Sandy Alderson was Billy Beane's mentor & for those of you dying to be a tool

On the casting out of Bruce Bochy, Bill Madden says:

• "The fact that Bochy, who has won four NL West titles (including the last two), and one NL pennant in 12 years at the Padres' helm, is being allowed to talk to other teams by club president Sandy Alderson is greeted with raised eyebrows by most baseball people.
• "But as with all the "Moneyball" advocates, Alderson apparently views managers as easily replaceable (and preferably low-paid) functionaries. Bochy, who reportedly earned $1.9 million this season, has one more year left on his contract, and Alderson has shown no inclination to extend it.

Bringing us to Oakland:

• "Of course, there's no better example of this than in Oakland, where Alderson's disciple, Billy Beane, ran Ken Macha off after the A's won a second straight AL West title, citing "a disconnect" between the manager and the players.
• "Sources tell me the astounding on-the-record bashing of Macha by the A's players in the San Francisco Chronicle after his firing last week actually was a result of a meeting Beane had with them in which he essentially told them he expected them to publicly back him up."

This is what seemed likely to me from the outset. ONCE AGAIN, THE SELF-APPOINTED, SELF-PROCLAIMED MORAL LEADERS OF THE GAME ARE SIMPLY TOOLS OF MANAGEMENT TO GET OUT THEIR OWN VERSION OF A STORY. YOU THINK THIS IS A NICE WAY TO DO BUSINESS?

• I CONTINUE TO BE AMAZED AT HOW MANY BLOGGERS SAY THEY'D LOVE TO BE PAID "SPORTSWRITERS" FOR A BIG PUBLICATION. WHAT YOU'RE REALLY SAYING IS "I'D LIKE TO BE A TOOL."

WHY WOULDN'T YOUR FIRST PRIORITY BE TO DEMAND STANDARDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY FROM THE PEOPLE WHO DO THE JOB AND THOSE THAT EMPLOY THEM? from Bill Madden's NY Daily News column, 10/22/06

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