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10/31/23

Remember1969: Remember's Ramblings

 

New or Used?  What Should I Buy? 

 


Earlier this month I bought just the third brand new car in my almost 50 years of driving and the first one since 1984.  In the last 40 years, I have purchased quite a few “gently used” models that have served me well.  

 

What does this have to do with the Mets you ask?     Well, this is my analogy for the managerial opening.  I have read several fans comments that ‘Now is not the time to hire a brand new (‘new car’) manager without any previous MLB managerial experience’.   This set of people seem to want to go the ‘used car’ route to lead the clubhouse in 2024.

 




With that in mind, it is time to look at the used car lot and see what (who) is available.   I did some quick thinking about it and came up with a dozen or so names before I decided to do the thorough research and find the all of them.    The following is the complete list of 69 names that (a) currently do not have a manager job, (b) have managed in 2011 or later – I disregarded anyone who hasn’t managed in 13 years), (c) are still alive, and (d) are not named Craig Counsell. 

 

Now there are a lot of ways to slice, dice, and sort this list in an attempt to glean out the best candidate, but I will let you readers do that in the comment section.   For now, I will separate the list into just two groups.   The first group is the managers that were considered ‘interim’ at the time and have managed a total of less than 100 MLB games (9 names).  The second group is the other 60.   For whatever reason, I am sorting them in descending order of age.     

I will list each name, their age (as of April 1, 2024), the number of MLB games they have managed, their career winning percentage, and the last year they managed in the big leagues.  

 

For starters, the interim guys:

Don Cooper                        68           2            .500       2011

Tom Lawless                       67           24           .458       2014

Pat Murphy                        65           98           .438       2015

Tony DeFrancesco            60           41           .390       2012

Sandy Alomar, Jr.              57           6            .500       2012

Tony Beasley                       57           48           .354       2022

Tim Bogar                            57           22           .636       2014

Rod Barajas                         48           8            .125       2019

Kai Correa                            35           3             .333       2023


Anybody there you can’t live without?     Tim Bogar, with his lifetime .636 winning percentage, has to be the top priority.

And the rest:

The nona-octo-septua-generians:

Jack McKeon                      92           2042     .515       2011

Davey Johnson                  81           2445     .562       2013

Charlie Manuel                  80           1826     .548       2013

Tony LaRussa                      79           5387     .536       2022

Jim Leyland                         79           3499     .506       2013

Terry Collins                        74           2012     .495       2017

Bobby Valentine                73           2351     .504       2012

Pete Mackanin                  72           518        .438       2017

Jim Riggleman                    71           1630     .445       2018

Ron Washington               71           1275     .521       2014

Joe Maddon                       70           2599     .532       2022

All those guys are too old for my liking, in addition to some of the baggage they have accumulated through the years.  Holy moly . .Davey Johnson is the second oldest ex-manager in this list!    There are probably others (Joe Torre comes to mind) that might be older but haven’t managed since 2010.  

Now the Sixty-somethings:

Ned Yost                              69           2544     .473       2019

Jim Tracy                              68           1736     .493       2012

Brad Mills                            67           445        .384       2012

Paul Molitor                       67           648        .471       2018

Mike Quade                        67           199        .477       2011

Ron Roenicke                      67           733        .499       2020

Buck Showalter                 67           3393     .509       2023

Ron Gardenhire                 66           2480     .484       2020

Kirk Gibson                         66           728        .485       2014

Clint Hurdle                         66           2615     .485       2019

Alan Trammell                     66           489        .382       2014

Terry Francona                  65           3622     .538       2023

Lloyd McClendon             65           1114     .450       2020

Mike Scioscia                      65           3078     .536       2018

Ryne Sandberg                  64           278        .428       2015

Dan Jennings                      63           124        .444       2015

Don Mattingly                   63           1839     .483       2022

Bob Geren                           62           710        .470       2011

Rick Renteria                      62           707        .437       2020

John Farrell                          61           1134     .517       2017

Bryan Price                          61           666        .419       2018

Don Wakamatsu               61           284        .458       2018

Jeff Banister                      60           638        .509       2018

Fredi Gonzalez                   60           1402     .506       2016

Ozzie Guillen                       60           1457     .513       2012

Dale Sveum                        60           336        .399       2013

Walt Weiss                          60           648        .437       2016

Getting younger – the guys still in their fifties that might want a comeback:

