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?
Wow
ReplyDeleteThis took some time
I'm a Counsell guy so I will let others debate this
Nice car, indeed, plenty of room to pick up Paul and head down to Citi Field for some games in 2024.
ReplyDeleteWow, 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.
That is a lot of research, and it paid off.
ReplyDeleteHeads 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.
Say no hass to Rojas.
ReplyDelete1969,
ReplyDeleteWe 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.
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