Breaking: Rogers Aquires Bell Stake In MLSE

[Scase]

You think he tried to win last season? Hired a rookie euro coach who moved our best player off ball. You call that doing everything to win?

You think that trading for established players instead of picks and prospects is trying to lose? Masai is doing what he is always doing, re-tooling on the fly and trying to lay tracks as the train is running, don't be obtuse, you've been watching him for over a decade now.

Guy hung onto OG/Siakam, tried to re-sign Fred and some people really wanna say he was trying to rebuild? Dude tried his best to win but failed miserably due to stupid roster construction.

Masai has been one of the worst executives since 2020 and our future outlook isn't that bright either. The contract extension that he totally deserved at the time seems like an overpayment as he hasn't been able to produce since.

That doesn't mean I want him fired but I do want simple acknowledge from his stans that he's gotta be MUCH better. He's shown he can do it in the past so let's see it going forward...

Yeah I have no clue how anyone can look at the last 4-5 years and say at any point Masai was intentionally trying to lose, not believable in the slightest.

Presti missed the playoffs for 3 straight years. Should he have been fired last year? Dumars has had more success than Presit ever has with OKC! Ainge has missed 2 years in a row, likely to be at least 3 years. Should he be fired? Spurs haven't made the playoffs for 5 years, time for Pop to go right? Or maybe, like Masai, they all decided to lose in multiple of those seasons while Dumars was trying to win the entire time. Or they all have future cornerstones they drafted through the losing while Dumars whiffed over and over and over and over...

BTW, ever look at Dumar's draft track record? I don't think you have.

If Ed isn't paying you, I feel bad for you.

Masai has entered zero seasons intending to tank, missed the playoffs 3 out of the last 4 seasons, and will likely miss the playoffs both of the next two seasons. No comparison between what he’s done recently and teams that are built to fail from the first game of the season like OKC was, like the Spurs have been recently too. Even now he’s still hedging his bets by keeping veterans and the recent trades that brought in more veterans.

I think what preceded it also matters, had we been a marginal playoff team for years, THEN the last 3/4 seasons no playoffs is good enough for firing. But we gutted our assets to get 1 year rentals, and then after a championship itd be embarrassing to tank, its the human thing to do to try & defend and we did pretty well overall considering we lost our main talent but still had a great regular season. After that we did end up tanking pretty appropriately, I get peoples ideal tanks are to have a bad roster from the start of the season but what makes Masai who he is is being open and seeing how things go, its been a pretty useful asset in the past, I'm glad he chose to tank in Tampa eventually and then the selection of Scottie has set up hope for this franchise. The last 3 years have been more disorganized, not having all positions properly filled, a lot of experimentation, having fa's walk. It hasn't been ideal but anyone can make mistakes along the way, his overall body of work & in recent years drafting Scottie, trading for RJ/IQ imo show he's still got it even after some hiccups. I feel hopefuly about the franchise I just hope they can retain him and that Rogers keeps greenlighting spending especially if we get in a position to contend.

I don't think we're at the point where he outright needs to get fired, but there have been some extremely questionable choices the last few years. To me the point is more so that suggesting we have been losing purposefully, is just such an insane take that it needed to be dissected. It is the first time I've ever heard someone use that as a defence of Masai, kinda nuts.

[Duffman100]

Yeah I have no clue how anyone can look at the last 4-5 years and say at any point Masai was intentionally trying to lose, not believable in the slightest.

I mean Tampa season and last season. He may not have entered intentionally trying to lose, but definitely ended that way.

[will]

This may be the nail in the coffin for Masai?

[ForeverTFC]

You think that trading for established players instead of picks and prospects is trying to lose? Masai is doing what he is always doing, re-tooling on the fly and trying to lay tracks as the train is running, don't be obtuse, you've been watching him for over a decade now.

Guy hung onto OG/Siakam, tried to re-sign Fred and some people really wanna say he was trying to rebuild? Dude tried his best to win but failed miserably due to stupid roster construction.

Masai has been one of the worst executives since 2020 and our future outlook isn't that bright either. The contract extension that he totally deserved at the time seems like an overpayment as he hasn't been able to produce since.

That doesn't mean I want him fired but I do want simple acknowledge from his stans that he's gotta be MUCH better. He's shown he can do it in the past so let's see it going forward...

Yeah I have no clue how anyone can look at the last 4-5 years and say at any point Masai was intentionally trying to lose, not believable in the slightest.

