one of those from within and there is no candidate for the No. 1 starter role. There is only enough money and trade chips to bring in one impact pitcher not two.

Before Sanchez was injured and went on the DL he had rattled off four pretty good starts.  He looked like he was starting to get more comfortable.  In his absence Marco Estrada has taken his game to another level and is emerging as an answer in the rotation along with Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey and Drew Hutchison.  Certainly the No. 5 starter's role is important but so is the end of the game. 

If I were Alex Anthopoulos I would bring Sanchez back in the bullpen at the end of the game.  Let him pitch in a set-up role a few times to get his feet underneath him and then move him to higher leverage situations.  He thrived out of the pen last year in a more significant way than he was thriving in the rotation this year. 

I know that agents prefer their clients to be starters and not closers.  There is more money for starting rotations than bullpens.  But the right move for the Jays and most likely for Sanchez is for him to try the closers role. 

Close your eyes and dream Jays fans:  Two outs in the ninth, runner on third, Jays lead 7-6.  Sanchez comes to the set position.  Here is the pitch.  It’s a swing and a miss.  That’s it!  Sanchez strikes out Bryce Harper and the Jays win the World Series!!!!

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

3) Molly Knight’s new book “The Best Team Money Can Buy” about the Los Angeles Dodgers has shed some light on the disdain that many of the players have for their teammate Yasiel Puig.  Some of the anecdotes from the book include Puig and Zack Greinke having an altercation in Chicago as well as the general sense of entitlement that the Cuban born player has exhibited.  The Dodgers continue to be one of the elite teams in Major League Baseball, but having one of your stars hated by the other players on the team has to be a major concern for the organization.  If you were running the Dodgers how would you handle the situation? Can the Dodgers continue to succeed if all of their players hate one of the best players on the team?

Trade Yasiel Puig and trade him now. 

I said that last year and nothing has changed my mind.  He scares me to death.  He is a very talented player.  He has amazing tools to play the game.  He can run.  He has great power.  He has power frequency.  He can hit.  He has a great arm. He has all of the raw tools to be a superstar.  But to become a superstar a player he needs to translate the tools into skills to play the game.  Puig has shown flashes of greatness but lacks consistency.  The big leagues are all about consistency   He has thunder in his bat.  He can throw lightning bolts from the outfield to the bases.  He runs with power strides.  He is so exciting to watch.  But he will swing so hard he will fall in the batters box.  He will overthrow the cut off man and allow runners to advance.  He will run until he gets tagged out with no apparent brakes. He plays recklessly and lives recklessly.

Puig has an extraordinary sense of entitlement. It feels like on his list of priorities that baseball is near the bottom.  He seems to care more about being cool than winning.  He shows up late and sometimes checks out early in games. He drives too fast and parties too late into the night. 

His lack of caring and preparation has rubbed teammates the wrong way.  His emotional temper tantrums have led to confrontations with the manager and other players. 

Make no mistake about it.  The better you are, the more you can get away with as a player.  The game has a long history to prove that.  But players are not only accountable to the media, fans, manager and front office.  They are accountable to each other as well.  Players can withstand the loss of support of the media, fans and manager.  But the quickest way to lose the support of the front office is to be a problem with your teammates.  Once a player is a cancer in the clubhouse it is nearly impossible for him to fulfill his potential. 

Puig has arrived at that critical moment.  He either has to immediately become a model citizen and teammate or his days as a Dodger are numbered.  I don’t believe he can do it.  He can’t.  I certainly have compassion for the persecution and domination that Cuban ballplayers have had to endure over the years.  Although they are revered in Cuba, they can’t blink without someone thinking they might make a run for it.  But that has nothing to do with his teammates on the Dodgers.  They all have a story. Everyone has something they are dealing with.  At some point during the season every player, coach and manager does something selfish. It is the reaction of the teammates and the person’s reaction to getting called out for the behavior that either builds the team bond or breaks it.

 

Yasiel Puig sucks the air out of the clubhouse, dugout, team bus and plane every time he steps over the line.  At some point enough is enough.  It sounds like we are at that point.

