10-29-2020 Passed Ball Show. John starts this show by reminding the viewers that MLB managers do not make decisions. He then talks about the Moneyball Tampa Bay Rays and how they will never win a World Series with solely that type of mentality. Neither will the Oakland Athletics. The rest of MLB is catching up with the use of analytics and while other teams are going to use actual money to obtain/ retain players, the Rays/ Athletics or Rathletics will once again be left behind. John pleads for people to stop saying Kevin Cash took out Blake Snell in the sixth inning of Game Six of the World Series. While that is literally what we saw, Cash was taking orders from the Tampa Bay analytics department which stated he was to do what he did. Kevin Cash did not decide this. The Tampa Bay Rays analytics department, or Johnny Sprinklersmeller did. Sprinklersmeller represents the name of the computer savvy technician in the Rays front office that dictated what the team was going to do. Can you reasonably blame your waiter for poorly cooked food? No, but people still do even though they know the waiter did not cook their food. The same can be said about Kevin Cash. He was the waiter. His name tag said Kevin Cash. Those watching the game know his name, they do not know Johnny Sprinklersmeller’s. Stop blaming MLB managers for decisions they do not have the autonomy to make. John then explains why MLB screwed up the Justin Turner coronavirus fiasco. While MLB Commissioner Manfred is patting himself on the back for getting through the MLB season, Turner is on the field celebrating with his teammates. Turner should have been kept from the game and at the very least, should have been removed from the stadium when it was determined he tested positive. He was not and I blame MLB for that. They could have had him leave with the threat that if he did not, the game would be suspended. And it would have been up to him. Finally, John gets in to what seems like a “too good to be true” scenario with the New York Mets and the change of ownership. John is not confident Steve Cohen will become the next NY Mets owner.
