Ronald Acuña, Sr. Goes Off On Snitker

[GovClintonTyree]

I think I could tolerate one of those guys for a handful of months—provided that it’s clearly understood that their Braves managerial career ends on the last day of the 2021 season.

I kinda wonder if/how the FF deal interlocks with Snitker. FF spoke up for Snit earlier when there was perceived pressure on him. Would firing Snitker alienate Freddie, or is it irrelevant because the FF ship has sailed?

Snitker calls Albies and Acuna idiot brown island players, RA Sr and half the people in baseball go bananas. Snitker steps down, assumes crosschecking scouting role in Latin America. Walt Weiss takes over for Snitker 8/31. Braves promote Waters, Pache, Muller, Wilson, Toussaint from Gwinnett, go 22-8 in September to level off at 81-81. Weiss has interim title removed, receives three year contract. Freddie signs 10 year, $300M deal with Anaheim, holds press conference saying OC is where he wanted to be all along. AA scours the FA market looking for 1B who can platoon with Panda on a 1-year deal.

[thewupk]

I agree with a few others that we just don’t seem to have any veteran leadership to speak up and handle things. Love FF but he doesn’t seem that vocal. Agree with everybody else that Snit needs to go. Who would be the hire?

I'd let Washington take the reigns until the end of the year.

After that it's anybody's guess.

[WaitingFor2017]

I feel like any new hire for manager for 2022 and beyond would need to be an outside hire. I'm afraid that any former Brave would have too many ties to the Bobby Cox/JS/Snitker type managing style which just doesn't work anymore. Some may say Mark DeRosa, but he doesn't come off as a good fit for analytics, and he may not even want to manage.

[CyYoung31]

Ronald posted this on Instagram:

...and people are taking it as a signal that he’s pissed off at Snitker.

I’m not sure I buy that, but maybe.

[Chico]

I feel like anyone who prospered in 2020 is going to have to pay the piper in 2021. That’s what this season feels like

[Julio3000]

John Gibbons worked for Anthopoulos in Toronto and is currently unemployed, so that name might be near the top of the list.

Before everyone jumps on the "it's got to be an analytical guy," Rocco Baldelli is a Tampa Bay product through-and-through guy (and Falvey and Levine are from the analytical school) and the Twins are just sucking tailpipe this season. Part of that is injury-related, but part of it is Baldelli has absolutely no feel for the game. Snitker's downfall--at least to me--isn't that he's not steeped in analysis; it's that he misses on the easy analytical decisions, especially as it relates to the pitching staff.

Snitker should have kept this in-house, but what strikes me as a fan who is closing in on 70, is that players are bigger, stronger, and faster than ever and they also seem to be dumber. Every day you see Little League mistakes and I think the cause of that is players have learned through their development to rely solely on their physical gifts.

I think the rapid ascent through the minors combined with dominant physical tools is going to create a few teachable moments for young guys like Acuna. That kind of over-aggressive mistake is not too surprising from Ron, who seems pretty convinced that he can do anything on the field, nearly at will—and he mostly can, to the extent that it’s possible in a game where the best fail 2/3 of the time. If he learns from it, he’ll be the better for it.

I think what you’re describing (like watching the Pirates play Keystone Kops and give up a run because no one realized all they had to do was touch first base) partly has to do with the fact that all of these guys get amazing, unprecedented opportunities to hone their physical tools—advanced training, lab analysis of mechanics, modern workout techniques and nutrition, but perhaps miss out on the instructional aspect of a few years of seasoning in the minors. Each player is essentially an investment in a physical product, and most of those modern tools are focused on improving a couple of mechanical processes. The player is incentivized to do it because it’s his livelihood. The teams are incentivized to do it because the contemporary game selects for certain skills and then counts on data to tell them where to stand and when to do x or y.

I’m not making a value judgment about one versus the other, just noting that it’s different.

[thewupk]

Ronald posted this on Instagram:

...and people are taking it as a signal that he’s pissed off at Snitker.

I’m not sure I buy that, but maybe.

Maybe he's referencing Training Day? King Kong aint got **** on me

[50PoundHead]

Julio, not going to quote your thread, but we're on the same page. And this isn't recent development. I thought about citing the Pirates play from earlier this season and I was also reminded of a play involving Francouer way back when. Game tied in the bottom of the ninth and the Braves have the bases loaded with Francoeur on third. Braves' hitter hits a ground ball to 3B that handcuffs the 3B and rolls toward foul territory. Francoeur takes this as a clue to just saunter home at his leisure. Opposing 3B gets to the ball and makes an awkward throw that is wide of home plate and Francoeur scores without realizing that the force was in order. After he touches home "Braves win!!!", a couple of teammates start ragging on him and Francouer does that "Oh, sh*t" accompanied by the deer in the headlights look.

And it's not just in baseball. The NBA has become virtually unwatchable largely because there just isn't much of a training ground with all the one-and-dones.

[Enscheff]

Well, at least this thread has devolved into another “kids these days” ranting haha.

[50PoundHead]

Well, at least this thread has devolved into another “kids these days” ranting haha.

Get off my lawn.

