Houston @ St. Louis

[Chavez]

Oh, and my addition was off - LaRussa is 4-13 in the WS.

Talent and money are two different things.    The A's teams of the late '80s/early '90s and '00-'03 had a lot of talent, but without the front office spending excessively on free agents.

You can't BUY a WS - the Yanks have proven that for the past 5 years or so; IMO FA doesn't necessarily help you FIND the talent, it helps you KEEP the talent you develop as much as anything. Those A's teams were loaded, much like his Cards teams the past 2 years - and he has 1 title to show for it.

 

Bobby Cox has only one WS victory, yet has won 14 straight division titles managing the Braves (excluding the strike-shortened '94 season).  Not bad for a playoff "underachiever."

If only he had George F. Will slobbering on his knob, maybe he'd get more respect. Nothing but respect for Bobby in this corner.

Don't let your personal dislike of LaRussa cloud your judgement.  He's a HOF manager.

 

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LaRussa IS a HoF manager, I'd never deny that; but he's overrated - plenty of people think he's the second coming of sliced bread, and I just don't see it. Sorta like Emmitt Smith is a great running back, but not the greatest ever like so many believe.

[Bill Swerski]

You can't BUY a WS - the Yanks have proven that for the past 5 years or so; IMO FA doesn't necessarily help you FIND the talent, it helps you KEEP the talent you develop as much as anything.

 

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But apparently having the highest payroll in MLB allows you to buy several AL East titles and a couple pennants. The Yankees may not have been spending $200 million in '96-'00, but they were certainly spending more than every other team. In addition to their free agent/trade acquisitions that their high payroll allowed (Clemens, Wells, Cone, El Duque, Tino, Brosius, O'Neill), their home-grown talent (Jeter, Rivera, Bernie) commanded big bucks as well. A team with the A's financial resources couldn't have held that dynasty together (although the Cards probably could've).

 

LaRussa's a HOF manager because his teams have been consistently good... without George Steinbrenner's deep pockets.

 

LaRussa IS a HoF manager, I'd never deny that; but he's overrated - plenty of people think he's the second coming of sliced bread, and I just don't see it.

 

Oh, I thought you were implying that he wasn't a future HOFer. My bad. Perhaps I haven't been paying close enough attention, but I don't see people fawning over him in the same way (although it wouldn't surprise me if Joe Buck did, given what a homer and a weasel he is).