It's being reported that the Diamondbacks changed their mind on Backman after the reports of his previous legal brushes. They didn't do much of a background check, it seems. They hired him Monday, after the information became public he apologized on Tuesday, and now he's gone. Reportedly Bob Melvin now gets the job.

How stupid are the Diamondbacks? The stuff about the assault conviction and financial troubles was all printed in the New York papers a couple of weeks ago. It was also reported that the White Sox fired Backman from managing their AAA farm team because he was openly rooting for the White Sox to lose games so he could get the major league job. According to the papers, the Mets declined to consider him for their managerial opening because of these issues.

Bizarre that the D-Backs didn't do some sort of background check on Backman--and remarkably stupid that Backman didn't inform them of his legal brushes; if he had, the team could have been proactive ("We know about his troubled past but in America, all are entitled to a second chance..." kind of thing) but because the information came out in the press, it wound up being embarrassing for everyone.

But Bob Melvin??? He did a bad job with the Mariners, basically a good team, and now he's going to try to handle the D-Backs?? Has andy Johnson started running for the exit?

~Adam

The real credibility kicker here is what the Diamondback's basically said after the abuse allegations hit the papers here. Paraphrasing, management said "Despite what we have just learned, he is still the best man for the job and we stick by our decision to hire him."

And today, those clowns fire the guy. This is an organization headed towards the cellar for many years to come. Mired in debt, if Randy Johnson gets traded this year, who will be the highest paid Diamondback? Curt Schilling! They will be paying him $13mm this year in deferred money. This organization is the biggest joke in baseball.

Is he stupid or utterly insane? Just on that alone, I'd never hire him to manage my team.