Joe Girardi                           59           2055     .545       2022    

Chip Hale                             59           324        .457       2016

Charlie Montoyo              58           472        .500       2022

Matt Williams                     58           324        .552       2015

Robin Ventura                   57           810        .463       2016

Eric Wedge                          56           1620     .478       2013

Manny Acta                        55           890        .418       2012

Mike Shildt                          55           451        .559       2021

Brad Ausmus                     54           808        .478       2019

Mike Matheny                   53           1449     .522       2022

Phil Nevin                            53           268        .444       2023

Mike Redmond                 52           362        .428       2015

Bo Porter                             51           300        .367       2014

And now the relative youngsters – they’ve had a taste but no longer have a job for one reason or another

Mickey Callaway               48           324        .503       2019

Gabe Kapler                        48           867        .526       2023

Chris Woodward              47           498        .424       2022

Andy Green                         46           640        .428       2019

Jayce Tingler                       43           222        .523       2021

Luis Rojas                            42           222        .464       2021

                                          

That is the list.   Is there anyone in there that screams “gotta have him”?     There are quite a few names in there that were highly thought of for a while – remember the hype around Don Wakamatsu and Eric Wedge?    There are some that are still great names, but are voluntarily out (Terry Francona, Dusty Baker).      

If I had to pick 4 from the list to interview, I am not sure I could do it.   Chris Woodward and Jeff Banister were both Rangers managers that were hot for a while – perhaps they have something left?    I always thought Fredi Gonzalez was a good manager – he might be one of the 4.   I sure liked the way Ned Yost had his Royals playing in the 2015 World Series.  He managed baseball like I like it, but at 69, probably a bit too old for today’s game. 

Of the ex-Mets, the ONLY one I would not have an issue coming back to the organization is Luis Rojas.    Mickey Callaway is done through his own doing.   I was actually a fan of his as a manager, not of his character.  Davey J, Terry C and Bobby  V are all on the oldies list and are past peak.  

So from this roster of the ‘used cars’, are there any you would want in the garage?   I think I am buying new this year. 


That is my car, now who will the Mets select as their manager?

Lastly, how the heck did some of these guys get that old?  Paul Molitor is 67?

6 comments:

  1. Wow

    This took some time

    I'm a Counsell guy so I will let others debate this

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice car, indeed, plenty of room to pick up Paul and head down to Citi Field for some games in 2024.

    Wow, that is some list. I’m glad I do not have to make those decisions. Just give me a manager who strongly, but discreetly, encourages his pitchers to retaliate,to help cut Mets’ hitters’ HBPs significantly.

    Counsell would likely be superb, after him, I frankly am not sure.

    Let’s hope the next manager is not a Trick, but rather a Treat.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is a lot of research, and it paid off.

    Heads up to Mr. Cohen - pay what it takes to get Counsell - there is no one else on this list that is close!

    As for people not on this list that have not managed in MLB, there may be some smart, likeable people, but it is a unique experience managing at this level, where players are well compensated and well taken care of. Motivation is a very tricky thing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1969,
    We sat behind the visitors dugout a few times when Tim Bogar was managing his minor league teams. We were impressed with his personal attention he paid his players as they came off the field. Appeared, as best we could determine,to provide individual instruction and correction when mistakes were made. He was very quick to provide praise when an excellent play was made.
    I would like to see him with the Mets in some capacity.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The kidding about the highest winning percentage of any ex-manager aside, I have heard (or read) other good things about Bogar. I was surprised when he never got another shot in the majors. I have lost track of him now - is he still coaching somewhere?

    ReplyDelete