Kuzul

This week, the Seattle Mariners rebuffed fan demands and shunned fan favorite Bobby Valentine in favor of former Cleveland manager Eric Wedge.    

Perhaps it’s not the end of the world, because the last time the fans had a favorite, it was for the bench-riding, manager-in-waiting Joey Cora of the Chicago White Sox. Not exactly a household name known for multiple pennants, and not someone other teams have jumped to hire, Cora is known more for cute pins on his baseball cap than his management prowess. 

In Seattle, most fans feel they know more about hiring baseball managers than the Mariners‘ team management does.  

Long-suffering Seattle fans have been very patient with their sports teams, but that patience seems to be wearing thin if initial reactions to the hiring of Eric Wedge is any indication.  Most were aghast with worry, with some older fans still gnashing their teeth at the bad-luck loss of the beloved and cherished Lou Piniella nearly a decade ago.  Nobody seemed to be in a mood for parades or celebrations.   

Yes, we all giggled at the press conference yesterday, with all the witty comments made by kiss-up pundits.  

Yes, we patted Chuck and Howard on the back and thanked them for saving baseball in Seattle and their wonderful two decades of stellar leadership.  

Yes, we acknowledged the seven years of Cleveland bliss under Eric Wedge.  

Yes, we heard all of the futuristic comments of what winning will be like. 

But nevertheless, fans clearly are not buying the sales pitch like they have in years past.

Now I gotta admit, neither was I, which is very odd because normally I’m such a positive guy budding with optimism.  When a used car salesman tells me “this car was driven by an old lady to church”  in spite of the clearly tampered-with odometer on the dented 1973 Dodge Dart, I celebrate!   

When Bill Clinton said he “did not have sexual relations with that woman” and that he used the cigar for smoking and not for—well, you know—I believed Bubba. 

When George W said the “Mission was Accomplished” and the troops would soon be home soon and the world was saved from unsavory terrorists with WMDs, I believed that too! 

When Obama promised the new health care bill would cover everyone in this country and possibly others for “not a dime more than we’re now spending,” I was so very happy!    

Why? Because I am an optimist. That’s just how I am. I believe what most people tell me.

But with this new managerial change for the Mariners, like most fans, I’m finding myself just a tad bit skeptical.   Perhaps it’s because I’ve heard this so many times before? 

Half a dozen times since Lou, we Seattle fans have been told the same thing: that the losing days of old are gone, that the culture will be changed, that this is the guy who will lead us out of the wilderness and into the promised land of milk and honey and World Series rings.

Yesterday, the mystified Mariner management seemed dumbfounded over public skepticism. “Why would they not trust us, we of incredible baseball wisdom long since demonstrated?” And as radio hosts and newspaper columnists danced on tables and were downright giddy over the Eric Wedge hiring, we fans…not so much. There was a muted suspicion of being conned once again, with most fans saying they would wait to pop the corks until they saw what this guy actually did. No, they were not pronouncing judgment of impending doom, but they weren’t caught up in yesterday’s hoopla either.  

Now why would fans be skeptical?  Well, let’s take a look at the press conferences of the last seven managers hired and you might see a pattern:

On November 16, 2002, the Mariners hired 41-year-old Bob Melvin, saying “We think we’ve got a real gem in Bob, as you’ll all learn when you get to know and respect him. He’s going to bring us a winning team and a championship.” 

The local press speculated that Melvin was more even-tempered than the fiery Piniella. Mariners chairman Howard Lincoln said, “He brings to this position not only baseball expertise but high energy, good judgment, intelligence, leadership and communication skills.” Others noted that since he was a catcher and was so much younger than Lou, he would communicate better with the players.  

Less than two years later they fired him.

On October 20, 2004, the Mariners announced the signing of Mike Hargrove, who had led the Cleveland Indians past the Mariners in the 1995 ALCS. 

Mariner management said, “We went for an impact manager, one who can have immediate success on the field.” Others wrote that Hargrove “is saltier, a more savvy figure than Melvin, more along the lines of Lou Piniella, who will be the gold standard for all subsequent Mariners managers.” Still others penned, “As with Piniella, he sees season-long clubhouse management as his top priority.” 

Turns out Hargrove shared one other trait with Piniella.  He was burned out, tired of managing, and thus drove out of town in a red pickup during an eight-game winning streak on July 1, 2007.

