Farrell for Manager of the Year?
- Thread starter Darnell's Son
- Start date
Interesting article. Thanks for posting.
I mean why the hell not. In a year in which we have elevated a reality television star to the status of serious presidential candidate this seems easily doable. John has certainly made the Red Sox Great Again.
I mean why the hell not. In a year in which we have elevated a reality television star to the status of serious presidential candidate this seems easily doable. John has certainly made the Red Sox Great Again.
I love that it pains you to give Farrell of modicum of credit.
Personally, I'd give it to Tito. Good things happened the last time he won it.
My vote goes to Francona (admittedly without a huge amount of research put into it). McCullough's points are compelling however.
Brett Smiley (Fox Sports) weighed in on the debate just before the Streak began and came up with Gibbons as his choice:
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/gallery/mlb-manager-of-the-year-candidates-al-nl-090916
Brett Smiley (Fox Sports) weighed in on the debate just before the Streak began and came up with Gibbons as his choice:
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/gallery/mlb-manager-of-the-year-candidates-al-nl-090916
There's no real "out of nowhere" manager this year in the AL. You didn't have to squint to see any of these teams in the postseason, so in my mind the competition is fairly wide open. The biggest stretch was arguably the O's, which I mention below.
He'd be a distant 3rd or 4th in my mind, but has done a solid job. And really, the coaching staff hasn't gotten enough love. Willis had been getting ripped for a good chunk of his tenure, but he needs some credit for the dramatic turnaround (unless we think Bannister is the secret weapon). Chili Davis can spit sunflower seeds for the next 5 years with this core, and who knows how big an impact Ruben Amaro had on influencing the best Red Sox base running team in history?
1st and 2nd I mentioned it in a different thread, but the fact the Rangers are 36-11 in one run games, especially against good teams, has Jeff Banister as my guy. That winning percentage is unfathomable.
And the O's playing 41 games on the road versus playoff contenders, substantially more than the other teams, with that cruddy starting pitching staff and still being in as of this moment . .. I think it's Buck or Banister.
He'd be a distant 3rd or 4th in my mind, but has done a solid job. And really, the coaching staff hasn't gotten enough love. Willis had been getting ripped for a good chunk of his tenure, but he needs some credit for the dramatic turnaround (unless we think Bannister is the secret weapon). Chili Davis can spit sunflower seeds for the next 5 years with this core, and who knows how big an impact Ruben Amaro had on influencing the best Red Sox base running team in history?
1st and 2nd I mentioned it in a different thread, but the fact the Rangers are 36-11 in one run games, especially against good teams, has Jeff Banister as my guy. That winning percentage is unfathomable.
And the O's playing 41 games on the road versus playoff contenders, substantially more than the other teams, with that cruddy starting pitching staff and still being in as of this moment . .. I think it's Buck or Banister.
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Francona gets it going away I think, but I have not closely followed the Indians enough to say he deserves it. Anyone voting for Farrell obviously has not been reading the various Fire Farrell threads. 
Couple of counters though to the article linked at the top of the thread.
1. The distractions should not be relevant IMO.
2. Castillo and Pablo were hired under Bens watch. DD is not going to be weighed down by those players, and as manager, this makes it a lot easier. If Ben was still around, these decisions are harder.
3. Porcello. He was turned around after Farrell left last year for treatment, and it continued into 2016. No doubt Bannister might have played a role while he was in the minors on rehab, not sure. Cant see credit going to Farrell for Porcello.
4. The difficulties of Ortiz retirement tour , whatever they are, have been more than offset by Ortiz coming close to his best career years at age 40.
Red Sox have a payroll of 216 million, blowing way past the LT adding Price, Kimbrell, Ziegler and Pomeranz at a huge cost in terms of dollars and prospects. They have had guys like Pedroia , Hanley and Ortiz having one of their best years, career years/break out by Betts, Bradley, Boegarts and Bannister came in on Juy 5 and completely fixed the pitching. Porcello has been a CYA candidate, Price has been an ace against non Yankee teams. Kimbrell a great closer in Save situations. Wright had a 1st half nobody expected, only to be injured being used as a pinch runner. Oy.
