Absolutely. I really, really want it to happen but I don’t know how likely it is. If it ever did occur, it’d be from a team like the A’s, Red Sox, DBacks, Indians, or another team along those lines. It’d be a very interesting thing to see happen if it ever does. I don’t know if it will, though.

Oh, I understand that. I’m just curious what the big free-agent pitchers would think. I think a guy like Roy Halladay would welcome the challenge of pitching 40 games a year. Teams would theoretically be willing to pay more for pitchers that are going to play in a quarter of their games rather than just a fifth.

I think it could actually make teams more attractive to some top-of-the-line guys.

The only thing would be pitchers in the draft might be hesitant to sign, but money talks. Meet their price tag and they’ll pitch 150 times a year so long as they get their paychecks.

re: 4-man rotation, do you think such a move would entice or repel the best pitchers? I think many of them would be hesitant to put that much wear on their arm, but I think some of the best guys would love the chance to go for a 30-win season. I’d be interesting to see if someone could do it.

Yes…and yet, that still works out to the specatators paying 23.00 per BP HR…

That reminds me, did anyone see Reggie Jackson’s comment about the HR derby (“how is it a home run derby without ryan howard and ken griffey jr? that’s like a dunk contest without michael jordan.”

1: Reggie, you’ve mellowed! You KNOW you wanted to say BARRY BONDS, I KNOW you did!!! Ryan Howard, Ken Griffey, Barry Bond! I almost heard you say it!! But you’re on the MLB payroll for this thing at the same time aren’t you?…that’s OK, it will be worth it to be able to look at the tricks the candlelight plays on Bud’s hairpiece at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse (BTW: what a dumbass name for a restaurant…can ANYONE figure out the grammer happening there??).

2. Um, dude–you haven’t watched a slam-dunk competition in a LONG time have you?

Yeah, those were the days. Now it’s the hineys that break off when they try to get a great run from scrimmage…

(Just double-checking–Scrimmage IS in mid-state Pennsylvania, right?)

I’d also like to employ the same system that the Red Sox have with Papelbon and I believe they use it for all of their pitchers. It deals with arm strength. They’ve got a dude who asks papelbon, for instance, how his arm feels on a scale of 1-5 or 1-10. He’ll answer, say, a 7. Then they’ll run tests to actually grade out his arm for that day and if it’s below a certain number, he’s off limits. If it’s not, he’s good to go. This is especially useful when it comes to back-to-back-to-back outings and things of that ilk.

And this is a pipe-dream since it’d take having to adjust an entire organization’s training and philosophy, but I’d like to try out the 4-man rotation that Baseball Prospectus (i think it’s them) says maximizes the teams talents. It’d allow for another bench player or bullpen arm. And that type of rotation would give each pitcher more innings and keep them on an absolute strict 100-110 pitch count that couldn’t be exceeded for it to work.

I don’t necessarily buy into the basic “throw strikes” philosophy, because lots of pitchers do that and get hammered (Silva). My thing would be – get ahead, then expand the zone, then make them chase. Bonderman and Rogers are very good at this.

As far as how long to leave a guy in for – I’d let him show me how long he can be effective. Every pitcher is different. Dan Haren runs out of gas at 105 pitches. CC Sabathia is just getting started at 70. For Verlander, I wouldn’t have any problem with him averaging 110-115 pitches per start, unless he shows signs of fatigue. Bonderman doesn’t seem to be up to that workload, but I’d try and get his arm to be a little more resilient in Spring Training and have him throw 105-110 every time out. Of course, when Bonderman is right he can make 100 pitches go a long way because he doesn’t walk many people. He’s exactly what you want out of a #2 guy, just like Haren or James Shields – to efficiently give you 6 or 7 quality innings, every time out. For the ace, it’s different – take as many pitches as you need, but dominate for 6 or 7 innings.

I’d also really shoot for getting 200 innings out of the top two guys in the rotation at the very least. When healthy, there is no reason Verlander and Bonderman shouldn’t combine for 420 innings of 4.00 ball with 400 strikeouts.

Every pitcher on the staff, including bullpen guys, would be working on or already posses a put-away changeup. Not the Josh Beckett/A.J. Burnett throw it 5 times a game at nearly the speed of the fastball changeup, but one with 8-10 mph difference and movement. That’s part of the reason I was so bummed to see Bonderman go down this year, because he had made that change – throwing more fastballs, more changeups, and fewer sliders. Get ahead with the fastball, put away with any of them.

So basically, I’d do this:

Get more innings out of my best pitchers
Try to have them be more efficient by using their fastballs more
Don’t pull a guy at 100 pitches if he’s got gas left and has shown it won’t affect him
Skip the fifth starter if there were an off day

Minnesota pitchers pitch to contact, but that wouldn’t work so well with the Tigers pitchers because We don’t have great defense. Are pitchers need to rely on hitters hitting bad pitches into double plays or hitting into easy pop fly outs.

These men basically do the same thing forest rangers do, they need to learn the layout of the land. If you switch forest rangers every year or every other year, you’ll have nobody who knows the parks intricacies and secrets.

If you keep the same coaching staff for 3+ years you’ll finally have guys who know and have learned their talent inside and out. The only problem with LJ and crew is that they are old. We can’t keep them here for 10+ years.

My philosophy about baseball is that almost any philosophy or coaching method can work if it is given time and players with talent. Coaches can help make that talent shine.

Galarraga credits his success this year because of what Chuch Hernandez told him. Chuck simply said. “trust your pitches”.

Sorry, that was lame. I’m just out of my element when the discussion gets technical, and I miss baseball already.

You’re the manager/general manager. What are you looking for in a coach?

And I agree about Roger Craig, but what is it about him that makes him an attractive choice?