I would trade Puig immediately before he implodes or self-destructs.  Include him in the Cole Hamels deal.  Trade him to the Mets for a young arm.  The longer the Dodgers wait the less they will get in return.  He is diminishing his value with his behavior.  Someone will take a chance on him.  We all think we are smarter than the next guy.  Some club believes they can manage him.  They think they can fix him. 

Puig might actually play better somewhere else with a fresh start.  There is too much baggage now in LA.  Ultimately, I don’t believe Puig will ever reach the potential that his tools proclaim. 

Trade Yasiel Puig and trade him now!

4) Last year on July 2 the following teams were leading their respective divisions: 

AL East - Toronto Blue Jays      NL East - Atlanta Braves

AL Central - Detroit Tigers         NL Central - Milwaukee Brewers

AL West - Oakland Athletics      NL West - San Francisco Giants

Of this group only the Tigers held on to win their division.  On August 12, 2014 the Royals passed the Tigers and took over first place.  Detroit didn’t retake sole possession of first place until September 12.  The other five teams faded in the second half of the season with only the A’s and Giants holding on for Wild Card spots. 

The season finished with the following division champs:

AL East - Baltimore Orioles        NL East - Washington Nationals

AL Central - Detroit Tigers         NL Central - St. Louis Cardinals

AL West - Los Angeles Angels   NL West - Los Angeles Dodgers

So let’s look at today’s division leaders:

AL East - Baltimore Orioles             NL East - Washington Nationals

AL Central - Kansas City Royals     NL Central - St. Louis Cardinals

AL West - Houston Astros               NL West - Los Angeles Dodgers

So if a year ago all of the division leaders but one didn’t finish in first place it makes one wonder who will finish in first this year if not the leaders.

 

AL East - Toronto Blue Jays

If the Jays add a front line starter and Aaron Sanchez takes over the closer role the Jays can win the division.  They have the most high-powered offence in the game.  They can outslug their pitching deficiencies to a point.  Improved pitching at the front of the rotation and the end of the game will be the difference.

 

AL Central - Detroit Tigers

The Tigers have a big run in them.  They finally have their entire lineup back.  Victor Martinez will make everyone better.  The Tigers have enough starting pitching to win 15 out of 20 games to catch the Royals.  Once they catch them, the Tigers have the experience to pass them and stay in front.

 

AL West - Seattle Mariners

I know.  I know.  They are in fourth place, nine games behind, but they still have the most experienced talent on their roster.  The M’s have the starting pitching to win 20 of 25.  They just need Robbie Cano to get hot and he will inspire the rest of the offence to support the rotation.  I just don’t think the Angels or Rangers have the pitching depth needed to make the kind of run needed to catch the Astros.  The Astros will falter at some point and if they here the Mariners’ footsteps, they may completely collapse like the Brewers did last season.

 

NL East - New York Mets

If the Mets could hit even a little bit they would have a five game lead on the Nats right now.  But they can’t hit.  The Mets have the pitching depth necessary to get the offence they need to make a run.  If David Wright comes back from the DL and Daniel Murphy gets hot the Mets can make a run.  They are in every game with their pitching staff so they don’t need a lot of offence, just enough.

 

NL Central - Pittsburgh Pirates

The Cardinals have been nearly flawless all season despite significant injuries.  They are a well-oiled machine.  But, they are human.  At some point baseball will be baseball and the Cards will hit a tailspin.  Or they will suffer an injury that they can’t overcome.  They will lose 10 of 15 and open the door.  The Pirates have the starting pitching depth and the hunger.  The Bucs are 7.5 games behind but they feel closer and they have the hunger of a team that is a game behind.

 

NL West - San Francisco Giants

The calendar says they won’t catch the Dodgers or even make the playoffs as it is an odd year.  But this team has no business even being two games behind at this point.  I don’t know how they do it, but they do.  I will never count them out until they are mathematically eliminated.  Madison Bumgarner, Hunter Pence, Buster Posey and Bruce Bochy are winners.  So the Giants can be as well. 

Chances are that we won’t have five different division champs again after this date.  But the game is changing.  So many young players are making dramatic impacts.  They grow and develop quickly or they may struggle and not recover.  Both are acceptable when players are young and inexperienced. 

I wish I had a crystal ball so I could know the outcome.  But I guess that would take away all of the fun and suspense.  Buckle up because this is going to be another wild ride.