A former Cubs player sounded off on Twitter, and a former White Sox player put him in his place.
Ryan Theriot laughed at the Dodgers’ hiring of Farhan Zaidi from the A’s as general manager.
Wow Dodgers! Nice hire for the GM job.
— ryan theriot (@rtheriot7) November 5, 2014
Hahahahahaha.......Good luck with that!#moneyballdoesntwork
Should be a Prerequisite for ALL sports GM jobs that they actually have PLAYED the game. Too much riding on their decisions!
— ryan theriot (@rtheriot7) November 5, 2014
The second comment, that GMs have to have playing experience, comes from the same category of stupid as players who say fans can’t have an opinion because they don’t play the game.
Brandon McCarthy managed to put Theriot in his place.
@rtheriot7 your two world series rings were brought to you by GMs who didn't play.
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 5, 2014
Theriot maintained his (wrong) argument and replied:
@BMcCarthy32 Wonder how many times Zaidi has put a uniform on.... ANY uniform!
— ryan theriot (@rtheriot7) November 5, 2014
Sabean played college ball, Mozeliak was a stud HS player..
And McCarthy then let loose:
@rtheriot7 but so what? Literally it matters zero. The time we all spent playing, he accumulated outside knowledge.
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 5, 2014
@rtheriot7 combine that with staff who can lend playing perspective, that's dangerous. Baseball players are myopic.
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 5, 2014
@rtheriot7 we don't understand market fluctuations, inefficiencies etc. because we didn't study it. Hell, I don't understand hitting.
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 5, 2014
@rtheriot7 if I wanted to evaluate hitting or position player D, someone would have to teach me what to look for cause I haven't done it.
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 5, 2014
@rtheriot7 baseball is a business, not a pickup game in the park.
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 5, 2014
@rtheriot7 I'm ranting but if someone like that didn't listen to people w/ baseball knowledge, then that's dangerous. But that's not his MO
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 5, 2014
Theriot and McCarthy played in Chicago at the same time. Theriot played for the Cubs from 2005-2010, and McCarthy was with the White Sox in 2005 and 2006.
Theriot won World Series rings with the Cardinals in 2011 and the Giants in 2012.
In this version of a Sox-Cubs showdown, the Sox take it.
(h/t Sports Illustrated)