Not whether the manager increased the productive capabilities in the first place. Among the guys Wedge invited to his home over the winter were Seager, Ackley, Montero and Smoak. Oh, and Jaso, which I wouldn't have expected.
Jaso tanked last year but has been instrumental this year, especially in big situations. Seager has been unstoppable as a MOTO cog. Smoak struggled to start the year, big-time, but his manager kept putting him in the lineup. He told him over the offseason about the expectations, but then allowed him time to adjust to meeting them, which Smoak has been doing recently. Said Wedge:
"The difference between last year and this year is all about advancing and achieving. It's not about surviving, which many of them had to do last season. It's not about getting to the big leagues and seeing what you can do. Now it's about performance and production. And that's what leads to winning."
Maybe that week of conversations and groundlaying didn't help the kids a bit. Perhaps they're automatons and they would perform the same in any environment for any manager, and all that Wedge gets to do is (fail to) meet his Pythag expectations for managing the performances he's given on the field.
But since that's not how it works for me at my job, I have trouble believing that's how it works for them at theirs. I perform better for certain managers, and even if they aren't as good at some of their own job requirements I jump in and help them out more than I would for others.
Our collective performance might be better under someone who is misusing some of our talents simply because we are better focused under that person, or more relaxed, or whatever.
Perhaps Bob Melvin or Don Wakamatsu would be getting the exact same performances from Seager, Jaso, Saunders, Montero, Wilhelmsen, et al. Maybe they would have gotten more from uber-talents Ackley and Smoak, or been able to stop League from self-destructing.
I dunno.
But when I see the Mariners have more fighting character than I have in a while I don't just assume it 100% because of the players and Wedge has no part in it. I'm a synthetic thinker by nature. Everything's related.
And it's possible for Wedge to get better too, or have a team fit his personality. It's not like Joe Torre (pythag to begin career: -8, -6, -5, -4, 0) began his career as some kind of genius in game-management.
But even if he doesn't improve, what I want to see is player improvment, and on a team with a billion young players the fact that all of them are hanging tight and getting better together is either a statement about Jack's sole genius, or perhaps a small indication that Wedge is doing some things right, too.
~G