In a must win situation tonight, Mets manager Terry Collins is pretty much sticking with the same lineup he used in Games 3 and 4, as Joey Nowak of MLB.com writes. The Mets have been down 3-1 twice in their postseason history and neither series saw a comeback win, but they’re hoping things will be different this time around.
Here’s a look at the NL East:
- A “source aligned with” recently fired ex-Marlins GM Dan Jennings told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that Jennings’ relationship with owner Jeffrey Loria deteriorated because they didn’t see agree on some lineup decisions. The key disagreement, it turns out, had to do with outfielder Marcell Ozuna. While Jennings was “more than eager” to play the 24-year-old (25 in November), Loria was losing confidence in him. The owner also pushed for Ozuna to play in right field rather than center at times because he was out of shape, but Jennings refused and did as he pleased in at least one instance, according to the source.
- Former Mets GM Omar Minaya has his fingerprints all over the current roster and Joel Sherman of the New York Post sat down with him to discuss his impact on the World Series team. When asked about which players have surprised him by making a big impact, the current league exec named Juan Lagares. “We signed [Juan] Lagares as a shortstop [where he mainly played in the low minors from 2006-08] and he was just making too many errors,” said Minaya. “The glove started to impact his bat. He had great athleticism and we had to get him off of shortstop, but you never know if that is going to work. We thought he had the athleticism for center field. His defense was clearly getting to him. He took to center right away, which on one level wasn’t a surprise because we did athletic testing and he was with Jose Reyes and Carlos Gomez as the best. But you really never know how this stuff will go. Obviously, it went well.” Minaya also mentioned right-hander Jacob deGrom, who was mainly a shortstop in college.
- With the Nationals reportedly set to hire Bud Black, Thom Loverro of The Washington Times wonders why Dusty Baker is without a managerial job. While Washington had its reasons to choose Black, Loverro notes that Baker owns an elite managing record while Black is a career losing manager.
What would Baker have done with the lineups and rosters Black had and vice versa? Calling Baker “elite” is a stretch.
it is rather simple, Bud Black has a great reputation with pitchers, while Baker is notorious for burning out mark prior and kerry wood’s arms out when he managed the cubs.
Calling Baker elite in anything, is downright laughable.
That Washington Times article is a joke. Loverro should be ashamed of himself for bringing race into the equation.
Baker is an old school manager who took a hard line against modern analytics. That’s why people are reluctant to hire him. Race has nothing to do with it.
Agreed. If race were really a factor, the Nats obviously would not have hired a “Black” manager.
Anyone using the words “elite” to in any way describe Dusty Baker seriously needs some education.
The guys pre-historic attitude to managing in the modern game is the problem, not his skin colour.
“Walks just clog the bases” etc…
SMH.
Loverro might be the only person wondering why Baker is without a job. He’s too old, too old school and told the media many times, even when unemployed, that he would never use a pitch count, even though it cost the careers of pretty much every stud pitcher he ever managed.
Dusty is a dinosaur. He ravaged arms and scoffs at analytics. Natural selection simply culling the herd. Dusty should be looking into managing his assisted living options.
I’m not saying Dusty Baker deserves another shot, and I like Bud Black and thinks he deserves another shot. I’m also not saying that the Nats made a bad decision. But let’s stop dancing around the real reason Baker, Washington and other managers are not getting a 2nd chance. If Baker was white, he’d have another shot. Don’t believe me? See Buddy Bell. If Black was not white – no pun intended, he would not get another shot. Sorry, I know you guys would just like me to shut up, but I refuse to not be silent about this until Major League Baseball stops this garbage that benefits some and not others. Don’t get mad at me, get mad at MLB. I would love a world where race didn’t matter, but it clearly does to the club’s hiring these managers.
