The changes in Arizona have baseball writers buzzing from coast to coast. The D'Backs announced last night that they have replaced GM Josh Byrnes and manager A.J. Hinch with Jerry Dipoto and Kirk Gibson – at least for now. Here are some reactions to the D'Backs' dismissals:
- Bob Nightengale of USA Today says the D'Backs fired Byrnes because of his decisions, not because he was backing Hinch (Twitter link).
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says the relationship between Byrnes and D'Backs CEO Derrick Hall may have contributed to the GM's dismissal.
- Chris Snyder told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert that it was "definitely time for a change." Brandon Webb says he's sure interim manager Kirk Gibson will do well.
- Frankie Piliere of FanHouse hears that Yankees scouting director Damon Oppenheimer will get serious consideration for the GM opening in Arizona (Twitter link).
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that A.J. Hinch is well-respected in the game and won't have trouble getting another job (Twitter link).
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan has a new twist on Byrnes' phrase 'organizational advocacy.'
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says the D'Backs "royally screwed up" if they made changes because of their record over the course of the past few years.
- Vote on the decision here and tell us what you think in the comments.
Eventually you need to do something to help the team other than coasting on the talent Rizzo brought in, right? Haren has pitched great, but they gave up a ton to get him. Kelly Johnson has been great, but ONLY at home. The farm system was barren until they had a hundred draft picks last year. I like Byrnes and believed in him, but the team has gone backwards on his watch, and I can’t say I blame them for punting.
About Hinch, he was never given a real chance by the players, and that’s a shame. But I don’t really care about his firing.
I just dislike the Byrnes firing.
By the way, Snyder and Webb, your pro-Melvin crap is old. The only reason you both disliked Hinch was because Montero became the full time catcher. And you cried like babies.
To be fair, one of the reasons managers should come from a coaching and managing background is to have credibility with the players. Commanding respect, as intangible as it is, is a job qualification.
The players’ jobs aren’t to make friends. They get paid to play baseball. It’s their jobs.
Who said anything about making friends? If someone in a management position doesn’t command enough respect to bring out the best in the people he’s managing, he needs to go. If players are supposed to be impervious to managing, then managers would never be fired.
Why would Webb’s opinion even be valid? He hasn’t even pitched in the big leagues in almost two years!
Say what you want about Byrnes mistakes, who are they going to bring in that’s better? That’s a significant factor.
The owners sound like fun guys to work for.
Whatever…just start the fire sale now.
When Cameron says they “screwed up royally” does he mean they screwed up in a fashion befitting the Kansas City Royals?
is that technically possible?
Anyone else expect a different response from Chris Snyder…He lost his starting job to Montero, and I’m sure he blames AJ Hich more than he blames himself.