Masai has entered zero seasons intending to tank, missed the playoffs 3 out of the last 4 seasons, and will likely miss the playoffs both of the next two seasons. No comparison between what he’s done recently and teams that are built to fail from the first game of the season like OKC was, like the Spurs have been recently too. Even now he’s still hedging his bets by keeping veterans and the recent trades that brought in more veterans.

I think what preceded it also matters, had we been a marginal playoff team for years, THEN the last 3/4 seasons no playoffs is good enough for firing. But we gutted our assets to get 1 year rentals, and then after a championship itd be embarrassing to tank, its the human thing to do to try & defend and we did pretty well overall considering we lost our main talent but still had a great regular season. After that we did end up tanking pretty appropriately, I get peoples ideal tanks are to have a bad roster from the start of the season but what makes Masai who he is is being open and seeing how things go, its been a pretty useful asset in the past, I'm glad he chose to tank in Tampa eventually and then the selection of Scottie has set up hope for this franchise. The last 3 years have been more disorganized, not having all positions properly filled, a lot of experimentation, having fa's walk. It hasn't been ideal but anyone can make mistakes along the way, his overall body of work & in recent years drafting Scottie, trading for RJ/IQ imo show he's still got it even after some hiccups. I feel hopefuly about the franchise I just hope they can retain him and that Rogers keeps greenlighting spending especially if we get in a position to contend.

I don't think we're at the point where he outright needs to get fired, but there have been some extremely questionable choices the last few years. To me the point is more so that suggesting we have been losing purposefully, is just such an insane take that it needed to be dissected. It is the first time I've ever heard someone use that as a defence of Masai, kinda nuts.

You think the Raptors were trying to win in Tampa? You think they traded a vet in Norm for a young 2nd rounder because they thought that was the path to immediate winning basketball? You think the Raptors entered last season to win? You think they hired a rookie HC and told him to marginalize his best player in Siakam because they thought that was the recipe for success?

Tanking is not the only way you lose, it's just the most obvious. You (and your group's) lack of imagination and ability to see anything other than black and white is not my problem. Like I said, I'm done engaging you.

[Raps in 4]

How did this thread turn into a Shatkins era debate?

Looking at how Ed ran the Blue Jays is a pretty good indicator of how he'll run the Raptors.

[Scase]

Yeah I have no clue how anyone can look at the last 4-5 years and say at any point Masai was intentionally trying to lose, not believable in the slightest.

I mean Tampa season and last season. He may not have entered intentionally trying to lose, but definitely ended that way.

Tampa I am still not fully convinced about, but I can definitely see the argument, so I'll happily not die on that hill. Last year absolutely was not with the intent to lose, and neither was any other post chip season. We can agree it ended up that way, but the argument was that Masai was intentionally trying to lose those seasons, which I think is just so far removed from reality that I couldn't just ignore it.

Masai for better, or worse, never intentionally tries to lose. I think no matter pro, anti, or anywhere in between-Masai a person is, we can all agree the intent behind any and all decisions he makes, is to win above all else.

[Duffman100]

Yeah I have no clue how anyone can look at the last 4-5 years and say at any point Masai was intentionally trying to lose, not believable in the slightest.

I mean Tampa season and last season. He may not have entered intentionally trying to lose, but definitely ended that way.

Tampa I am still not fully convinced about, but I can definitely see the argument, so I'll happily not die on that hill. Last year absolutely was not with the intent to lose, and neither was any other post chip season. We can agree it ended up that way, but the argument was that Masai was intentionally trying to lose those seasons, which I think is just so far removed from reality that I couldn't just ignore it.

Masai for better, or worse, never intentionally tries to lose. I think no matter pro, anti, or anywhere in between-Masai a person is, we can all agree the intent behind any and all decisions he makes, is to win above all else.

Like I said, he doesn't enter a season to lose.

But saying that he wasn't trying to lose in Tampa or last season is equally as detached from reality.

[Scase]

Guy hung onto OG/Siakam, tried to re-sign Fred and some people really wanna say he was trying to rebuild? Dude tried his best to win but failed miserably due to stupid roster construction.

Masai has been one of the worst executives since 2020 and our future outlook isn't that bright either. The contract extension that he totally deserved at the time seems like an overpayment as he hasn't been able to produce since.