Hargrove was succeeded by 55-year-old John McLaren, who the Mariners were again very optimistic about.   Upon accepting the job, McLaren said, “I am really looking forward to the challenge of taking over this club and continuing to build on what Mike has established here. When I came back I said I wanted to be a part of taking this team to the postseason, and back to what our fans expect and deserve. That’s still the case. My focus, and the focus of every one of my coaches is to help these players achieve what they are capable of, and that’s getting this team back to the postseason.”

McLaren had managed in the Toronto minor league system for eight years prior to working as a major league coach. He made his managerial debut with Medicine Hat in the Pioneer League in 1978. He guided Kinston to the first half title in 1981 and managed Southern League Championship clubs in 1984 and 1985. He was named Co-Manager of the Year in the Southern League in 1985. 

But on June 19, 2008, he too was fired by the Seattle Mariners, replaced by Jim Riggleman. 

What did the Mariners say about Riggleman when he got the job? “Jim’s going to bring what we think is a different style than Mac had.  Just the depth and breadth of his experience and how he presents himself.  We’re happy to have Jim!” Others in the community wrote, “He’s a pretty standard-issue manager. It’ll be a huge improvement in terms of consistent lineups and bullpen usage.”  

But apparently experienced standard-issue managers were also not what the Mariners wanted, and he too was fired at the end of the same season, replaced by then 45-year-old and relative unknown Don Wakamatsu.

Wak had no major league experience as a manager.   He had spent five years as a bench coach and third-base coach in Texas, then one year as bench coach for the A’s before Seattle called.  He had never managed above Double-A prior to the Mariners hiring him.  In fact, none of the six candidates interviewed by the Mariners had big league experience as managers.

Nevertheless, pundits exclaimed how Wakamatsu was the first Asian-American manager in major league history, and how he was the first significant hire in the new era of new general manager Jack Zduriencik. The New York Times wrote a special article celebrating how his family had overcome unjust internment during World War II and noted his heritage.

Wakamatsu himself said, “I welcome the challenge here to bring a world championship to Seattle and the fans of the Mariners” and added that “communication and leadership will be key and this will carry over to the team.”

Observers, mostly quite pleased with the hire, noted that the Mariners had a league-worst offense in 2008 and that Wak “had a daunting task to reverse the culture and performance of a team that last season became the first to lose 100 games with a $100 million payroll.” 

In his first year as Mariners manager, the team put up 85 victories, of which a MLB season-high 35 were one-run triumphs, as well as 13 walk-off wins.   Everyone was optimistic and giddy. 

During the spring of this past year, general manager Jack Zduriencik gushed about his own confidence in the Mariners’ clubhouse culture.  “Don Wakamatsu lets players be themselves, and the veteran Ken Griffey Jr. keeps teammates loose with biting humor and nearly nonstop commentary on everything that crosses his line of vision.”

Don Wakamatsu was fired this past August 9th because of the clubhouse culture.  This month team philosophy apparently reversed once again, and now is focused only on experienced managers with a depth of big league experience, according to the same yet unhired Joey Cora.   The Seattle Mariners have settled on Eric Wedge in spite of wailing from the fans yearning for the four decades of experience offered by Bobby Valentine.

Yesterday at the press conference, questions were fired off by hundreds by writers and TV personalities, all skippy and happy (or at least putting on a good act). Optimism was flowing. We the fans are told we should jump for joy over this wonderful new hire for the Seattle Mariners. Things will change. You’ll see. This time it will be different!

Yes, and perhaps that flat-white, dented Dodge Dart did actually only have 10,000 miles on it.

But with a league-worst offense and a spotty pitching staff, surrounded by bad-attitude underperforming free agents with multi-year contracts, this team again looks to be in trouble, and no manager is going to change that without serious help from the front office.   Like years past, and it probably wasn’t a manager issue in the first place.  

Perhaps the team is cursed by a field built over an ancient burial site? 

Whatever the problem is with baseball in this city, I wouldn’t bet your house on the Seattle Mariners going to the World Series with Eric Wedge at the helm.  And I’m sorry if that sounds negative and pessimistic, but we’ve been down this road six times since Lou.

