He is probably more of a sounding board for DD, and won't be anywhere near the dugout.
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Tek made a lot of money in his career. The best managers are usually the guys who weren’t stars and guys who actually need the income initially before becoming successful
I think moreover it is hard for great players to be great head coaches - because for them the sport is not that hard ... which makes it hard to relate to players who have to struggle more.
I wonder who is the best player of all time to manage a team to a World Series title?
Paul Molitor might turn out to be a good one.
Since it's Sunday morning ... using bWAR
2010s managers
2011: Tony LaRussa -0.7 WAR
2012,2014: Bruce Bochy 2.4 WAR
2013: John Farrell 7.4 WAR
2015: Ned Yost -3.7 WAR
2016: Joe Maddon (no ML)
2017: AJ Hinch 0.1 WAR
2000s
2000: Joe Torre 57.6 WAR
2001: Bob Brenly 12.7 WAR
2002: Mike Scioscia 26.0 WAR
2003: Jack McKeon (no ML)
2004, 2007: Terry Francona -2.9 WAR
2005: Ozzie Guillen 20.9 WAR
2008: Charlie Manuel -2.3 WAR
2009: Joe Girardi 5.7 WAR
1990s:
1990: Lou Piniella 12.5 WAR
1991: Tom Kelly -0.5 WAR
1992, 1993: Cito Gaston -0.8 WAR
1995: Bobby Cox 0.9 WAR
1997: Jim Leyland (no ML)
1980s
1980: Dallas Green 2.2 WAR
1981: Tommy Lasorda -1.3 WAR
1982: Whitey Herzog 2.9 WAR
1983: Joe Altobelli -0.9 WAR
1984: Sparky Anderson -1.2 WAR
1985: Dick Howser 9.6 WAR
1986: Davey Johnson 27.5 WAR
1970s:
1970: Earl Weaver (no ML)
1971: Danny Murtaugh 6.4 WAR
1972, 1973: Dick Williams 3.4 WAR
1974: Al Dark 43.0 WAR
1977: Billy Martin 3.0 WAR
1978: Bob Lemon 48.8 WAR
1979: Chuck Tanner -0.2 WAR
1960s
1961-1962: Ralph Houk 0.1 WAR
1963: Walter Alston 0.0 WAR
1964: Johnny Keane (no ML)
1966: Hank Bauer 26.6 WAR
1967: Red Schoendienst 42.3 WAR
1968: Mayo Smith -0.7 WAR
1969: Gil Hodges 45.0 WAR
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So looking at since 1960, the nominees for this are
Joe Torre 57.6 WAR
Bob Lemon 48.8 WAR
Gil Hodges 45.0 WAR
Al Dark 43.0 WAR
Red Schoendinst 42.3 WAR
Obviously WAR is a starting point - then consider peakiness of career and such ...
In Ortiz book, "Papi-My Story" he talks about daily lineups being sent down by the front office in past administrations. Was it Theo, Luchino, or others. Is it still happening with Dombrowski? Not a very good thing to have happening with the manager being usurped. The behind the scenes activities we don't often hear about have a profound impact on the spirit in the dugout for managers, coaches and players.
I was just reading yesterday about how there seems to be a growing trend with teams hiring younger managers who are willing to take more direction from the front office. They want managers who are willing to accept and use the information collected by the analytics people. The Red Sox even created a new position for this, though the title of that position escapes me right now.
Three managers who were quite successful (Farrell, Girardi, and Baker) got fired this season. IMO, that's quite a statement.
Good observation. The question is whether the analytics are sent down for use by the manager in making decisions or the decisions are sent down to the manager for implementation. I would hope it is the first and that the hiring of younger analytics based managers means that they can benefit from the myriad of information that can be made available. Farrell was well liked by many of the players but may have overstayed his time and I support trying something new.
Any manager who isn't willing to accept helpful information of any kind, should not be managing. I know of no managers who flat out refuse the help of specialists in analytics. Some probably use analytics to a greater extent than others but that is just the way it is.