That doesn't mean I want him fired but I do want simple acknowledge from his stans that he's gotta be MUCH better. He's shown he can do it in the past so let's see it going forward...

Yeah I have no clue how anyone can look at the last 4-5 years and say at any point Masai was intentionally trying to lose, not believable in the slightest.

I think what preceded it also matters, had we been a marginal playoff team for years, THEN the last 3/4 seasons no playoffs is good enough for firing. But we gutted our assets to get 1 year rentals, and then after a championship itd be embarrassing to tank, its the human thing to do to try & defend and we did pretty well overall considering we lost our main talent but still had a great regular season. After that we did end up tanking pretty appropriately, I get peoples ideal tanks are to have a bad roster from the start of the season but what makes Masai who he is is being open and seeing how things go, its been a pretty useful asset in the past, I'm glad he chose to tank in Tampa eventually and then the selection of Scottie has set up hope for this franchise. The last 3 years have been more disorganized, not having all positions properly filled, a lot of experimentation, having fa's walk. It hasn't been ideal but anyone can make mistakes along the way, his overall body of work & in recent years drafting Scottie, trading for RJ/IQ imo show he's still got it even after some hiccups. I feel hopefuly about the franchise I just hope they can retain him and that Rogers keeps greenlighting spending especially if we get in a position to contend.

I don't think we're at the point where he outright needs to get fired, but there have been some extremely questionable choices the last few years. To me the point is more so that suggesting we have been losing purposefully, is just such an insane take that it needed to be dissected. It is the first time I've ever heard someone use that as a defence of Masai, kinda nuts.

You think the Raptors were trying to win in Tampa? You think they traded a vet in Norm for a young 2nd rounder because they thought that was the path to immediate winning basketball? You think the Raptors entered last season to win? You think they hired a rookie HC and told him to marginalize his best player in Siakam because they thought that was the recipe for success?

Tanking is not the only way you lose, it's just the most obvious. You (and your group's) lack of imagination and ability to see anything other than black and white is not my problem. Like I said, I'm done engaging you.

There is a HUGE difference between making moves that don't yield immediate wins, and intentionally trying to lose. You think trading norm for GTJ was a move with the intent to lose more games? That is just nuts to even suggest lol. Like damn dude, you can just say you misspoke or meant something different and elaborate, that's completely normal. But doubling down that Masai has been from the outset intentionally trying to lose seasons, I don't think any single person on the board can get behind that statement. By your definition, any move that doesn't provide an immediate + to the win column, is a move with the intent to lose, and you're telling me that I'm the one seeing things too black and white?

[Raps in 4]

Masai may have sucked at his job since 2022, but I'd still pick him 10 times out of 10 to run this team over the NBA equivalent of Mark Shapiro.

Masai is elite and scouting and player development, and he has a championship to his name.

Shapiro is among the worst executives in baseball at scouting and player development, and has zero titles despite being in the business for 24 years, in a sport where any team can fall ass backwards into a title if they just get into the playoffs enough times.

The fact that Ed favours (and continues to employ) the latter is all I need to know about his ability (or desire) to hire competent people.

[Scase]

I mean Tampa season and last season. He may not have entered intentionally trying to lose, but definitely ended that way.

Tampa I am still not fully convinced about, but I can definitely see the argument, so I'll happily not die on that hill. Last year absolutely was not with the intent to lose, and neither was any other post chip season. We can agree it ended up that way, but the argument was that Masai was intentionally trying to lose those seasons, which I think is just so far removed from reality that I couldn't just ignore it.

Masai for better, or worse, never intentionally tries to lose. I think no matter pro, anti, or anywhere in between-Masai a person is, we can all agree the intent behind any and all decisions he makes, is to win above all else.

Like I said, he doesn't enter a season to lose.

But saying that he wasn't trying to lose in Tampa or last season is equally as detached from reality.

As I said with Tampa, I can see the argument both ways, not anything worth arguing. But last year? Nah he did not try to lose anything, Jak and Scottie went down with season ending injuries, RJ had a death in the family and took time off. No one was shut down, we weren't playing 3rd stringers intentionally. We were 22-38 when those injuries occurred, if that was him trying to win up until that point, then wow, that's a pretty massive failure.

That was major injuries to a team with zero depth, that was not a choice, that was thrust upon him, let's not try to re-write history that is barely 6 months old.

