1. A Manager Is Just Another Chew Toy for Pit Bull Loria
Everyone knows managers are hired to be fired. But in Miami, they’re not just fired; they’re sliced, diced, pureed, pulsed, chopped, whipped, crushed, frappe’d and blended too.
So here comes new Marlins manager Dan Jennings, one of the game’s most respected talent evaluators, in Miami’s craziest move yet.
This actually is a demotion for Jennings, who comes downstairs from the executive office, where he was vice president and general manager. Not since Jack McKeon—sound familiar, Marlins fans?—with the San Diego Padres from 1988 to 1990 has someone served as both manager and general manager in the majors. (Yes, that is a bit of sarcasm. Demotion, yes, but Jennings will retain his VP title, and the Marlins say he will have the same input in the construction of the team.)
Jennings is a lifetime talent evaluator who is credited with signing and developing, among others, Josh Hamilton, James Shields, Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli during his seven-plus seasons as Tampa Bay’s director of scouting before leaving for the Marlins.
And as he himself said during Monday morning’s press conference, “It is out of the box. I will not deny that.”
You think?
Here is just one of the 3,000 reasons this organization is laughable and you can’t believe anything it says: Club president David Samson and president of baseball operations Michael Hill spoke at length Monday about how the Marlins needed “a new voice.”
So the “new voice” is a guy from the front office who has had a hand in building/maintaining this team all along?
This is not a new voice.
This is an old tale.
Owner Jeffrey Loria is George Steinbrenner on training wheels, blowing through managers like Kleenex.
Since 2010, the Marlins have employed seven: Fredi Gonzalez, Edwin Rodriguez, Brandon Hyde (0-1 as interim in 2011), Jack McKeon, Ozzie Guillen, Mike Redmond and now Jennings.
Loria is paying three managers this summer alone: Guillen, who is in the final year of the four-year, $10 million deal he signed to manage the Marlins before the 2012 season, Redmond and Jennings.
Try as he might with moon shot after moon shot, slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who hit a ball completely out of Dodger Stadium and pounded the three longest homers in the majors last week, cannot outdistance this circus. Since this managerial Wheel of Misfortune started in earnest in 2010, Stanton has played for an average of 1.17 managers per season.
Jennings is immensely popular throughout the industry, an old-time baseball man, a good guy, good sense of humor, beloved by many.
But you already know how this story is going to end: with stains on Jennings and, if he’s not careful, knives from Loria and Samson in his back. And the fact that nobody from the Marlins even bothered to thank Redmond at Monday’s press conference for his effort and for some of the good things he’s done…it’s just reprehensible.
“I will tell you even my mom, whom I love, asked me, ‘Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?'” Jennings joked.
Sadly, Ma Jennings, maybe you don’t want to know the answer.
2. All-Underachieving Team
It’s mid-May. These guys have to turn it around soon…don’t they?
First base: Albert Pujols, Angels. Not only does he have a relatively pedestrian six homers and 14 RBIs, but he also entered the week hitting .231 with a .283 on-base percentage and a .403 slugging percentage, which ranked 20th among qualifying MLB first basemen. For the bargain price of $24 million this year.
Second base: Chase Utley, Phillies. Though Philadelphia is starting to play a little better, Utley is slogging along at .138/.214/.241. Glory days—they’ll pass you by in the wink of a young girl’s eye.
Shortstop: Jimmy Rollins, Dodgers. Utley’s former double-play partner did go 4-for-5 against the Rockies on Friday and by this week had boosted his slash line all the way up to .196/.277/.348. Though the Dodgers own the second-best record in the National League, fans nevertheless are beginning to wonder when phenom Corey Seager, 21, will be ready (he’s hitting .281/.324/.344 at Triple-A Oklahoma City). Oh, and one other thing about Rollins: “It’s mesmerizing how many plays he takes off at shortstop,” one scout says.
Third base: Josh Harrison, Pirates. Harrison was an All-Star last summer who finished ninth in NL MVP voting. He was awarded with a four-year, $27.3 million deal last month that could be worth $50 million if all of the options are exercised. The emergence of Harrison caused the Pirates to bump Pedro Alvarez over to first base, but Harrison’s encore so far is not helping raise too many Jolly Rogers.
Catcher: Chris Iannetta, Angels. One of the majors’ finest offenses from a year ago is a late starter this summer. Iannetta is hitting .123/.217/.137.
Left field: Melky Cabrera, White Sox. The Sox had a very good week and look like they are making their move. It will become much easier for them once Cabrera, slugging a career-worst .296, heats up.
Center field: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates. How rough has it been for Cutch? Not that his painfully slow offensive start is driving him batty, but he’s admitted to talking to his bat while trying to get going. Easiest prediction of the year: When the season’s over, Cutch will be hitting far above his current .233/.331/.383.
Right field: Carlos Beltran, Yankees. It’s clear the Yankees signed him a year too late, but that .271 on-base percentage really stands out. Beltran’s career OBP: .355.
Designated hitter: Victor Martinez, Tigers. I’m grading on a curve here, as Martinez missed most of spring training following knee surgery. So he started behind, and he’s going to catch up. But through his first 33 games, one homer and .224/.317/.280 is a rough start.
