Good news Rays fans, Kevin Cash is rising the ranks, up to 9th from 15th on nbcsports.com’s list of most handsome managers, per Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Apparently winning agrees with him. There’s not much action around the league here on the morning of Christmas Eve, clearly, but MLBTR will be here throughout the holiday season to keep your baseball appetite sated. For now, let’s check in with the Baltimore Orioles…
- It’s a slow burn offseason for the Orioles and new decision-maker Mike Elias, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The new Executive VP and GM has tempered expectations since taking over last month, but even after checking the first box on his to-do list in bringing new manager Brandon Hyde over from the Cubs, player acquisition remains on the backburner. Given that Elias wasn’t installed until the offseason was already underway, it’s a good sign that Baltimore seems focused on the organizational recalibration of a new regime. The work of installing new operations and philosophies organization-wide isn’t sexy work, and it doesn’t produce much fodder to keep fans interested, but as Kubatko notes, it’s more pressing than roster construction at this juncture for the Orioles.
- That said, the additions they have made aren’t wholly irrelevant, not for a team likely to give extended tryouts to younger players at the major league level: Richie Martin, 24, is a former first rounder who hit .300 his second time through Double A last season, Drew Jackson, 25, spiked his power output to .196 ISO as he, too, repeated Double A, and Rio Ruiz, 24, has struggled at the major league level, but he’s also a known commodity for Elias, who drafted him with the first pick in the fourth round in his first season in Houston. Granted, there’s always a little smoke and mirrors when a player’s production jumps the second time through a level, and in Ruiz’s case, it’s hard to tell the difference between familiarity as a positive and sentimentality. Still, though it may not seem like much, some of Theo Epstein’s first moves in Chicago were taking Hector Rondon in the Rule 5 draft and trading for a player he’d previously drafted who had struggled to that point in the big leagues. That’s not to say Ruiz will turn into Anthony Rizzo – Rizzo was a highly touted prospect prior to his struggles in San Diego whereas Ruiz was a waiver claim – but these minor moves always have the potential to snowball into something more, and they’re the right kind of gambles for Elias and his team to be making barely a month into their Baltimore tenure.
This was a weird blog
Structurally yes.
glad Cash’s Ruffalo-esque looks are finally being appreciated on this site
How does Mike Elias pronounce his name? When I read it I go back and forth between E-LEE-us and eh-LIE-us. Anybody from that media market have any helpful info?
I believe it is L-E-US.
they pronounced it e-LIE-us at his introductory press conference link to youtube.com
And if he played hockey it would be ehl-EE-ahsh like Patrik…
Polish Hammer, thats how I read it everytime.
Same
As an O’s fan who’s heard him introduced at numerous press conferences, it is pronounced E-Lie-Us.
Gotta feel bad for Orioles fans, at least for 2019… From everything I’m reading, a GOOD season would be anything less than 100 losses. Just for the sake of a once mighty franchise, I hope they can turn it around more sooner than later.
The Orioles did it to themselves. Their refusal to attack the IFA market has put them in a bind.
I get the reasoning behind why they don’t attack the IFA market- higher percentage of players not panning out compared to the draft, but taking chances on IFAs pays dividends at some point.
Completely agree that they did it to themselves… 2019 is a little late to consider moving into the 21st century. Still, gotta feel bad for the fans.
For us? We had a good run, but I for one am glad to see us restructuring things again rather than repeating 2017 or 2018, which were clearly desperate gasps from a franchise that were past their window of contention. If it takes another 3-5 years that’s fine with me, so long as they do it right and have another window of 3-5 years after that that they can compete for.
A good season for the Orioles is to finish last.
At least this time they’d be losing for a reason, instead of just failing over and over
Orioles offseason (which I always follow carefully) has been very exciting. It’s a long haul but they’re doing the work and it’s been quite engaging to follow.
Great hire and direction for the franchise thus far. I’d be upset if we were making any headline moves right now. Build through the draft and waiver wire pick ups/trades once a few of them pan out.
Being an Astros fan, I’ll be rooting for Elias to resurrect a once proud franchise like the Orioles, not only because he will always be one of us, but I know first hand what it’s like to root for a team in the same situation.
Same here on both.
Thank you. Genuinely. It hasn’t been easy.
Slow news day huh?
There’s not much action around the league here on the morning of Christmas Eve, clearly, but MLBTR will be here throughout the holiday season to keep your baseball appetite sated.
Least MLBTR can admit it.
Sad, that this is a thing.
I dunno, I think the handsome manager ranking is kind of funny. Counsell’s description alone is worth the read.
and written by a Craig too.
They can ride together.
Sooo…you’re telling us Mark thinks Kevin’s handsome? Here’s a better idea since it’s slow. Post some of the games greatest players stats. I’m a Reds fan, and I watched Willie May’s at Riverfront shaggin balls in RF behind his back as a coach during BP when I was a kid. I went home and studied the back of his baseball card…it was astounding the numbers he put up…if it’s ok with Kevin and Mark…
Counterpoint: let’s go position-by-position and figure out who the most attractive players are.
Have to limit it to top three active at each position. Too much info to sort through for every position all-time but I love the idea
I’m sorry, but how is Aaron Boone 5th on the handsome managers list? Fifth?? Cash and Woodward are definitely both more handsome than Aaron Boone.
I care too much about this…
Yeah, I feel like the rankings were skewed by team quality. Boonie isn’t even top half.
That was my exact thought. I would think Cash would be near the top. Has to be due to team performance and media visibility
As a Braves fan I was sad to see Rio go. Especially since he was released. A change of scenery may do him good.
How is the underwear model (Gabe) not #1? LOL! This is one of the most ridiculous ranking ever penned into an article.
I never hear of this ad so I googled & looked. I feel violated.
It is a little odd a woman did not write this. I’m not homophobic. A man, homosexual and heterosexual, can make a ranking like this.
Maybe it’s better for someone who isn’t attracted to the gender to write something like that. Feels less like objectifying that way
You probably ARE homophobic because you think it’s “odd” that a man wrote the piece.
Much of the time, when people say “I’m not [type of bigot],” it is immediately before or after a bigoted remark.
This is a disgrace. I demand that Bruce Bochy be reinstated to his rightful position as the ugliest manager in baseball. Fire the other three, if you must.
He looks better than he did 5-6 years ago. And no way should Francona be #16. High 20s at least.
**swoon**
I’m waiting for the “Ugliest Manager in MLB History” article.
I’ll nominate Joe Torre…
And that’s the article!
Regarding Charlie Montoyo being ranked last: “I know that may seem harsh. And I really hate to do it to a new manager.”
Uh, no you don’t. Who is this list for, Kevin Millar, and all the dudes he likes to talk about showering with every single day on IT? Ranking baseball managers by their looks would have been completely unnecessary if we stopped at a top 10, but to rank them down to the ugliest is just gratuitous.
Aren’t we past this? Imagine if a “respectable” publication ranked female tennis players, for example, based on beauty. Instead of stopping at just the most attractive, they made sure to include the absolute ugliest–and then apologized for it as if somebody else made them do it. NBC News would have so much heat for body shaming, etc. That is, unless they prefer to be known for clickbait, rather than quality sports writing.
Well said!
Don’t look now, but NBC News has become a cross between People magazine and The National Enquirer…….and has been for years.
that article is embarrassing. Why is it even a thing to discuss most handsome manager? I don’t care. Just don’t mismanage my bullpen and you’ll be the prettiest manager of them all. News nowadays scares me.
NBC. Enough said.
Don Zimmer = handsomest manager of all-time
why not Cabrera