Rick Renteria Named New Cubs Manager

[Andy]

I love that Hawk keeps saying "besides his love for sabermetrics, what's the draw?"

 

Umm...nothing. That's it. If Theo and Co. think he, along with a good coaching staff, can help develop young players, there really isn't much of anything else we - or anyone else - need out of a manager.

[Soul]

Why is Acta going to be better than Sveum? I assume the Cubs fired Sveum for something better and I don't see where he's going to be an upgrade. The team is at least another year away from contending within the division, and outside Acta's love for Sabermetrics why is he the guy?

 

Like I said, he's never won before and the roster this season isn't going to be much better than last year.

 

We're all making a lot of assumptions here, but I would guess Theo feels a manager like Acta is a better choice to guide the more important prospects at the major league level. At the very least, he wants to make sure that his message -- which is what he's basing his picks and minor league development on -- is carried through the majors as well.

 

If Acta is the best guy to do that, right now, then yes he's a better choice than Sveum. It's very clear that Theo Epstein didn't feel like Sveum was "on message" near the end.

 

If 3 years go by, and the Cubs are significantly better but Theo feels like Acta isn't getting everything from the team at that point, then I would be surprised if yet another change is made.

[Sammy Sofa]

It's a manager, it's all stupid and irrational emotional hokum.

How do you explain situations like the Cleveland Indians where they went from a 90+ loss team one season to a 90+ win without making any major changes other than the manager? They have to be at least part of the reason for that, right?

 

For the record I'm not saying I believe any specific manager will make us 30 wins better but there do seem to be examples where a managerial change makes a big difference. Is it a matter of a bad manager making the team worse as opposed to a good manager making the team better?

Ummm.......Because they had a lot of guys have better years on offense and pitching than the year before

 

Indians 2012 offense: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2012&month=0&season1=2012&ind=0&team=5&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

 

Indians 2012 pitching: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2012&month=0&season1=2012&ind=0&team=5&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

 

Indians 2013 offense: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2013&month=0&season1=2013&ind=0&team=5&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

 

Indians 2013 pitching: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2013&month=0&season1=2013&ind=0&team=5&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

Ok, do the manager & his staff not have anything to do with that?

 

So how do you apply this busted-ass theory to the White Sox under Ventura? Was he responsible for their record in 2012? Is he to blame for 2013? Or was AJ Alphabet a human-fountain of magical PEDs?

[Backtobanks]

It's a manager, it's all stupid and irrational emotional hokum.

How do you explain situations like the Cleveland Indians where they went from a 90+ loss team one season to a 90+ win without making any major changes other than the manager? They have to be at least part of the reason for that, right?

 

For the record I'm not saying I believe any specific manager will make us 30 wins better but there do seem to be examples where a managerial change makes a big difference. Is it a matter of a bad manager making the team worse as opposed to a good manager making the team better?

There will come a time (hopefully) in the next few years where the Cubs will make a huge jump in wins. And the media will probably give a lot of credit to the manager. In actuality, he will probably have little to do with it. There's certainly such a thing as a bad manager (we've all witnessed it firsthand), but I'm not convinced there's such a thing as a universally "good" manager. I think an individual manager's success will depend more on fitting into the right situation.

 

I would think if Baez & Bryant are everything that we hope they are and they come up while Rizzo and Castro awaken from their respective naps, it won't matter too much as to who the manager is.

[Guest]

Rizzo wasn't napping.

[Old Style]

So how do you apply this busted-ass theory to the White Sox under Ventura? Was he responsible for their record in 2012? Is he to blame for 2013? Or was AJ Alphabet a human-fountain of magical PEDs?

I'm asking questions, not espousing any theories.

[BeerHere]

The quotes from Hal Steinbrenner sound a lot like they are getting impatient with Girardi, and have made their last "fair" offer.

[XZero771679666304]

So how do you apply this busted-ass theory to the White Sox under Ventura? Was he responsible for their record in 2012? Is he to blame for 2013? Or was AJ Alphabet a human-fountain of magical PEDs?

I'm asking questions, not espousing any theories.

 

I think a manager and coaching staff can have some influence on the on-field results, but certainly not the kind of swing we saw in the Indians and White Sox from 2012 to 2013. And that's really far too small a sample size to infer much from, anyway (at least with regard to the influence of the coaching staff).

[Sammy Sofa]

So how do you apply this busted-ass theory to the White Sox under Ventura? Was he responsible for their record in 2012? Is he to blame for 2013? Or was AJ Alphabet a human-fountain of magical PEDs?

I'm asking questions, not espousing any theories.

 

Then the answers should be obvious; no, managers aren't going to have an impact that wildly swings a team's record from one year to the next.

[Guest]

Nothing against Acta, but isn't he kind of a retread? I'd rather go with the devil I don't know in this case.

[mul21]

So how do you apply this busted-ass theory to the White Sox under Ventura? Was he responsible for their record in 2012? Is he to blame for 2013? Or was AJ Alphabet a human-fountain of magical PEDs?

I'm asking questions, not espousing any theories.

 

Then the answers should be obvious; no, managers aren't going to have an impact that wildly swings a team's record from one year to the next.