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Yesterday the Seattle Mariner front office garnered similar fan enthusiasm for their latest choice to manage the team, as one might find at an exciting university lecture on Wave Particle Duality and how that relates to quantum physics.

Lots of snoring, cat-calling, muttering, outright grumbling amidst the masses, scattered with skeptical “who the crap is that??!?

That’s right Seattle sports fans!  Your stellar ownership group has once again opted to rebuff your wants for proven winner Bobby Valentine and his four decades of baseball success, in favor of Cleveland’s cast-off manager and far more dubious Eric Wedge.

Yet another in a series of brilliant public relation moves by your pals Chuck Armstrong and Howard Lincoln!

You would think at this point, given the track record of the past three years, that if Seattle fans wanted Snookie Polizzi and her Jersey Shore cast collegues to manage the team, Mariner management would have obliged!  Given that this ownership team has brought us four managers and two 101 loss seasons during the past three seasons.

Seven managers since Lou Pinella quit abruptly,  with some pundits suggesting this ownership team is difficult to work with and a tad arrogant. From the fan’s perspective, that suggests any one of us could write random names on a tree stump, cast darts at it, and likely come up with a manager who might deliver more wins than what we’ve just seen.

So the “Wedgie” choice is not likely to motivate fan excitement nor higher ticket sales and camping overnight for best seats.  Not until management demonstrates that they know more about these decisions than your average garbage man or beer delivery person.

Seattle fans wanted a man like Bobby Valentine, with a strong personality and a willingness to fight for what he needed.  Fans specifically made clear that they were tired of “yes men” managing the team.  And the larger question is how many more wins will Eric Wedge deliver over what Bobby Valentine would have?  Few believe there would be more wins under Wedge, so why not give the fans what they wanted?

Today, after the announcement, fans were apathetic and irate, assuming more of the same.

How do I know this?

Well, other than the scathing fan remarks from talk shows and comment sections in local newspapers,  Thursday I did my own poll research using roughly the same scientific methods that those polling the Patty Murray/Dino Rossi senatorial race are using.

We just put a question up and let anyone who wanted to, respond, happy to accept multiple votes from the same party.

And with this scientific method, my research indicates that roughly 92.4 percent of Seattle fans insisted on Bobby Valentine managing this team. Over all the other choices. Numbers that Saddam Hussein would be jealous of.

Now the Mariners, being the Mariners, of course did not listen to the fans. They felt it wiser to go with the mostly unknown former Cleveland Indians manager.  And perhaps this is indeed the better choice from a baseball perspective, but Seattle fans are very skeptical.

And this in spite of well-known sports talk hosts and newspaper columnists in Seattle, using the better part of the past few days trying to convince us that this was indeed the best choice available.

Similar arguments, ironically, to those presented at the hiring’s of Del Crandel, Chuck Cottier, Bill Plummer, and Jim Rigglemen.  

Predictably they’re having about as much luck convincing us as McCain & Palin did with the wisdom of the Bush economic policies in 2008.  So pardon me if my enthusiasm wanes, but I, like most Seattle baseball fans, am wondering why the Seattle Mariners fired Don Wakamatsu three months ago if a manager with the same skill set is what this team allegedly needs?

The Mariners claim they want a leader who works well with young players. Exactly the skills former-manager Don Wakamatsu was gifted at.

Interim manager Darren Brown had no better luck managing this team with it’s impotent offense, than Wak did.

Clearly it was never a manager issue.   It was a player decision and talent issue.

So the challenge for those running the Seattle Mariners this offseason will be in convincing skeptical and likely former-season ticket holders, why they should feel any more optimistic over the 2011 version of the Seattle Mariners than what we just saw with the 2010 version.

And at this point, many of us remain unconvinced that these latest moves made any difference whatsoever!

If anything, there is more egg on the faces of those running the organization and less fan confidence.

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As reported by CBSSports.com, the Seattle Mariners have hired former Cleveland manager Eric “The Grinder” Wedge, to replace fired skipper Don Wakamatsu following a 101 loss season.  For a team that has suffered from a chronic case of underachievement, Wedge doesn’t strike me as the antidote.  Furthermore, he doesn’t strike me as the solution to any team’s problems. 

Here are several reasons why.