And BTW these Google-boy managers aren’t really that good. Look at all the managers in the playoffs. All of them except Matheny and Hinch had significant experience before getting their current jobs. Matheny benefited from taking over LaRussa as well as his club getting talented players. As for Hinch, there’s only two reasons he led the Astros to the playoffs – Dallas Keuchel and the Angels collapse in August. Had the Angels played .500 ball in August, had they won two more games, they would’ve won the division, Rangers would’ve been 2nd Wild Card, and we’d be talking about the collapse of the Astros.
But forget all that. Just get mad at me for bringing it up and enjoy your kool-aid. Oh, yeah!
So a poor manager should get the nod over a good one just to quell your racial notions?
Which one is POOR manager? The guy with LOSING record? Or the guy with 1600 wins?? It’s FUNNY To me that people give Dusty no credit for winning
C’mon… do you also judge a starting pitcher by the won-loss record?
Another chance? Dusty Baker has been a manager in MLB for 20 seasons with 3 different teams. Turning this into a subject about race is truly disgraceful to the things out there that race does play a part in. Dusty Baker is an average (at best) manager that has had more of an opportunity to manage than thousands of people equally as qualified. Your argument is terrible.
Your argument is terrible. His wins say he is above avg, but he shouldn’t only get credit for his losses, right?? You’re telling that a guy that took a team to the playoffs in his last job, shouldn’t get another shot? But guys with a losing record after 9yrs can get another shot? Give me a beak.
Yes, he has good record. You know why? Because he will ONLY manage teams that are positioned to win now. You could have taken the Cubs and Reds to the playoffs.
So if it’s race, how has he managed for 20(!) seasons? He’s managed for 10% of teams in the world’s best baseball league. He’s been blessed with opportunity beyond belief. But because one employer prefers someone else it’s a race issue!?!? It’s really sad professionals write that garbage to be soaked up by fans.
He’s giving his opinion just like you are giving your opinion. Could be said that YOUR opinion is GARBAGE also. It’s funny how ignorant/insecure people respond with insults when someone says, or writes something that they don’t agree with. Maybe I am responding to you the same way by insisting you are ignorant for expressing YOUR opinion
He’s expressing an opinion with the purpose of stirring controversy. That’s how he has his job, by writing something different than others. There’s a decent chance he doesn’t really believe what he wrote.
If he does feel that strongly about the subject, he should put his effort into areas where this truly is a problem.
Why shouldn’t he get another shot? Last team he managed went to playoffs.
There are literally dozens of “qualified” guys out there for a MLB managing job. I mean, you could make a case for probably a half dozen ex-managers, a dozen AAA managers, another dozen bench coaches, along with pitching coaches and former players, and other miscellaneous coaching jobs on different levels filled by baseball lifers. They all know anything you could want to know about baseball. You never know what particular attributes these executives are looking for when they look to hire a manager, but they aren’t all looking for the same thing. The’re not afraid to try these rookie managers out either, and that’s not just for teams under complete overhaul. Your mention of these inexperienced but successful managers shows that. Sometimes a guy deserves a first shot over someone else getting their second/third. As far as Baker and Wash goes, sure seems to me that Baker and Wash are where they are because of Baker and Wash. Personally, I’d prefer Porter and McClendon get another chance first.
Haha, well instead of talking about the collapse of the Astros how bout those Angels??
How many jobs has baker been a finalist for since the Cubs showed him the door?
The game has more than passed him by.
A sports writer who wonders why dusty isn’t working makes me wonder why that sports writer still has a job.
Terry Francona had a losing record as a manager before he went on to manage the Red Sox to 2 World Championships. Exception to the rule? Perhaps, but with a solid core and one of the best players in the game, maybe Black can put it all together. There’s certainly more examples of this as well, this just quickly comes to mind for me.
It’s silly to focus on a manager’s W-L record without talking at length about the teams he was managing.
There’s some teams that a well-disciplined cocker spaniel could manage to a championship, and some teams so full of babies and/or megalomaniacs that the manager should be awarded an honorary doctorate of psychology for not having half of his team on 72-hour hold by the end of June.
I see Mark Prior and Kerry Wood are still sore spots. If it’s really Dusty Baker’s fault, I can probably find a pitcher every manager ruined.