[Duffman100]

Tampa I am still not fully convinced about, but I can definitely see the argument, so I'll happily not die on that hill. Last year absolutely was not with the intent to lose, and neither was any other post chip season. We can agree it ended up that way, but the argument was that Masai was intentionally trying to lose those seasons, which I think is just so far removed from reality that I couldn't just ignore it.

Masai for better, or worse, never intentionally tries to lose. I think no matter pro, anti, or anywhere in between-Masai a person is, we can all agree the intent behind any and all decisions he makes, is to win above all else.

Like I said, he doesn't enter a season to lose.

But saying that he wasn't trying to lose in Tampa or last season is equally as detached from reality.

As I said with Tampa, I can see the argument both ways, not anything worth arguing. But last year? Nah he did not try to lose anything, Jak and Scottie went down with season ending injuries, RJ had a death in the family and took time off. No one was shut down, we weren't playing 3rd stringers intentionally. We were 22-38 when those injuries occurred, if that was him trying to win up until that point, then wow, that's a pretty massive failure.

That was major injuries to a team with zero depth, that was not a choice, that was thrust upon him, let's not try to re-write history that is barely 6 months old.

He traded our best players for draft picks and younger players with potential.

He sold off the vets that were on the team.

He wasn't trying to win, that's pretty clear.

[Randle McMurphy]

Masai may have sucked at his job since 2022, but I'd still pick him 10 times out of 10 to run this team over the NBA equivalent of Mark Shapiro.

lol at 2022.The guy's approaching a BC-like treadmill stretch of 5 years now as a terrible GM for this team. I suppose even BC still had his apologists before Leiweke finally got rid of the guy in 2013, so it can't be surprising there are still plenty here for Masai. Fortunately for us, Ed will soon be taking on the Leiweke role of removing the old and bringing in the new.

Masai is elite and scouting and player development

When? A decade ago?

[Raps in 4]

Masai may have sucked at his job since 2022, but I'd still pick him 10 times out of 10 to run this team over the NBA equivalent of Mark Shapiro.

lol at 2022.The guy's approaching a BC-like treadmill stretch of 5 years now as a terrible GM for this team. I suppose even BC still had his apologists before Leiweke finally got rid of the guy in 2013, so it can't be surprising there are still plenty here for Masai

Masai is elite and scouting and player development

When? A decade ago?

In 2020, the team won 53 games and was 2 possessions away from the ECF (and possibly the finals after that since Miami were no world beaters).

In 2021, we tanked and Masai drafted the best player in the draft.

In 2022 he should have tanked, but he wanted to see how the rookie would fit in with the old core. They won 48 games. Trading a FRP for Thaddeus Young was a huge mistake.

His first unequivocally bad decision was not tanking in 2023 (and trading a FRP for Yak).

Despite how terrible the Raptors have been of late, they still somehow accomplished more than the Jays in those five years, and still somehow have a brighter future (they actually have an elite prospect under contract, while the Jays have reached the end of their Vlad and Bo window).

[PushDaRock]

Yeah I have no clue how anyone can look at the last 4-5 years and say at any point Masai was intentionally trying to lose, not believable in the slightest.

I mean Tampa season and last season. He may not have entered intentionally trying to lose, but definitely ended that way.

Tampa I am still not fully convinced about, but I can definitely see the argument, so I'll happily not die on that hill. Last year absolutely was not with the intent to lose, and neither was any other post chip season. We can agree it ended up that way, but the argument was that Masai was intentionally trying to lose those seasons, which I think is just so far removed from reality that I couldn't just ignore it.

Masai for better, or worse, never intentionally tries to lose. I think no matter pro, anti, or anywhere in between-Masai a person is, we can all agree the intent behind any and all decisions he makes, is to win above all else.

lol they literally shut down a fully healthy Kyle Lowry during the Tampa year, he played 41 mins and dropped 37 and 11 in his last game. You don't think that's intentionally trying to lose?

[Chandan]

Guy hung onto OG/Siakam, tried to re-sign Fred and some people really wanna say he was trying to rebuild? Dude tried his best to win but failed miserably due to stupid roster construction.

Maybe this is one of those famous Masai pivotal moments where he lucks into success. IF the rocket didn't offer Fred 40 mil and masai managed to retain him. There probably won't be a trade for IQ. According to Masai's identity as a GM, IQ will indeed blossom into some sort of Steve Nash and it will be a smashing success and totally accidental.

