LA Angels Wednesday News Crash: Playoffs start

Yup. The piss ants on this site, mostly because thoughts are hard and two lines of thinking give them nosebleeds, just set themselves to autorage and repeat “Zuk so stoopid!” over and over, maybe with a reference to a bad decision he made while managing bad pitchers and a bad line up.

What is actually the case is that Zuk sucked this year. The team was also a trash fire. The org itself was in chaos mode. But what is also true is that Zuk is well liked, which isn’t actually the sin we want to make it out to be right now, and he has been universally regarded as a very intelligent “baseball guy” for a couple decades. He is also associated with Perry Manasian…. and if you’re far enough along the right spectrum that’s a big problem because there is no way that Zuk is a completely different person. Finally, if there was ever a year of baseball that could be thrown away letting a guy like this get his feet wet it was the 2026 Angels.

I’d almost be tempted to bring in a slightly older gentleman manager. Maybe Torrey Lovullo or Brandon Hyde or (ZOMMZZZ GASP) Dan Wilson…. a guy with some experience who, most importantly, fits the organizational philosophy of who ever takes over. I’d send Zuk to AAA to manage. He’s seen the MLB elephant. If there are major organizational changes he will have the clearest perspective on what/how things are changing. He can prep guys for that. He can get a couple years in. He can usher some fresh faces up to the MLB team. He can grow. Then promote him to assistant manager or bench coach or what ever.

Make it clear this is a training move and he may not ever be manager if the current guy is a winner. But work with the current manager over a long period. Tell him years in advance while Zuk is in SLC that, many years down the line, the org sees Zuk as a “management prospect” that can take over when the current manager wants to retire… or is fired.

Or, if your another team, hire Zuk as part of a coaching staff for a few years. There’s no reason to think the guy can’t someday be valuable.

What I’m saying is Zuk sucks, but he’s not the end of the world. And the team itself is at a point where Mr Demandachamp can’t really say we MUST have a championish manager so we can…. finish sub-.500 the next two years. Or well, he can say that, but it sounds stupid. What they really need is a package of coaches and a manager who can apply the org’s new philosophy. Zuk may be really good at pointing out where the old ideas need to change since he was part of successfully developed post season teams with the A’s, Braves, Nationals and the developing Twins teams…. and then our hot diaper.

I don’t think I want Zuk to manage next year at all. But if he’s still around next year that may not be so bad, and if he even manages next year my position is going to be sort of like with a good player prospect. His first taste was…. errr, bad. Let’s see if he makes adjustments. If, BIG PICTURE, he is part of development and changes I don’t mind him committing the incredible sin of batting Wade Meckler 5th or what ever bunny turd people feel the need to chew on.