Slow starting teams: in his entire tenure with Cleveland (7 years), the Indians had only one winning April (2007).  To me, this is an indication of a manager who doesn’t know how to prepare a team for a season during spring training.  Regardless of talent, his teams begin every season flat.  When a team is under .500 and 5+ games out of first by the beginning of May, it’s really tough to make the postseason.

Failure to meet expectations: the three Indians teams that received the highest preseason praise under his tenure were the ’06, ’08 and ’09 squads.  The best record any of those teams had was 81-81 in 08.  Much like the Indians, the Mariners have a history of underachieving, especially in recent years.  Does it seem like a good idea to add an underachieving manager to that mix?

Teams crack under pressure: the best teams Wedge managed (’05 and ’07) both cracked when the pressure was turned up.  In 2005, his team was a shoo-in for the playoffs, until the last week of the season.  The Tribe lost six of their last seven to the Royals, Rays and White Sox and finished two games out of the postseason picture.  The ’07 team had a 3-1 lead in the LCS, with the #1 (C.C. Sabathia) and #3 (Fausto Carmona) pitchers in the Cy Young race scheduled to pitch in games 5 and 6.  They still managed to crack under the pressure and allowed the Red Sox to win the last three games and take the series.  Like Indians fans, Seattle fans put A LOT of pressure on their teams to break through and give their city a winner.  I really doubt a Wedge-led team will be able to handle the pressure.

Bad managerial decisions: offensively, Wedge is a “get some guys on and swing for the fences” manager. This strategy certainly doesn’t fit the talent on the current 25-man roster or the dimensions of Safeco Field.  There is little nuance in his game plan…don’t expect to see stolen bases, hit-and-runs or sacrifices.  Wedge’s handling of his pitching staff is a cause for concern as well.  Jake Westbrook and Cliff Lee spent the early years of their career being bounced back and forth between the rotation and bullpen, making it difficult for them to settle in at the major league level.  In his later years, a similar situation has occurred with lefty Aaron Laffey, who ended up missing the majority of this season with arm fatigue. Fausto Carmona started ’06 as a starter before moving to long relief, set-up, and eventually closer.  After his failure replacing Joe Borowski as closer, he was demoted to AAA and returned to the rotation.

You can chalk this up to sour grapes on the part of a disappointed Indian fan if you want.  Trust me, after several years of the “Grind,” you’ll be ready to run Wedgie out of town on a rail.

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With John Russell gone, the top priority is now on selecting a new, hopefully winning, manager for the team. There are several good candidates, some of whom have strong Pittsburgh ties.

That should not be a litmus test, but could be a useful tiebreaker, if aptitudes are otherwise comparable.

The early favorite is Eric Wedge. He certainly has “ties,” although they’re not necessarily Pittsburgh ties. He worked with Neal Huntingdon when the latter was in Cleveland, which is to say that they’d be reunited. That’s fine, if the Pirates have made a firm decision to keep Huntingdon. But if that’s not the case, and Huntingdon leaves, Wedge might be a misfit.

Another candidate is Phil Garner, who actually was on a World Series winning team, in 1979, which is to say, as a Pirate. He’s now managing the Houston Astros, but reportedly wants to come back to Pittsburgh. Given that he won a National pennant with a normally weakish team, he might be the objectively strongest candidate.

Ken Macha is a native Pittsburgher from Monroeville, who was made available, first by the Oakland A’s, and more recently by the Milwaukee Brewers. Those are borderline winning teams that might represent the Pirates’ “next stop.”  From a professional point of view, he is a “technician” who will execute strategy set by others, and not lock horns with Huntingdon.

Andy Van Slyke and Tony Pena are former Pirate players with managerial experience, although they may be less obviously qualified than some of the others.

Even players should be considered for their Pittsburgh ties, if only because that might make them easier to sign during their free agent years.

We did well to draft Neil Walker, whose father, Tom, was a close friend of the late Roberto Clemente. The father was slated to go on that ill-fated flight with Clemente on New Year’s Eve, but was spared when Clemente refused to let him go.

Likewise, the Pirates should have drafted Kyle Drabek, son of Doug, in 2006, rather than Brad Lincoln. Drabek is a better pitcher than Lincoln, and in addition, has a Pittsburgh tie.

As a “tiebreaker,” it might have made sense to trade for Andy LaRoche in 2008 while his older brother Adam was on staff. But in this case, that wasn’t a good idea because it wasn’t really “close.” Both LaRoches were easily superseded by other, better candidates.