[ForeverTFC]

There is a HUGE difference between making moves that don't yield immediate wins, and intentionally trying to lose. You think trading norm for GTJ was a move with the intent to lose more games? That is just nuts to even suggest lol. Like damn dude, you can just say you misspoke or meant something different and elaborate, that's completely normal. But doubling down that Masai has been from the outset intentionally trying to lose seasons, I don't think any single person on the board can get behind that statement. By your definition, any move that doesn't provide an immediate + to the win column, is a move with the intent to lose, and you're telling me that I'm the one seeing things too black and white?

I don't know why I keep engaging but here we go. Nowhere in my post did I say that Masai entered any single season from the outset intentionally trying to lose. Here is my post:

Presti missed the playoffs for 3 straight years. Should he have been fired last year? Dumars has had more success than Presit ever has with OKC! Ainge has missed 2 years in a row, likely to be at least 3 years. Should he be fired? Spurs haven't made the playoffs for 5 years, time for Pop to go right? Or maybe, like Masai, they all decided to lose in multiple of those seasons while Dumars was trying to win the entire time. Or they all have future cornerstones they drafted through the losing while Dumars whiffed over and over and over and over...

BTW, ever look at Dumar's draft track record? I don't think you have.

If Ed isn't paying you, I feel bad for you.

Masai decided to lose during Tampa. Masai decided to lose last season. Maybe you should take your own advice and say you misread my post and move on.

[Scase]

Like I said, he doesn't enter a season to lose.

But saying that he wasn't trying to lose in Tampa or last season is equally as detached from reality.

As I said with Tampa, I can see the argument both ways, not anything worth arguing. But last year? Nah he did not try to lose anything, Jak and Scottie went down with season ending injuries, RJ had a death in the family and took time off. No one was shut down, we weren't playing 3rd stringers intentionally. We were 22-38 when those injuries occurred, if that was him trying to win up until that point, then wow, that's a pretty massive failure.

That was major injuries to a team with zero depth, that was not a choice, that was thrust upon him, let's not try to re-write history that is barely 6 months old.

He traded our best players for draft picks and younger players with potential.

He sold off the vets that were on the team.

He wasn't trying to win, that's pretty clear.

He traded OG for 2 players that will be/are considered vets this/next year, they are players that upon joining the team averaged the same, or more counting stats then the players they replaced :

RJ vs Siakam
21.8/6.4/4.1
22.2/6.3/4.9
Virtually identical stats.

OG vs IQ
18.6/4.8/6.8
15.1/3.9/2.7
IQ outperformed OG, obviously not accounting for his defence.

So we replaced 2 players with identical/more output, and that is trading our best players for players with potential to lose games? Siakam was traded for picks and not young players, because IND refused to give us anything of value. He didn't make a concerted effort to move him for a good package when he had value, he moved him when he had no choice and got crap for it. This isn't gobert for 5 picks, that you wait on over the years to turn into players. This was dead weight players + mediocre picks.

Please, tell me what vets we sold off? Thad and OPJ? 2 guys who played a combined 38 games and a whopping 524 minutes? And then we turned right around and pick up Olynyk and BB?

This is just jumping through hoops to try and justify decisions.

[Scase]

I mean Tampa season and last season. He may not have entered intentionally trying to lose, but definitely ended that way.

Tampa I am still not fully convinced about, but I can definitely see the argument, so I'll happily not die on that hill. Last year absolutely was not with the intent to lose, and neither was any other post chip season. We can agree it ended up that way, but the argument was that Masai was intentionally trying to lose those seasons, which I think is just so far removed from reality that I couldn't just ignore it.

Masai for better, or worse, never intentionally tries to lose. I think no matter pro, anti, or anywhere in between-Masai a person is, we can all agree the intent behind any and all decisions he makes, is to win above all else.

lol they literally shut down a fully healthy Kyle Lowry during the Tampa year, he played 41 mins and dropped 37 and 11 in his last game. You don't think that's intentionally trying to lose?

What part of

Tampa I am still not fully convinced about, but I can definitely see the argument, so I'll happily not die on that hill.

and

As I said with Tampa, I can see the argument both ways, not anything worth arguing.

Did you not get?

