There is a world in which it could make strategic sense to see if you can get mario and if not ride manny out another year and bide time while sitting this insane coaching market year out. That might be a little conservative and could be easily criticized, but such a plan would be defensible as good long term strategy. What would not be defensible though is having that plan while signaling the opposite multiple ways and allowing a consensus belief among fans and the outside world. That would be a dumbfounding strategy of such profound level and it is nearly impossible to square that with the high caliber strategic minds running point on this.