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As of Monday morning, he is out as the Pirates manager. Russell was the third full-time manager since 2001, not counting Pete Mackanin’s stint as interim manager after the departure of Lloyd McClendon.

So, after the Gene Lamonts, the McClendons and the Jim Tracys, who is suitable to manage this team and, dare I say it, turn this mess around?

Here are my op five candidates that I feel the Pirates should look at to fill the position.

1. Tony Pena

I believe Pena is the de-facto candidate for this team. As a matter of fact, he probably should have been manager a long time ago. Pena is very familiar with the organization. He began his career as a catcher with the Bucs in 1980 and was traded prior to the 1986 season in a deal that involved my next candidate.

He is no stranger to turnarounds either. He was hired as the Kansas City Royals manager in 2002. The franchise had been losing since 1994 and it only took Pena until 2003 to get the team over the .500 mark. He has been the first base coach for the New York Yankees since 2007. He even was interviewed for Joe Torre’s vacancy.

2. Andy Van Slyke

How fitting would it be for the favorite player of an entire generation of Pirate fans that have never experienced this team win? Van Slyke still has a deep connection with Pittsburgh as we’ve heard in many interviews over the summer, and has a few years as a first base coach under his belt for Jim Leyland’s Detroit Tigers before not returning as coach after 2009.

I realize that this pick would be a serious risk, but how much worse can the team get? They need someone who preaches defense and Van Slyke has five consecutive Gold Gloves to his credit.

3. Eric Wedge

Wedge was the first favorite in my eyes before I actually did some research. He’s the third-best candidate on my list, but he’s most likely the favorite in the eyes of Neal Huntington. The two do have a history together in the Cleveland Indians organization. Wedge was given the Indians managerial job in 2002, the same year Huntington was named assistant general manager.

Wedge was the Tribe’s skipper all the way up until 2009, when he was given the axe. I still think he was given a bad wrap in the whole thing, but the fact remains that he had that team one win away from winning the American League Pennant. (Yes, I just was overcome with guilt and sadness as I wrote that word.)

It also helps that Wedge was named AL Manager of the Year in 2007. I would be more than happy to see him hired. He wouldn’t be the first coach from Cleveland to bring success to this city.

4. Dale Sveum

Come on, you have to remember Sveum from his playing days here in Pittsburgh. He managed the Pirates Double-A affiliate from 2001-2003, accumulating a record of 213-211. He then was the third base coach for the Boston Red Sox under Terry Francona (who grew up in New Brighton) from 2004-2005. In 2006, Sveum was the Milwaukee Brewers bench coach.

By 2008, he had been promoted to third base coach and served as interim manager after Ned Yost was fired. He was the Brewers manager in the NLDS that year, before the Brewers fell to Philadelphia.

5. Phil Garner

Everyone remembers Ol’ Scrap Iron from the 1979 World Champion Buccos. In his managerial days with the Houston Astros, he led them to two-straight NL Wild Card berths, and a World Series appearance in 2005 where they were swept by the Chicago White Sox.

Did I mention that the Astros had never won a playoff series until they had Garner on the bench as manager?

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In one of the worst seasons in Pittsburgh Pirates history, it was almost fitting that the season ended with a loss—a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Florida Marlins Sunday afternoon.

Along with the loss come the rumors of the possible firing of manager John Russell and that General manager Neal Huntington will be retained.

For a change, I agree with both decisions if they were to happen.

First, Huntington.  He’s done a quality job bringing talent into the organization.  Look at the whole organization now, from the time he took over for Dave Littlefield. For the average players he had to deal, he’s done a fine job of trying to rebuild the Pirates.

The Pirates went from having no prospects four years ago to having the organization flooded with “real prospects.”  He’s drafted great.  He’s gotten involved in international free agents.  he’s doing an overall good job.  When you criticize Huntington, don’t forget he’s got a cheap owner backing him.  The sky isn’t exactly the limit for him.

Sure Huntington has made a couple of mistakes, but his overall track record has been solid.  he deserves the chance to see his guys reach the majors.

Now onto Russell.  The fact is, someone has to be held accountable.  You can make whatever excuses you want for Russell, but the facts are that he didn’t get the job done.  You can say that they traded away all of his players in 2009, but he didn’t win when they were here to begin with either.