There is a HUGE difference between making moves that don't yield immediate wins, and intentionally trying to lose. You think trading norm for GTJ was a move with the intent to lose more games? That is just nuts to even suggest lol. Like damn dude, you can just say you misspoke or meant something different and elaborate, that's completely normal. But doubling down that Masai has been from the outset intentionally trying to lose seasons, I don't think any single person on the board can get behind that statement. By your definition, any move that doesn't provide an immediate + to the win column, is a move with the intent to lose, and you're telling me that I'm the one seeing things too black and white?

Or perhaps what you were trying to say, wasn't as clear as you thought it was. Which I'm fine with, no harm done.

I don't know why I keep engaging but here we go. Nowhere in my post did I say that Masai entered any single season from the outset intentionally trying to lose. Here is my post:

Presti missed the playoffs for 3 straight years. Should he have been fired last year? Dumars has had more success than Presit ever has with OKC! Ainge has missed 2 years in a row, likely to be at least 3 years. Should he be fired? Spurs haven't made the playoffs for 5 years, time for Pop to go right? Or maybe, like Masai, they all decided to lose in multiple of those seasons while Dumars was trying to win the entire time. Or they all have future cornerstones they drafted through the losing while Dumars whiffed over and over and over and over...

BTW, ever look at Dumar's draft track record? I don't think you have.

If Ed isn't paying you, I feel bad for you.

Masai decided to lose during Tampa. Masai decided to lose last season. Maybe you should take your own advice and say you misread my post and move on.

[PushDaRock]

Tampa I am still not fully convinced about, but I can definitely see the argument, so I'll happily not die on that hill. Last year absolutely was not with the intent to lose, and neither was any other post chip season. We can agree it ended up that way, but the argument was that Masai was intentionally trying to lose those seasons, which I think is just so far removed from reality that I couldn't just ignore it.

Masai for better, or worse, never intentionally tries to lose. I think no matter pro, anti, or anywhere in between-Masai a person is, we can all agree the intent behind any and all decisions he makes, is to win above all else.

lol they literally shut down a fully healthy Kyle Lowry during the Tampa year, he played 41 mins and dropped 37 and 11 in his last game. You don't think that's intentionally trying to lose?

What part of

Tampa I am still not fully convinced about, but I can definitely see the argument, so I'll happily not die on that hill.

and

As I said with Tampa, I can see the argument both ways, not anything worth arguing.

Did you not get?

There is a HUGE difference between making moves that don't yield immediate wins, and intentionally trying to lose. You think trading norm for GTJ was a move with the intent to lose more games? That is just nuts to even suggest lol. Like damn dude, you can just say you misspoke or meant something different and elaborate, that's completely normal. But doubling down that Masai has been from the outset intentionally trying to lose seasons, I don't think any single person on the board can get behind that statement. By your definition, any move that doesn't provide an immediate + to the win column, is a move with the intent to lose, and you're telling me that I'm the one seeing things too black and white?

Or perhaps what you were trying to say, wasn't as clear as you thought it was. Which I'm fine with, no harm done.

I don't know why I keep engaging but here we go. Nowhere in my post did I say that Masai entered any single season from the outset intentionally trying to lose. Here is my post:

Presti missed the playoffs for 3 straight years. Should he have been fired last year? Dumars has had more success than Presit ever has with OKC! Ainge has missed 2 years in a row, likely to be at least 3 years. Should he be fired? Spurs haven't made the playoffs for 5 years, time for Pop to go right? Or maybe, like Masai, they all decided to lose in multiple of those seasons while Dumars was trying to win the entire time. Or they all have future cornerstones they drafted through the losing while Dumars whiffed over and over and over and over...

BTW, ever look at Dumar's draft track record? I don't think you have.

If Ed isn't paying you, I feel bad for you.

Masai decided to lose during Tampa. Masai decided to lose last season. Maybe you should take your own advice and say you misread my post and move on.

I don't get it

[OAKLEY_2]

Masai may have sucked at his job since 2022, but I'd still pick him 10 times out of 10 to run this team over the NBA equivalent of Mark Shapiro.

Masai is elite and scouting and player development, and he has a championship to his name.

Shapiro is among the worst executives in baseball at scouting and player development, and has zero titles despite being in the business for 24 years, in a sport where any team can fall ass backwards into a title if they just get into the playoffs enough times.

The fact that Ed favours (and continues to employ) the latter is all I need to know about his ability (or desire) to hire competent people.

This answers how Shatkins is on trial in this thread - not Masai. Where is your 2019 Edward. No f-en anywhere is the answer.