The Pirates have been in the playoffs for the last two seasons, and they're seen as contenders again this year. That makes it easy to forget those 20 years when they couldn't even finish .500. Therefore it becomes convenient to speak dismissively of the "bad" teams they dispatched last week, the Mets and Marlins.
It remains to be see how good or bad those teams are, but there's no doubt the Marlins were a team in turmoil when they came to PNC Park to lose three straight.
They were fairly fresh from a managerial change, dumping Mike Redmond and promoting general manager Dan Jennings, who had never managed at any level. That's a step or two above pulling someone out of the stands, which might be a decent promotion.
That decision raised so many questions: Can Jennings handle the job? Does he have cool sunglasses to wear with the uniform? Does he know all the dugout spitting rituals? Can he do the foot-on-the-top-step-man-in-charge pose? Do the Marlins not have a current number for Jim Tracy?
If you want to lose players instantly, give them a manager who has never managed. Former star players can pull that off with the help of a sharp bench coach, but it's not going to play otherwise. The "who is this guy?" vibe will resonate every time a decision backfires.
The late Paul Owens twice took over as manager during his time as the Phillies' GM. Once was to get a closer look at his profoundly awful 1972 team. The other came in 1983, when he wound up leading them to the World Series.
The difference was that Owens had managed in the minor leagues, and his legendary drinking prowess carried a certain cachet with a previous generation of players.
So the Marlins are doomed to more failure, which can happen to an organization. But they bought this with a profoundly dumb decision. How bad could Redmond have been to be replaced by a complete novice?
You can take all the mistakes the Pirates made over 20 years (count John Russell twice because he got a contract extension) and you'd be challenged to find one as big as the Marlins have made.
But it could have been fun if Syd Thrift had squeezed into a pair of double knits and ambled onto to the field to make pitching changes or -- better yet -- have an animated argument with an umpire.
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--SHUFFLING OFF
Dan Bylsma has a new job, and the first transaction of the offseason is a big win for the Penguins.
They wiped the last two years of Bylsma's contract off their books while getting a third-round draft pick as compensation. This might actually be the best deal Jim Rutherford has made so far.
Bylsma is off to Buffalo on a five-year deal to revive the moribund Sabres. Despite that franchise's recent failings, some things are in his favor.
Buffalo is a good hockey market. People care. It gives them something to look at besides snow drifts. The ownership group is solid and willing to spend. Previous Sabres owner John Rigas is in federal prison, which is rarely a good sign for a business.
The Sabres missed on Mike Babcock, so they settled for Bylsma. Of course they didn't spin it that way, instead emphasizing Bylsma's accomplishments with the Penguins, which included the 2009 Stanley Cup.
He took over in February that year, inheriting a team that had been in the Final the year before. Some of his success was based on being a welcome alternative to Michel Therrien's hard-driving style, which had reached its expiration date.
Having Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will make any coach better. Failing to seriously compete for championships with Crosby and Malkin will get any coach in trouble, no matter how glossy his regular season success is.
Bylsma has gone from an environment where expectations were almost unreasonable to one where they're exceedingly modest. If the Sabres are just in the hunt for the eighth playoff spot next season, that will represent progress.
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--HOT PROMOTION
The Pirates are having a WVU Night on July 8.
Does this mean couches will be set ablaze on Federal Street?
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