Lou Piniella calls out D-Rays ownership

[Steak]

I guess you gotta give him credit for calling out his bosses and trying to get himself fired. The D-Rays should have considered buying out his contract after the season last year. I think he has done the best he could with that team, but that team is too young and they are just not good enough. Obviously, Vince Namoli never lived up to his promise in spending money and getting the veterans like Largo native Brad Radke (that may be a good thing now that Brad has stunk so far this season for the Twins). Rumor has it that the D-Rays may be trading lot of their core players like Aubrey Huff and Lou is not happy about it.

I don't blame him to be honest with you. You have to wonder why the D-Rays paid that much money for Lou to manage considering they don't spend and they don't use their revenue sharing money to improve and retain the talent. What is the point of paying that much money to hire a guy like Lou? D-Rays could be better off paying a young up-and-coming manager for a very cheap rate and then he can grow with that team.

I will be shocked if Lou is managing next year. D-Rays had it coming and now they got no choice but to buyout his contract. It's probably best for both parties. It has not worked and it will not worked.

[awefullspellare]

Intersting coments. Don't totally blame him because he isn't getting a fair chance, but he could still win. Also, at the end of last year he made a statement saying that he doesn't pass the blame on losing and it's his fault. Why the reversal now?

Also have heard he may want to get fired so that he can manage the Yankees next year. Sounds feasible to me, but I don't buy that as the reason, I think he is just upset.

[love_that_reefer]

Its not Piniella's fault that these guys just plain out suck. Its not his fault that no starting ptichers has more than three wins. Lou was lied to and he's angry. He was promised that the team would go towards the $45 million range but they are under $30 mil. Ridiculous!

[General]

If I were him, I'd want to be fired too.

[Steak]

One thing for sure. Lou is all but gone. Fans want him out. the players want him gone, and Namoli and Sternberg are not happy with him. The writers in Tampa/St Pete already said the marriage is over in today's papers over there.

As for D-Rays fans, I think they are upset that Lou wants out so they are turning on him right now.

What bothers me is why are the D-Rays are ready to have a fire sale again which is why Lou is speaking out. How much fire sales you can pull? This team has good young talent, but what is the point if you are going to trade them after three years. This team gets lot of money when Boston and NY comes to town not to mention the revenue sharing they get. There is no excuse not to invest on the core players out there. When you hear Huff and maybe Baldelli on the block, that's not great news for D-Rays fans. How do you build fan support when you make moves like that?

Obviously he is frustrated and I don't blame him. Rays play as hard as they could, but the thing is that ownership and front office have no clue what the hell they are doing. Why overpay a manager and give him nothing to work with? You might as well hire a young up-and-coming manager for less money and you could still be bad. D-Rays knew that was going to happen. They have no one but themselves to blame for Lou's comments.

As for him managing the Yankees, Lou will have to agree on a clause that he can't manage them if he wants a buyout.