A good GM makes any manager look good. They needed pitching, DD got Ziegler and Pomeranz and brought in Bannister. They needed a LFer, DD got Benintendi up early. Help at 3B? Hill and Moncada (oh well, that didnt last)
If you want to give credit to Farrell for that, OK. Maybe he deserves some, I won't deny that, being manager of the Red Sox cant be easy and there are a lot of different egos on the team. MOY? Not IMO.
Couple of counters though to the article linked at the top of the thread.
1. The distractions should not be relevant IMO.
2. Castillo and Pablo were hired under Bens watch. DD is not going to be weighed down by those players, and as manager, this makes it a lot easier. If Ben was still around, these decisions are harder.
3. Porcello. He was turned around after Farrell left last year for treatment, and it continued into 2016. No doubt Bannister might have played a role while he was in the minors on rehab, not sure. Cant see credit going to Farrell for Porcello.
4. The difficulties of Ortiz retirement tour , whatever they are, have been more than offset by Ortiz coming close to his best career years at age 40.
Red Sox have a payroll of 216 million, blowing way past the LT adding Price, Kimbrell, Ziegler and Pomeranz at a huge cost in terms of dollars and prospects. They have had guys like Pedroia , Hanley and Ortiz having one of their best years, career years/break out by Betts, Bradley, Boegarts and Bannister came in on Juy 5 and completely fixed the pitching. Porcello has been a CYA candidate, Price has been an ace against non Yankee teams. Kimbrell a great closer in Save situations. Wright had a 1st half nobody expected, only to be injured being used as a pinch runner. Oy.
A good GM makes any manager look good. They needed pitching, DD got Ziegler and Pomeranz and brought in Bannister. They needed a LFer, DD got Benintendi up early. Help at 3B? Hill and Moncada (oh well, that didnt last)
If you want to give credit to Farrell for that, OK. Maybe he deserves some, I won't deny that, being manager of the Red Sox cant be easy and there are a lot of different egos on the team. MOY? Not IMO.
I think the jury is still out. I'm not a huge fan overall and last night's attempt to milk Price (or pad his stats) resulted in a loss. Since the sox are still in the hunt for home field advantage, it's significant.
That said, if Farrell, even with these goofs, puts the team in first, it's hard to argue with success, and he should absolutely be credited for the final result. His flaws don't disappear, but all criticisms should be tempered if the final result is good. (For then the flaws haven't hurt.)
Going forward, I think Farrell can largely stay out of the teams way - and he's shown good to excellent bullpen management during the streak. I remain concerned that he's still liable to the occasional head scratcher. If last night was a playoff game, would he make the same call? If no, why not make the different call last night and go for home field advantage?
That said, if Farrell, even with these goofs, puts the team in first, it's hard to argue with success, and he should absolutely be credited for the final result. His flaws don't disappear, but all criticisms should be tempered if the final result is good. (For then the flaws haven't hurt.)
Going forward, I think Farrell can largely stay out of the teams way - and he's shown good to excellent bullpen management during the streak. I remain concerned that he's still liable to the occasional head scratcher. If last night was a playoff game, would he make the same call? If no, why not make the different call last night and go for home field advantage?
Padding his stats - no way. But it was puzzling given how much of a beat down the Yanks have given him. If any night deserved an early hook it was last night, to keep him rested up.
And the playoff thing, doubtful to me with how dominant the pen has been. I actually hope they are treating home field as an afterthought since Cleveland is a juicy match up right now with Kluber hurting, and passing Texas ruins that. That said, they do need to win one of the next two and not face a desperate Jays team trying to sweep the final weekend.
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Yea, so are all managers. Just last night Girardi left in the lefty Tommy Layne to face Dustin Pedroia even though he had a RHP warmed and ready to go.
And there isn't a manager walking that yanks Price after 6IP with a pitch count at 76 unless it's the postseason.
If there were a Coaching Staff of the Year award, the Sox would win it hands down. They've done an absolutely incredible job.
Price was facing 8-9-1 in the 7th, and he'd been very efficient. Why would anyone pull him in that situation?