[jsebe10]

Ronald posted this on Instagram:

...and people are taking it as a signal that he’s pissed off at Snitker.

I’m not sure I buy that, but maybe.

Who knows…

How about Ronald come out and say it was a dumb thing that he did?

Being an all world talent doesn’t excuse not playing the game the right way….We all tolerate his home run pimps off the wall…that retarded thing he does rounding 3B on a HR, or his complete overplay on injuries…like I’ve said 100 times…He needs to grow up…Snit will be dealt with eventually and Ronald will be here well past him.

[Carp]

I really don't want to get into some discussion about the racism spectrum (we all know it applies somewhat here, as it does with almost every old white guy in the country), but Snit does stupid things almost nightly that very clearly cost the Braves chances at victories. So to have him come out and throw a player under the buss publicly is laughable.

Snit definitely has to go, but it has nothing to do with this little snafu. Problem is, the internal options like Weiss and Wash are even dumber, and the last thing this team needs is an even dumber guy pulling the strings.

I don't think Washington is dumber, but granted that's more due to very low bar that I have set for Snit than anything else. Washington did lead the Rangers to back to back WS appearances though.

[Carp]

Who knows…

How about Ronald come out and say it was a dumb thing that he did?

Being an all world talent doesn’t excuse not playing the game the right way….We all tolerate his home run pimps off the wall…that retarded thing he does rounding 3B on a HR, or his complete overplay on injuries…like I’ve said 100 times…He needs to grow up…Snit will be dealt with eventually and Ronald will be here well past him.

There isn't anything wrong with any of those things. "We" don't "tolerate" anything. Most of us enjoy everything about Acuna. He loves playing this game and it shows. He has a lot of fun out there.

[weso1]

poop

[Deester11]

Who knows…

How about Ronald come out and say it was a dumb thing that he did?

Being an all world talent doesn’t excuse not playing the game the right way….We all tolerate his home run pimps off the wall…that retarded thing he does rounding 3B on a HR, or his complete overplay on injuries…like I’ve said 100 times…He needs to grow up…Snit will be dealt with eventually and Ronald will be here well past him.

He did own it. More than his manager has done. Fk that guy

[Julio3000]

Well, at least this thread has devolved into another “kids these days” ranting haha.

Like I said, I’m not making a value judgment about it. I definitely don’t pine for “ABC baseball” and I tend to like the stuff that Chip and Tom and Joe, etc, hate, and vice versa. In general, I think the old school was built around a system that favored the organization and stifled the individual. At the root of that was the remnants of the pre-Curt Flood/Marvin Miller era. Even after the union took a lot of power back, the culture remained. I’m glad for anything that tends to give power to the people who are actually doing it on the field vs. the owners, and I tend to like stuff that undermines the culture that grew up around that era.

I enjoy baseball now. I enjoyed it 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 20, 30 years ago. I don’t really judge whether it’s better or worse than when I was a kid watching old-school ball. To me, subjectively, it’s more fun now, because the players are better. But objectively? That’s not my call. I’m giving my opinion about why it may be different today, not offering a judgment about whether that’s better or worse. I’ll take RAJ and the occasional blunder and the panache over the scrappy guy who plays the game the right way 10/10 times.

Personally, I think the mentality of worshipping the old school is inherently reactionary and dumb. I also think that turning the game over to Ivy League nerds who would be busy causing the next economic meltdown if they hadn’t gotten into baseball has its downside, too. Moneyball was a great and appealing story because it was essentially an underdog story. When it’s no longer an underdog story, when the big dogs figure out they can train virtually unlimited resources onto optimizing every event on the field—sort of like how the total financialization of the economy has invaded every aspect of our lives—it becomes somehow less charming.

It’s not necessarily better or worse, though. It’s different. Noting the difference isn’t pining for the good old days, though.

[CyYoung31]

Acuna has a lot of great traits when it comes to being a professional baseball player and I love him as a player, but emotional maturity is not one of them. He made an incredibly dumb baseball decision and got publicly called out for it by his manager for whatever reason. An emotionally mature professional baseball player would own up to his mistake and move on. But Acuna decided to run to social media and act a fool. Not a smart move. But two things can be true at once. I think we all need to keep in mind that Acuna wears his heart on his sleeve and is still very young. It was a reaction that an emotionally mature manager should have seen coming. This could have probably been handled internally and Snitker let a moment of frustration get the best of him, but Acuna also needs to stop acting like a child. But with that in mind Snitker should let Eddie Perez, Freeman, Washington, Albies, etc. handle it internally.

Acuña didn’t run to social media and “act a fool”. That was his father. And, secondly, he did own up to the blunder after the game to the media.

If you wanna criticize Acuña, maybe you should get your facts straight first.

[Julio3000]

This would be a total non-story had Snit not blown in up in the postgame.

[Deester11]

Acuña didn’t run to social media and “act a fool”. That was his father. And, secondly, he did own up to the blunder after the game to the media.

If you wanna criticize Acuña, maybe you should get your facts straight first.

Correct. He did own it!

[Deester11]

This would be a total non-story had Snit not blown in up in the postgame.

Like he blows most managerial decisions.