http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3062658

The Reds just got worse. I live in Reds country, and I work with a bunch of die-hard Reds fans. None of them are happy about this, and I can't blame them. I can't figure this one out for the life of me. It doesn't make any sense for either the team or Baker.

Why would the Reds choose Baker? They have a bright future. Jay Bruce is Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year, and their farm system is stacked from top to bottom. Baker won't play the kids if he has a veteran to play, and he is not interested in teaching the game to kids. If they don't immeidately perform like all-stars, they will soon be setting on the end of the bench to be forgotten, breaking their confidence.

"The Reds have hired Dusty Baker as manager," reports SI.com's Jon Heyman. The Cubs are going to see plenty more of their former manager for at least the next three years.

Where in the world is Dusty Baker ?

Baker, Winfield on mission in Africa
Posted: Friday February 2, 2007 12:57AM;
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/ba...

Q&A: Dusty Baker
Posted: Wednesday January 31, 2007 6:04PM;
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/wr...

MLB group on goodwill tour to Ghana

Dusty and his son at Wrigley during the National Anthem
http://chicagocubsphotos.blogspot.com/20...

Cubs vs. Astros photos

Baker, Winfield arrive in Ghana (AP, 2/2/2007)

A delegation headed by Hall of Famer Dave Winfield and former Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants manager Dusty Baker arrived in Ghana on Friday for a goodwill trip aimed at promoting the sport in a region where little is known about it.
. . . .
The delegation is expected to donate baseball equipment, organize baseball clinics and visit schools in Accra. It also will tour the coast and meet with President John Kufour on Monday before returning to the United States the next day.

Spread the greatest game ever invented far and wide.

UPDATE (11:45pm):

The 2006 Chicago Cubs were outscored by 118 runs, putting the 2006 team in 13th place among the top 20 most dominated Cubs' teams since 1900. In other rankings updates, Dusty Baker went from 8th on the Cubs' managerial list for winning percentage to 15th, at .497 (which is still above the .479 median). And Juan Pierre became the third-most prolific single season base stealer in Cubs' history.

Baker 'interested' in A's vacancy but won't call Beane (Dave Newhouse, Contra Costa Times, 10/17/2006)

The A's need a new manager, and former Giants skipper Dusty Baker says he'd "be interested."

"In the Bay Area, oh, yeah. It would be nice for me and my family." Baker said by telephone Monday.

If Billy Beane hires Dusty Baker, we don't know very much about Billy Beane.

It ends. No word on the coaches yet. More later.

This MLB.com article writes commenting on sources in Florida:
Girardi has "zero" chance of returning for a second season.
I'm a Dusty fan, but I say goodbye to Baker and hello to Girardi.

(Courtesy of The Sports Xchange) Cubs manager Dusty Baker is not sure where he will be managing in the next couple of years, but he has plans to get back to postseason action as soon a possible.

Dusty Baker says, with regard to what would have happened had Derrek Lee not been injured this season, "you can figure he'd make up 10, 12, 15 games by himself," reports the Chicago Tribune. A ten game difference would put the Cubs at 64-67, 3 games out of the wild card lead.

That Dusty Baker would repeat one of the most mind-boggling statements in major league baseball history is itself mind-boggling. MLB.com's Carrie Muskat reports:

Do the Cubs need to improve their on-base percentage next year? They currently rank last in the National League with a .318 OBP.

"On-base percentage is great if you can score runs and do something with that on-base percentage," Baker said. "Clogging up the bases isn't that great to me. The problem we have to address more than anything is the home run problem."

Jim Hendry has not had a good trade in a couple of seasons. He's now back in the game. Somehow, he convinced the Detroit Tigers to take Neifi Perez and his $2.5M 2007 contract, and the Cubs even received a player in return: 22-year-old minor league catcher Chris Robinson.

A look at some good, recent writing from the Cubs Blog Army:

We know during the Dusty Baker regime that Cubs hitters have had trouble taking walks and that Cubs pitchers have had trouble preventing walks, but ESPN.com's Rob Neyer (in an "Insider" column) shows us just how bad the problem has been. As Neyer writes, from 2003-06, seven National League teams have drawn more walks than they have allowed. The Phillies lead the league with a +476 differential, followed by the Cardinals, Padres, Reds, and Astros.

"Nine teams have negative walk differentials, and two of them really, really stand out ...": The Pirates and the Cubs. And the Cubs are much worse than the Pirates.