It's absolutely an attack on his character to suggest he's throwing games. That's what you're doing to Matheny if you make this charge: he intentionally lost games by playing inferior players. That's the cardinal sin of sport.

"Draw your own conclusions" is shorthand for: "I can't prove something"

So the record after he was rightly fired is meaningless?

Every manager who makes bad strategic decisions is not trying to throw games. That’s a big leap from just making dumb choices out of misplaced loyalty.

Go check the Cards thread. General consensus there is that Matheny was definitely overly loyal to underperforming players who were part of his bible study club.

I can’t PROVE it. I’m not Mike Matheny. I’m not one of the players in the clubhouse. I don’t cover the team.

But I don’t need to prove it. Just sharing conjecture.

The reason he was too loyal to underperforming players doesn’t matter, anyway. Just that he was.

Derp.

No, the 12-15 record in Sept isn't meaningless. The Cards weren't a playoff contender with or without Matheny. But here's the good news: now they have to win the division to justify his firing. No more Bible Study = playoffs.


If not, then we will find out Bible Study wasn't the problem.

But I didn't ask you what reeruns on a chat board once heard. Simply what evidence there was for it. And "Everyone knows that...." or "It is common knowledge" do not qualify.

That's really all there is to this nonstory: the alleged perp hasn't even been accused, nor has he even been asked about it.


There's no evidence on that front either. Deez mentioned some writer named "Strauss". I googled Strauss-Matheny and the first story that pops up? "Matheny Should Win Manager of the Year" (2015). Conclusion: his Bible Studies were working awesome back then.


You're right. I have higher standards for you and Pants than the BFIBs.


You don't believe that. Discriminating in race or religion is something we have Fed laws against. People don't like it. And we should be judicious accusing people of it too.

I haven't seen PB take a contrarian position like this in a long time.

It makes me long for 2013-2014. Good times.

I don't know about bible studies but is there any question Matheny lost the clubhouse? I think that's pretty widely accepted. How many times have the Cardinals sacked a manager midseason? Dude had multiple playoff appearances and a winning record this year and they still fired him. That's the most un-Cardinals like move you could think of. And the only thing he said in response to the buzz around the clubhouse was that the game had gotten too soft.

In other news...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Royals will have the first pick in Round B of the competitive balance lottery in the 2019 draft (had Round A last year). Right now that pick is set for 71st overall but will move higher/lower based on free agent signings up until possibly draft day.</p>&mdash; Shaun Newkirk (@Shauncore) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shauncore/status/1064770720813801472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Royals announced they&#39;ve added RHPs Arnaldo Hernandez, Josh Staumont and Scott Blewett to the 40-man roster, protecting them from next month&#39;s Rule 5 draft. Blewett appeared to take a big step in the Arizona Fall League. The 40-man roster is full right now.</p>&mdash; Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) <a href="https://twitter.com/rustindodd/status/1064972544397127681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Looks like PB should have a look in the Cardinals thread.

Saw that.

Wonder if he has looked yet? He is just going to argue that there aren't any quotes from anyone. He's going to have to hear it come straight from Mathenys mouth, otherwise it's just false accusations.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[breath]

.........HAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHANAHANAHA!

Don’t blame us. We warned ya. Yelled it from the rooftops. Prepare for some bible study favorites, and shitty vets playing over young players. And burning out your young arms and bullpen mismanagement.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We have hired Mike Matheny as a Special Advisor for Player Development.</p>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1066044085989974018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 23, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

****