We aren’t fully paid members of the Doc fan club here at RN, but he has some food for thought today:
The Club stunk it up last night, and it’s getting old. It’s not D. Baker’s fault, but it is his problem. If a manager’s biggest charge is to set a tone  and The Man says it is  Baker needs to step forward and set a better one than he is now. Players sometimes take their cues from their manager. Especially young players. To now, Baker’s cue has been, “We’re close, we’ll be fine, long season†etc. That might have been the right message at 15-15 or even at 30-30. It’s tone-deaf at 43-44.
You dont get what you expect. You dont get what you ask for. You get what you put up with. An air of complacency hangs over this team. Time to shake things up, before it doesnt matter.
Baker isnt fond of shaking things up. He loves his players, doesnt want to bruise any egos. That worked last year, when the Reds got on a roll that put everyone in a good mood. It’s easy to come to the park when you’re winning more than you lose. Motivation isnt generally the issue. The Club was young and mostly in its first pennant race. The manager’s let-it-ride tone worked. TML praised him.
Same team, different year. Time to shake it up.
You can agree or disagree with his suggested roster moves (go read the rest of the column here), but none are terribly unreasonable. Something has to be done, right?
Right?