Some have proposed that Jim Leyland (of Marlins fame) come in. He and Dombrowski used to work together. I think that's a fine idea. Although I like Trammell, he's made some curious decisions especially when it comes to pitching. But with each passing season, I think he gets better.

I would roll with him for one more year. He's had some tough breaks every year so far. I'm not so sure that anyone else could've done a better job with what he's had to deal with.

Now granted, there were a lot of expectations this year. But, with Maggs out for the first half, Guillen going down and with Percival's injury, among other things, that's a lot to overcome for any manager.

Just look at the first half of the season. When the pitching was solid the batting was non existent. Now they're hitting every thing in sight while the pitchers are giving up 10 runs a game. Tough to win ball games when the team plays like that.

I think Tram's done a decent job this season, outside of the way he's handled the staff at times. Let's see what he does with a full roster next year.

I think we'll be straight if we can just add a solid Centerfielder, a #1 pitcher to anchor the staff and a decent arm or two to the bullpen. (Hey, I can dream right?)

I loved Tram as a player, but I wonder if Tram has the necessary baseball savvy and personality to be a good major league manager. His post-game interviews are extremely dull, and he seldom has anything interesting or original to say. One wonders if there is a real baseball intelligence lurking behind all of his dull, cliched and inarticulate responses to reporters' questions. But more important than that is the fact that Tram does not project any air of authority at all. There are different ways to project authority as a manager: by intelligence (e.g., LaRussa), by having a strong personality (e.g., Sparky, Tommy Lasorda, Earl Weaver, Billy Martin), or perhaps by exhibiting a great breadth of knowledge of all facets of the game (e.g., Sparky, Casey Stengel, Billy Martin). Tram does not seem to excel in any of these areas, and I wonder if he really commands the necessary respect from his players to be an effective manager.