Mariner Analyst on Lou-Lite (2)

 

 

Before he arrived in Seattle in 1993, the Mariners had a culture of losing. He turned that around -- he created a culture of winning. No one questioned that this was Lou's team. It was his way or the highway -- and that's precisely the kind of power and respect that a manager should have. And I would argue that this exactly the kind of manager that this club needs again to get back on the winning track.

That's why I believe that at this juncture, bringing in an experienced, in charge, and fire in the pants kind of manager who wants to win and won't accept any excuses is exactly what this team needs right now.

For my money, (if I'm the one making the decision -- which I'm not) the guy out there right now who best fits that mold -- is Bobby Valentine. 

No doubt.  And the arguments against him?  Are that he's uncomfortable.

Think about it.

.

Of all the candidates out there ... his resume is the most impressive and IMO lines up perfectly with what this team needs.  Not only is he cut from the same cloth as Piniella ... but his managerial experience is second to none. 

He not only has experience managing in a World Series ... but also experience managing in Japan, which makes him the perfect candidate not only to get the most out of Ichiro, but also to potentially attract other Japanese players as well.  With Yamauchi as majority owner, it makes too much sense not to happen.

For me, the fact that Valentine is a top-drawer MLB manager --AND-- a top-drawer NPB manager ... the combination is just overwhelming.

It's two completely different styles of baseball.  If adapting to the NPB game -- and winning in it -- is not proof of very high (applied) intelligence, what is? 

Larry Kaufman is both (1) a notable chess Grandmaster, and (2) one of the strongest Shogi players in the world.  He is an absolute artist, in both realms.  Do you think there's any chance that Larry is dumb?

Put it this way.  Picture Mike Hargrove managing a team to a championship in Japan?

................

Dr. D's love for Japanese pitch sequences is controversial.  I'll cheerfully admit that when it comes to "the coin of the realm," pitching off the fastball, I'm a math geek trying to tell the athletes how the game is played.

But even hardcore fastball lovers will admit that some great MLB pitchers, such as Roy Halladay, Dan Haren, Francisco Liriano, Mark Buehrle and Jon Lester pitch backwards a lot ...

... and that having a manager who was flexibly minded about pitching approaches would be nice.

Coin of the realm or pitching backwards .... small ball or three-run homer ...  you couldn't squawk about having a manager expert in both.

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I don't know if they'll ultimately bring Valentine in or not, but IMO this organization needs to bring in that type of guy ... to give him the power manage the clubhouse ... and to have his back when he makes a tough call. The Figgins incident this last year and the way the Front Office handled the situation was a HUGE red flag. That kind of thing CANNOT ever be allowed again.

But Zduriencik - of whom I'm a fan - deliberately allowed and even encouraged it.  Capt Jack's grand vision was to win with Figgins, not with Wakamatsu, so he did the practical rather than the principled.

One would think that Z -- perhaps down to the last manager in his Mariners timecard -- would now want to impose order, now wouldn't one?

A lot of people don't like Bobby Valentine.  So they say he'd never come here, like they said Bedard would never come back.

.................

Bobby V likes American baseball and he likes Japanese baseball.  Seattle is the ideal place to utilize all of his skills -- including in recruiting.  Bobby's Japanese skill set would be appreciated in Seattle.  Don't think that wouldn't matter to him.  He can't want those years wasted.

...............

I dunno if Bobby V is realistic, but I'd go for 3-to-5 years of the dude.  Closest thing you're gonna get to a photogenic Lou Piniella there, Chuck.

Cheerio,

Dr D

Comments

1

Similar to how Pete Carroll is a young (near) 60.  The guys have boundless enthusiasm for what they do.  I still consider Pete Carroll a better coach for college players than pros, but the point is we're not talking about an old manager that can't get through to young players.  He got through to players in a foreign land just fine, and he can bridge the eras between his playing and MLB coaching days, and today.
Baseball just doesn't change that much.  He's in love with fundamentals even if he doesn't love to call them fundamentals.  Base-running, one of our dozen-or-so Achilles' heels, is a mantra with him.  He hates bad baserunning. 
I recall him being rather disdainful of sabermetrics, but only in the sense that he doesn't feel it captures everything about the game that it's proponents think it does.
See: Projections for the Mariners and their win totals this year based on expected performance.
This is an interesting little interview: http://www.metsblog.com/2010/04/30/chat-with-bobby-v-about-stats-and-cha...
"Basically, I left in the height of the Steroid Era, and at that time, in 2004, there was very little mention about the team concepts.  Everything was about the guy who could throw 100 mph and hit it 500 feet.  That’s all people cared about.  That and On Base Percentage, which, of course, at that time was being discussed as if it was a new concept, and most people knew it was anything but new.  Now I’m back, and I see people are actually caring about how the game of baseball is played.  They care about the composition of how a team is comprised.  They have a better understanding of the value of a bullpen, in addition to the closer.  So, I think baseball is, as we speak, it’s being re-born again and going back to the future and I kind of like that."
Bobby is big on team.  He's big on little things.  He's big on team composition, correctly defined and executed roles and he's very big on Bobby Valentine.  But not as big as he used to be, as far as I can tell.
We NEED someone to be the face and voice of the team until the kids get it together.  Ichiro is the marketing arm of the team, but he says little and leads nothing.  Figgins is anything BUT a leader.  Felix is the franchise, but he's not a vocal guy either, and he's already done every bit that he can for us.
The new manager is our presentation to the world while we get our ducks in a row.  I don't want another Wak representing us.  I don't want Joey Cora either, though he seems out of the running.
I don't know if Valentine is the best choice for the job, but we've got two 100-loss seasons in three years with a shaky FO situation.  This isn't exactly a prime job any more.  Maybe Valentine is burned out the way Hargrove was, but they're such totally different personalities that any comparison between them is on the "both are members of the human race" variety.
Valentine is a man who understands both Japanese and American baseball, and who understands pressure.  He's not gonna curl up in a ball and blow away at the prospect of a tough job.  If you're telling Bobby that you have resources and young players in place, and a plan, but you need a guy to take the bull by the horns and wrangle it for you, I can see him finding that very appealing.
He has the energy and enthusiasm for that job.  Maybe he prefers the Mets, and they prefer him.  But if not...I'm intrigued by the possibilities.
~G

2

You consider 37 sort of the default retirement age for All-Stars and 56 the retirement age for excellent managers.
People go past that, of course, but it's a very common demarcation line.
...................
Lou managed the Cubs to 97 wins at age 64, beating the odds by almost a decade, and we know about his fire.
Lou maintained the passion despite never taking a break from managing.  Year-in, year-out, the melodramas and media and etc etc didn't get to him until age 65-66.
Thing is, Bobby V has been frozen out* of MLB for quite some time; that's got to have refreshed him and stoked the passion.  He's probably 50 years old, in effect.
No doubt he'd be totally dialed in, for the 3-4 years we'd need him for.

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