Yesterday I offered up the opinion that the best way for the
Mets to go in their quest for a new manager was to identify a successful minor
league manager who has not yet had a major league gig (including current coaches
on other clubs who may have been “the man” in the minors but serve in a
supporting role to the manager at the big league level).
Anyone paying attention to that article saw I hinted at that
very thing in-house for the Mets with a “Fonzie” baseball cap. The problems regarding Edgardo Alfonso are
two-fold. First, it’s been said (and I
can neither confirm nor deny) that despite having been in the USA for many
years now, his language skills are not what they might want for someone who’s
going to have to face the big league press after every game. In the minors it’s more about communicating
with the players, motivating them and developing skills. In the majors it’s more of an entertainment
business with the presumption that the skills are already there on the big
league roster and that cheerleading won’t move the needle much in the won-loss
column.
The other issue for Fonzie is the fondness and regard fans
have for his tenure in a Mets uniform.
He was part of the “greatest infield ever” and transformed himself from
a singles/doubles hitter into a genuine power threat. He moved all around the infield as the needs
arose and when he left New York he took out a full page newspaper ad to thank
the fans for all they meant to him.
Would the Mets want to skewer him and tarnish all that good will when
the day comes to fire him?
So if the in-house option doesn’t necessarily fit, how about
going outside for someone who doesn’t have that fan history but does have a
track record of winning? Are we ready
for another Mickey? No, not Callaway,
this time it would another story altogether --
Mickey Storey.
Well, for those of you who are not fans of the Somerset
Patriots where he played locally in 2015 before a mid-season pickup by the Dodgers (who subsequently released
him), Storey had a brief career. He
started out pitching (yes, another Mickey pitcher-turned-manager) for the Oakland
organization before being traded to the Houston Astros. He made his major league debut in August of
2012 and finished the season with a 3.86 ERA out of the bullpen.
After that season it was a whirlwind of highs and lows for Storey. He was claimed by the Yankees on waivers in
November, but DFA’d 10 days later. The
Astros grabbed him back in December but then a mere 11 days later he was DFA’d
for the second time that winter. The
Blue Jays picked him up and over the next two season he rode the shuttle
between Toronto and Buffalo where the Blue Jays have their AAA affiliate. Injuries plagued his career and he ended it
before age 30.
In 2018 the Astros reached out to him and offered him the
managerial gig for the A-ball Quad City River Bandits where the rookie manager
went about 30 games over .500. That
earned him a promotion to head up the Astros' AAA Round Rock Express where he did it
again!
Now the Astros are regarded as one of the brightest organizations
in all of baseball and have turned themselves into perennial contenders. Rather than bottom feeding by reaching out to
guys from losing organizations or people who have been out of affiliated baseball
for 12 years (sound familiar?), hiring the 33-year-old Mickey Storey would be
the kind of brash and bold move that has thus far been the hallmark of Brodie
Van Wagenen’s career in the front office.
He’d cost nothing. Most clubs won’t stand in the way of someone
on their payroll having an opportunity to move up elsewhere. If not him, he’s the model for the kind of
guy the Mets should be pursuing.
5 comments:
That would make quite the Storey, wouldn’t it?
Reese,
Typical great post. After all that has been said, I still like Fonzie. However, your suggestion is a good one. I see the Astros minor league players come through here in Troy, NY. Their team is (except for this year) always strong on fundamentals and always near the top of the league. Also, in AAA last year, Round Rock stole 143 bases second only to Omaha in the PCL. They were also second in walks and tied for the league lead in on base %. In other words they valued getting players on and getting them over, aspects the MLB Mets need.
I still like the guy we have in-house, who is better - prepped. He's managed in our system very successfully for years, most recently at Bingo, and last year was brought to Flushing as "quality-control coach" (whatever that is).
He knows all the players on the current roster, and has managed most of the kids in the minors. Brodie and Jeff have had plenty of time to get to know him and evaluate his work.
He's the son of Felipe Alou, brother of Moises, though for some reason has a different last name.
My vote goes to Luis Rojas.
Of he can handle media duties, then he could work, too.
Thanks, John. I'm like a broken clock that is right occasionally.
I got confused.
Thought you were writing about Drew.
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