Skippers on the Bubble
The first month of the season is just about behind us. So let the discussion of who the first managing casualty will be. First on the list is…
Charlie Manuel – Phi – Manuel is well into his 60’s and is rumoured to be in bad health. The Phillies were expected to contend and got off to one of the worst starts in the NL this year. He was involved in an ugly moment where he challenged a reported to “step up” and of course the reported did in a closed door meeting with the mgr. Phillies have turned things around in the last week.
Mike Hargrove – Sea – This is a case of a lame duck GM passing the buck on the manager. If Seattle falls out of contention in the next month or so look for Hargrove to lose his job in an attempt of Bavasi saving his own.
Clint Hurdle – Col – He has never had a winning season in the mile high city. With five straight losers I don’t think he will see the end of a sixth.
Phil Garner – Hou – A brilliant manager + no bullpen + no hitting = a losing team and a fired skipper.
Joe Torre – NYY – Yes, the Yanks have injury problems but the team is in last place as of this writing. This is unacceptable in the Bronx and Torre was rumoured to have been on thin ice during the offseason.
John Gibbons – Tor- Like the Yanks the Jays have had some crushing injuries to starters but Gibbons inability to manage a bullpen and his unique approach to making a batting order leave alot in question to his future despite signing a contract extension in the offseason.
Felipe Alou – SF – Another 60+ manager. A likeable man, he has led the Giants to a surprising streak, but I think the lack out everything except a Barry Bonds home run chase will cost Alou his job.
Lotta old guys on that list. Should they be “on the bubble” due to production or age? Replacing old man Robinson in Washington has proved to be a rather stupid decision.
I’m not sure that Frank could coax any more wins out of that broken squad.
Outside of Soriano, is the ballclub all that different? I don’t think it is really, and one could argue that it may be stronger overall, with a full season of Kearns, Lopez and the emergence of Hill in the rotation. Last season, Patterson was hurt and stunk it up as he has so far this season. Church is getting the a full-time cance and producing, and statistically his early .883 OPS isn’t too far off Soriano’s .911 mark in 2006. Will Church keep it up? Nope, but at least at this point it’s replacing the lost Soriano production, with plus defense in center.
That team is in a complete rebuild. I disagree with the decision being stupid. If Frank could instill more fear in that club and coax them to 68 wins instead of 62 it isn’t a big deal. They needed a guy that is a teacher not a traditional manager. The Nats are in shambles and it will be a few years before they pull themselves out of the gutter.
Bubble Boy Poster Child – That’s “Sweet Lou”
Pnella hasn’t managed a game in ten years, he is a spectator, the only moves he is alledged to have engineered during his siesta in Tampa, were bowel movements.
It’s been a tad cool in Chicago early in the season, so when it heats up, the Cubs hopefully will get a little value for their money when Lou finally emerges from hibernation, to do some of his imfamous umpire protestations.
As one National League umpire almost certainly recently stated,
” I hate it when that happens, when someone disturbs Lou, and wakes him up, particularly during the game”.
Gotta disagree on Robinson. When has Acta ever been a great “teacher”? His past coaching records in the minors are less than stellar (around .500). If any “teaching” has happened, it would be from his role as a assistant coach. That’s his job but it’s not always the job of a MLB manager.
I just don’t buy into this learning/teacher gimmick for an MLB manager. Baseball is the only sport where most players can expect to touch three to four different minor league levels, and a decent percentage would hit all 5 (R, Low A, High A, AA, AAA) before making it to the major leagues. At the MLB level, I do agree that a manager should give a young player time to work out of his slumps, learn on the job, help adjust, etc but the teaching aspect should be left to the MLB specality coaches (hitting, fielding, etc) and the past minor league instructors. The manager should be handling the strategy, line-up, and in-game situations.
Acta is using a different philosophy with the Nats. Check out the stolen base chances under Robinson & Acta. With this rag-tag lineup, Frank realized that he might have to “kick it old school” and steal, hit & run, sacrifice, whatever was needed to win. Acta is sit back, “lay and pray” with a team that lacks the type of lineup to win with that philosophy. Even with the departure of Soriano, the Nats are playing a different “brand of ball”. Last year the Nats had 185 SB opps in 162 games. This season they’ve attempted 7 steals in 23 games.
The Nats won’t do anything until they address their awful farm system. Yet I feel Robinson gets a bad rap from almost eveybody. In my mind, the record of the Nationals under Frank is nothing short of spectacular, given the level of talent/budget he had to work with during his coaching days.
Kman – I agree with most of what you say. However, the Nationals at this time are virtually an expansion team. They are going to have to go through the ringer that an expansion team would go through and the trend is for expansion teams to hire a teacher rather than a manager. It is a shame that MLB has gutted what used to be the best “baseball” organisation from the late 1980s until the Expos went bust. I don’t think that Frank Robinson gets a bad rap for what he did in Washington. I think he brought dignity and class to that franchise in its first years in Wsh, it is a shame the way he was put out. I think he did an amenable job in Wsh and in Montreal. The fact is he is not a players manager he is orny and can be mean, he is not traditonally patient and I don’t beleive any expansion team in their right mind would hire Frank Robinson to manage them. Even in his 70s the talent on the Nats this year would not be able to meet Frank’s high standards.
BB Wiz – I agree with you on Lou as well. You can insult his heritage on national tv a al Steve Lyons but don’t wake him up. I saw a news conference when he is already berating his players and calling them losers, same fit I remember seeing him have in his first year in TB. He has to realise, these teams think he is a savior, he is paracuted in to turn losers into winner. Cubs have spent tonnes of money but still are losers. These are his teams, time to lead Lou. Lou is a loser, time for him to hit the hay.