MLB 2013 season

Man0warr

Molten Core Raider
2,265
171
Texas has looked pathetic the last two weeks. On the bright side, this might mean the end of Ron Washington.
This is Washington's best year managing the team yet - he isn't getting fired.

They are a team with no DH (this is a killer), a terrible Left fielder, and their best hitter outside of Adrian Beltre has been suspended. Not to mention all the pitching injuries they have had to endure this year. They still might get to 90 wins despite all that. Most of the blame falls on Jon Daniels not replacing the hitters they lost and stuff they can't control - but Daniels chose not to overpay/overtrade for over age 30 hitters that might help them this year and instead keep their assets available to go after a guy like David Price.

If their pitching gets back to what is was all year (top 3 ERA in baseball, lights out bullpen) and their streaky offense goes back the other way for the playoffs - they can beat anyone. Right now every pitcher but Yu Darvish are having their worst pitching starts of the year (looking at Derrek Holland and Garza here) and pretty much the entire offense is in a slump.
 

supertouch_sl

shitlord
1,858
3
There's obviously no way to measure this, but I wouldn't dismiss the idea that the players are no longer responding his managing. This looks exactly like Boston's 2011 meltdown and we all know the "clubhouse issues" they were experiencing. On top of that, he's probably the worst in-game manager in baseball. He's simply not competent enough to manage a team that relies heavily on pitching and defense. I mean he keeps putting Robbie Ross in against lefties for fuck's sake.
 

Man0warr

Molten Core Raider
2,265
171
Are you serious? After the two big losing streaks this year - he had a 30-45min closed door meetings and after both meetings they went on huge win streaks to reclaim the AL West (last time the streak had them 6 games up on Oakland).

He can't have closed door meetings every time they are slumping or they WILL stop listening to him.

Being able to handle the clubhouse and egos is much more important than in-game management - he has assistants to help make those decisions. He might cost you one game a year trusting his gut on some decision - most of baseball teams performance is completely on the players.
 

Uber Uberest

rdr^2
<Bronze Donator>
2,720
2,340
No he didn't. As proven by this years team. Beckett and Crawford poisoned that locker room. Lester and Lackey alone look like they've lost 20lbs a piece.

Please, stop posting like you know anything about Boston sports.
 

Muurloen

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
14,026
40,051
Anytime I read/hear ranger fans argue with themselves, I always think of a cripple fight is about to break out.

rrr_img_43348.jpg
 

Duppin_sl

shitlord
3,785
3
No he didn't. As proven by this years team. Beckett and Crawford poisoned that locker room. Lester and Lackey alone look like they've lost 20lbs a piece.

Please, stop posting like you know anything about Boston sports.
Stop posting like you know anything about any sports.
 

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
14,791
7,565
Managers don't actually matter much in MLB.
Most wrong statement in any sports forum in FOH history. Impressive. The Giants wouldn't be the same team without Bruce Bochy. The Reds would also be running away with the NL Central if it wasn't for Dusty Baker.

Also.

rrr_img_43351.jpg
 

Duppin_sl

shitlord
3,785
3
Wellllll...

It's not that managers don't matter, but we have absolutely zero idea how to measure their impact. We can sortof guess at the impact of ingame decisions, but that's relatively minor.

The things that managers do that are likely to matter most, we don't know very much about; the day to day managing of egos and knowing how to effectively teach and manage guys who make way, way more money than you do.
 

Sebudai

Ssraeszha Raider
12,022
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Most wrong statement in any sports forum in FOH history. Impressive. The Giants wouldn't be the same team without Bruce Bochy. The Reds would also be running away with the NL Central if it wasn't for Dusty Baker.
I'm sorry if it's the first time you've heard it, but it's not a particularly controversial opinion. Look into it yourself. There's literally academic papers on the subject.

I mean, feel free to disagree, but your hyperbole is ridiculous.
 

SimSimSalabim

Molten Core Raider
874
351
Joe Maddon begs to differ. Managers definitely matter, I highly doubt the Rays would average 90 wins over the last 6 years (17 games left this year) with Larry Rothschild still as manager.
 

Duppin_sl

shitlord
3,785
3
Uh, they've significantly upgraded their talent, and that makes a hell of a lot more difference than a manager. I say that as someone who likes the Tampa Bay org and Joe Maddon a lot.
 

Tarrant

<Prior Amod>
16,146
9,615
Most wrong statement in any sports forum in FOH history. Impressive. The Giants wouldn't be the same team without Bruce Bochy. The Reds would also be running away with the NL Central if it wasn't for Dusty Baker.

Also.

rrr_img_43351.jpg
Oh Sparky Anderson, what a great individual. I miss that dude.
 

SimSimSalabim

Molten Core Raider
874
351
Uh, they've significantly upgraded their talent, and that makes a hell of a lot more difference than a manager. I say that as someone who likes the Tampa Bay org and Joe Maddon a lot.
I wouldn't try to argue Joe Maddon as being the primary reason for the turnaround, definitely not more important than the upgraded roster, But I have no reason to believe he doesn't make a significant difference.

Sure, you can definitely make more of a correlation to all of the talent from their high draft picks entering their prime and making a difference. But the only mainstays in the lineup over those 6 years are Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist. In the pitching staff its just David Price, since they sent Shields for Myers. The bullpen? completely different every 2 years. They've had like 4 or 5 different primary closers over that time? Made Rafael Soriano a rich man, then revived Rodney's career. They've never had a good hitting catcher, they've never had a good hitting short stop, they've never had an every day right fielder. They constantly move players around to get the most out of their talent, and that has a lot to do with front office and manager's ability to know players strengths/weaknesses and put them in the best situations.