Column from Justice today saying that it would have made perfect sense for Run-DMc to fire Coop yesterday, what with nothing to play for, but still needing fans to come to the park.
If the 2005 National League pennant stands as McLane's finest hour, his inability to understand Hunsicker's value to the franchise is his biggest mistake.
What should he do now? We might agree Cooper hasn't done a good job, that he's not a good major league manager and that he's probably never going to be a good major league manager.
He doesn't have the trust or respect of his players, and his strategic decisions can be baffling. So when McLane finally fires Cooper, it'll be impossible to argue it was a bad decision.
On the other hand, how fair would it be to fire Cooper while the architects of this team — McLane, Wade and Tal Smith — remain in charge?
Does firing Cooper and some of his coaches fix what's wrong with this franchise? Of course not. Cooper isn't the guy who put this team together. He's not the guy who invested too much money in position players and too little in pitching.
Wade threw so much money at Miguel Tejada and Kaz Matsui that he had nothing left for the starting rotation. By the time he got around to doing something about the pitching last winter, the economy was in free fall and McLane was in no mood to spend...
...McLane has said and done all the right things about realizing the importance of rebuilding the minor league system. Whether he has the patience to stay the course remains to be seen.
I don't think there's any way Tal Smith gets fired, nor Ed Wade, who has taken steps to rebuild the franchise. He did this in Philadelphia, rebuilt through drafts and risky trades. Problem for Ed - and it may be his problem here - is that his long-term decisions tend to pan out better than his short-term ones, and he isn't around long enough to see it through.
But Coop...I don't know how you can justify keeping him. He may be the scapegoat, but he hasn't made a case for returning in 2010.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