Sure, he hasn’t had great talent, but he had to do better then he did.  In three seasons, Russell compiled a record of 186-289.  His .383 winning percentage is ninth worse of all-time.  The names ahead of him?  You don’t know any of them.  All of them managed in the early 1900s or late 1800s.

Other than Roy Hartsfield (.343 winning percentage), who managed the Toronto Blue Jays from 1977-79, Russell is statistically the worst manager in baseball over the past 100 years.  He has to be held accountable for that.

Aside from the wins and losses, there is the lazy demeanor.  I firmly believe that teams take on the personality of their manager.  That is evident in this team, because the Pirates are lazy on the field.  Sure they hustle, but they don’t have the fire to them.

Many people want Russell fired because he doesn’t come out and rant and rave like Lou Piniella would.  I could care less about that. I don’t need a guy that draws attention to himself. 

What I do need, though, is a guy who will stick up for his players, which Russell doesn’t.  How many times do the Pirates pitchers not get the call a couple inches off the plate, but have it go against them when they are batting?  A good manager doesn’t let that happen for 162 games.

Russell, and his staff, also must be held accountable for the lack of fundamentals this team shows.  Sure they are young, but they make far too many fundamental mistakes.  Way too often: the Pirates don’t throw to the right base, miss the cut off man, fail to lay down bunts, can’t hit behind the runner, etc.

Little things win games and the Pirates don’t do them under Russell.

Also, has there ever been a worse base running team then this current Pirates club?  The players didn’t ever get held accountable, so they continued to make the same mistakes over and over again.

The facts are that with all of the promising young talent the Pirates have now and the ones that will be called up in the future, you don’t want them playing for Russell.  There are just too many bad, lazy habits to be learned under Russell and his staff.

Who should replace him?  It’s way too early to tell.  I’ve often dropped names like Phil garner, Willie Randolph, and Bobby Valentine, but none of those guys will want to work for the cheap Bob Nutting.

You have to hire a manager that has won before though.  You need someone who will gain the respect of the players from the first day he’s on the job.  They need a guy to come in and say, “This isn’t the way we play here anymore.”

One name I would like to see here is Freddie Gonzalez.  He has experience managing young players and definitely showed he is a no nonsense type of manager.  he’s also a candidate for both the Cubs and the Braves openings, so the Pirates likely have no chance at him.

Another name to keep an eye on is former Indians manager Eric Wedge.  Sure, things didn’t end well for him in Cleveland, but many people forget that Wedge had a young Indians team only one win away from the World Series.

The problem is that there will likely be over ten managerial openings this upcoming offseason.  None of the qualified candidates are going to want to work for a cheap owner, no matter how promising the young talent on the field is.

Either way, Russell must go and the Pirates absolutely can not make a mistake hiring his replacement.

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Major League Baseball is about to get a serious face-lift on the managerial front this offseason considering that already this regular season there have been five managerial firings. These include Seattle’s Don Wakamatsu, Kansas City’s Trey Hillman, Baltimore’s Dave Trembley, Arizona’s AJ Hinch, and Florida’s Fredi Gonzlez. 

Once this season ends, we won’t see Bobby Cox, still managing the contending Braves, or Lou Pinella, who got a head start on retirement, any longer as a manager. The duo have combined for over 4,300 major league victories, six National League pennants with a pair of World Series titles. 

We can’t forget about Cito Gaston who is managing in his final season with the Toronto Blue Jays and his managing career. Gaston has as many World Series titles (two) as Pinella and Cox. 

Yet as we look upon this season as the Year of the Pitcher how about can we have a standing ovation for the Year of the Manager? This offseason will dictate the future of Major League Baseball for years to come because as many as 10 teams will have probable openings with a few other teams on the bubble depending on the rest of the hirings or firings. That’s nearly three quarters of the entire league, perhaps getting a new manager from Opening Day 2010.

Even though the regular season ends in early October, expect for their to be as much as a handful of managerial moves during the postseason. 

In an earlier article, I wrote about the possible MLB managerial changes this offseason and headlined those teams but a lot has changed and with a month left in the regular season, this can be seen as the update to what’s to come, whose on each teams radar, and the probable choice for the team’s new manager. 

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