 

Yep, player performance is far more important than anything else. It's not like Mattingly had some huge philosophical epiphany after the first quarter of the season that made the Dodgers better. The players got healthy and started playing better.

[Sammy Sofa]

Nothing against Acta, but isn't he kind of a retread? I'd rather go with the devil I don't know in this case.

 

Meaning that you think he's too similar to Sveum? Because Girardi isn't exactly an unknown.

[Guest]

Nothing against Acta, but isn't he kind of a retread? I'd rather go with the devil I don't know in this case.

 

Meaning that you think he's too similar to Sveum? Because Girardi isn't exactly an unknown.

I really don't want Girardi. I'd prefer Sveum over him. I guess I want a new guy who embraces modern thinking and has a degree in psychology or at least a good bedside manner.

[Backtobanks]

Rizzo wasn't napping.

 

Maybe he didn't "nap" for most of the season like Castro, but his August line (.190/.286/.381/.607) and his Sept./Oct. line (.240/.313/.370/.683) certainly looked like he dozed off for the last 1/3 of the season. I'm sure that most of us hoped for better numbers than what he showed in 2013.

[davell]

19.6 LD%, .258 BABIP, with an 11% BB rate, and a sub 20% K rate. I see nothing that tells me he wasn't just really, really [expletive] unlucky.

[Banedon]

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner would like to resolve the issue of Joe Girardi's contract "sooner rather than later," and hinted that the resolution could wind up being someone else managing the Yankees in 2014.

 

"My guess is it's going to be done one way or another relatively shortly," Steinbrenner said on "The Michael Kay Show" on ESPN New York 98.7 FM on Tuesday afternoon. "He knows we want him back. He knows my family is proud of him for the job he did this year with adversity and all that. We'll just have to see. There's always other factors involved and other obstacles to be surmounted, and we're going to do our best to keep him here."

 

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/9793354/new-york-yankees-want-joe-girardi-reply-sooner-rather-later

[KingCubsFan]

19.6 LD%, .258 BABIP, with an 11% BB rate, and a sub 20% K rate. I see nothing that tells me he wasn't just really, really [expletive] unlucky.

While I agree with you, that LD% isn't exactly impressive.

[Sammy Sofa]

19.6 LD%, .258 BABIP, with an 11% BB rate, and a sub 20% K rate. I see nothing that tells me he wasn't just really, really [expletive] unlucky.

While I agree with you, that LD% isn't exactly impressive.

 

Yeah; bad luck clearly impacted his numbers this season, but to say that he was JUST unlucky is a bit of an overstatement.

[sneakypower]

19.6 LD%, .258 BABIP, with an 11% BB rate, and a sub 20% K rate. I see nothing that tells me he wasn't just really, really [expletive] unlucky.

While I agree with you, that LD% isn't exactly impressive.

Mark Simon ‏@msimonespn 1 Oct

The 2013 leaderboard for highest % of at-bats resulting in a "hard-hit" ball pic.twitter.com/tIsGxXG1RC

 

[Sammy Sofa]

OK, "WHAV" just flew right over my [expletive] head. When did that show up? Have I just been stupidly ignoring it for years now?

[MSG T]

OK, "WHAV" just flew right over my [expletive] head. When did that show up? Have I just been stupidly ignoring it for years now?

 

 

Just found this. http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball/flb/story?page=mlbdk2k10babipprimer

 

Edit: Page down to "quality of contact"

 

But here's another interesting fact: Inside Edge provides a statistic called "Well Hit Average," which measures the percentage of at-bats in which a hitter made solid contact.Of the top 25 hitters in that stat who also qualified for the batting title, 18 managed better-than-average BABIPs.

 

It looks like Inside Edge is a subscription service, though it looks interesting. http://myinsideedge.com/Default.aspx

[Gmoney08]

The team is at least another year away from contending within the division, and outside Acta's love for Sabermetrics why is he the guy?

 

Like I said, he's never won before and the roster this season isn't going to be much better than last year.

 

Well I highly doubt they are hiring him just to be the manager for next year. Dont you think this might be a longterm approach where the guy they hire may manage in 2015, or 2016 when Theo is eyeing to hopefully be a contender.

 

By your thinking we could just say well the team is going to suck next year anyways why not just make Starlin Castro player manager. Hell with it they are going to suck.

[Sammy Sofa]

OK, "WHAV" just flew right over my [expletive] head. When did that show up? Have I just been stupidly ignoring it for years now?

 

 

Just found this. http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball/flb/story?page=mlbdk2k10babipprimer

 

Edit: Page down to "quality of contact"

 

But here's another interesting fact: Inside Edge provides a statistic called "Well Hit Average," which measures the percentage of at-bats in which a hitter made solid contact.Of the top 25 hitters in that stat who also qualified for the batting title, 18 managed better-than-average BABIPs.

 

It looks like Inside Edge is a subscription service, though it looks interesting. http://myinsideedge.com/Default.aspx

 

Huh. Thanks for that.

[Sammy Sofa]

why not just make Starlin Castro player manager

 

[Banedon]

Joel Sherman on twitter says that Girardi signed 4 year extension with Yankees.

 

EDIT: Yankees PR confirms.