Starting Pitcher: Taijuan Walker, Mariners. So many people were on Seattle’s bandwagon this spring (yes, my hand is raised as well), and part of that is because the pitching was in place behind King Felix Hernandez. But Walker (1-4, 7.22 ERA) has been a colossal dud so far. “I saw him this spring and thought he would win the Cy Young Award,” one scout says. Ugh.
Closer: Steve Cishek, Marlins. There are many reasons this team is off to a disappointing start and Redmond is an ex-manager. Cishek’s blowing four of his first seven save opportunities is a very large one.
3. Where It Turned Around for the Nationals
The Nationals have become the club we all thought they would be, ripping off 15 wins in their past 19 games heading into this week. And if Matt Williams’ team is playing deep into October this autumn, circle April 28 and 29 on your calendar as the dates it all turned around.
Yes, part of their slow start was because Jayson Werth, Denard Span and Anthony Rendon all opened the season on the disabled list (Rendon is still out). But that slow start ended for good not only when Washington stormed back from a 9-1 deficit against the Atlanta Braves to win 13-12 on April 28 but also when the Nats closed that series by winning 13-4 the next day.
“That game in Atlanta, I never said after any regular-season game, ‘This game means a lot,'” ace Max Scherzer told B/R over the weekend. “But when we had that great comeback and then won again the next day, that’s what got it going. Those two games. You can’t take one.
“That was one of the best regular-season wins I’ve ever been a part of. It was a cloud-nine moment, and I didn’t even play.”
4. The Long and Short of It
Talk to nearly anyone in the game, and the answer is just about unanimous: Nationals’ right-hander Tanner Roark is the best “sixth man” going (meaning the next starter up after a five-man rotation). He would be a part of any rotation in the game, except where he is—in Washington.
The Nationals know how good they have it too. Pitching coach Steve McCatty was still teasing Roark the other day about his numbers from Arizona last Wednesday: The tall right-hander worked 1.2 innings in relief, threw 49 pitches, surrendered three hits, walked two…and didn’t allow a run.
“I’ve never seen that before,” McCatty says.
Just the latest example of Roark the Magician.
5. You Want Out of the Box? This Is Out of the Box
So Cubs manager Joe Maddon canceled batting practice before Friday’s day game following Thursday night’s 6-5 win over the Mets.
Result? The Cubs outslugged the Pirates 11-10 in 12 innings.
Of course.
“I think it’s the most overrated thing we do,” Maddon said of batting practice before the game at Wrigley Field. “On a daily basis, we swing the bat way too often. I don’t know what the genesis of that was. If I had to nail it down, the ’80s—the early ’80s—when hitting coaches became more prominent and all this teaching became more prominent, batting practice became a longer exercise.
“And extra batting practice and hitting off tees and hitting in cages and swinging and swinging and swinging, and I think it can be counterproductive. I think guys can hit themselves right through feel. You can be feeling really well, and my point is if you do it too often, you get to the point where you lose that feel.”
6. Error: Colorado general manager Jeff Bridich
Regarding the ongoing (and endless) debate over whether the Colorado Rockies are going to trade Troy Tulowitzki or should trade Tulowitzki (the answer is yes, by the way), Bridich is taking the old blame-the-messenger route.
“Most of the media likes to create news,” he told reporters, via the Los Angeles Times.
He also told MLB Network Radio’s Jim Bowden it was media speculation.
Timeout here, because that’s a load of bunk.
This all started last week when Tulowitzki’s agent, Paul Cohen, told the New York Post on the record that he planned to meet with Tulo to discuss whether to ask for a trade.
“To say that is not a possibility would be silly,” Cohen said.
That is not media speculation.
That is an agent and a superstar steaming down the tracks together like a locomotive. And even though Tulowitzki backed off later in the week, this story isn’t going away.
7. Weekly Power Rankings
1. Bryce Harper: If he stays off the disabled list, you are looking at the NL MVP.
2. Mad Men: I’d like to buy the world a Coke…but only after Harper’s next at-bat is finished!
3. Giancarlo Stanton: Ka-BOOM!
4. Adrian Beltre and Miguel Cabrera: Messrs. 400. Welcome to the club. Now…is Beltre a Hall of Famer?
5. B.B. King: Farewell to a legend. And it is so awesome that back in the day, Will “The Thrill” Clark greeted callers with an answering machine message featuring King’s “The Thrill Is Gone.” Perfect then; touching now.
8. Shelby Miller Joins the So-Close Club
One out away from a no-hitter Sunday against the Marlins, all Atlanta’s right-hander got was some dugout high-fives, some “attaboys” and a place on this list:
9. Please Don’t Shout ‘Fire!’ in a Crowded Stadium
Did you see that the smokestack in Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark caught fire during a game last week against the San Francisco Giants? And they played on without a delay.
9a. Rock ‘n’ Roll Lyric of the Week
One reason I will take the Rolling Stones over the Beatles (no offense, love the Beatles too) is because the Stones soaked themselves in the blues early on. And B.B. King always said he got on his knees and thanked them because that is one reason King and others remained popular—because legends like the Stones paid homage. Sleep well, Mr. King.
“Well, there’s one kind of favor I’ll ask of you
There’s just one kind of favor I’ll ask of you
You can see that my grave is kept clean
And there’s two white horses following me
And there’s two white horses following me
I got two white horses following me
Waiting on my burying ground”
— B.B. King, “See That My Grave is Kept Clean”
Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.
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