Since It Doesn’t Matter Who the Manager Is …
Now that Sandy Alderson is in charge, and we know he does not believe a manager has any impact on a team’s success or failure — provided, of course, said manager follows orders and executes the plan issued from the front office — then how do we go about choosing the next Mets manager?
Seriously — if you buy into this idea that “the manager doesn’t matter”, then, it doesn’t matter who is chosen; ergo, we can choose anyone we want, based on just about anything we want.
Further, it means that Jeff Wilpon can choose anyone he wants to be the manager, based on whatever he deems valuable, and in doing so, he’s not encroaching on Alderson’s “power” — because Alderson doesn’t really care who the manager is, so long as he is a good soldier.
So, if I were Jeff Wilpon, my three most important traits in selecting the next Mets manager would be:
1. Affordability
2. Entertainment value
3. Ticket sales
Number one is a no-brainer; I want someone I can afford, who isn’t going to adversely affect the budget. Number two is partially for selfish reasons — I want to be entertained when I watch my ballclub — but also plays into number three, which is the Ultimate Value of anyone I pay to wear a Mets uniform.
Considering that, let’s quickly go through a list of potential candidates, and rank them from 0-5 in all three of those traits:
Manager Value
| Manager | Afford | Ent. Value | Tix | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Torre | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Ken Oberkfell | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Tim Teufel | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Chip Hale | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Wally Backman | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| Clint Hurdle | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Joe McEwing | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| Lee Mazzilli | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Bob Melvin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
You may disagree with some of these numbers, and that’s fine — please offer your perceived ratings in the comments.
I could be wrong, but I believe that the Mets would not see much of an increase in ticket sales that directly resulted in the hiring of Ken Oberkfell, Clint Hurdle, Tim Teufel, Chip Hale, or Bob Melvin. They’re all fine men, but I just don’t see many people thinking “oh wow, now that Bob Melvin’s the manager, I’m going to Mets.com to buy a season ticket package!”. On the other hand, I think that a large number of casual Mets fans would take notice if Joe Torre were hired, and consider buying tickets. (Note I stated CASUAL Mets fans — i.e., not the type who read Mets blogs every day. Just about any casual baseball fan in the country knows who Joe Torre is and most associate him with success.) I also think that former fan favorites Lee Mazzilli and Joe McEwing could generate a modicum of interest. And obviously, I believe that hiring Wally Backman could directly result in ticket sales. There is a large number of fans who loved Wally when he was a player, combined with many more who would pay to see what he might do — whether it’s chew out an umpire or call for a suicide squeeze. Backman is a throwback to the days when managers had personality and color — maybe that means nothing in regard to wins and losses but it is entertainment value. And we’ve already decided that the wins and losses are the responsiblity of Sandy Alderson so what’s the harm in giving the people what they want when it comes to the manager?
About the Author
Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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I enjoy your blog a lot, but I think you’re significantly overstating the idea that Alderson thinks “it doesn’t matter who the manager is.” Here’s the quote you’re referring to:
“We have a philosophy and we’re going to find a manager who is going to implement that philosophy. We’re not looking for someone to tell us how to run the team, or upon which theory it should be predicated. We already have that. We want someone who is going to implement it for us.’ That’s a very different approach.”
All he’s saying is you don’t want a manager (like, say, Bobby Valentine) who is going to want to have a lot of power over organizational operations. His point is that the manager is middle management, not senior management, and you want a manager who can fit that approach. In no way does that mean “it doesn’t matter who the manager is.”
Think of any medium-to-large business. Middle management has an important role in day-to-day operations, and will often have to make decisions without consulting senior management. But ultimately, they’re still middle management, and nobody doubts that. So an organization shouldn’t hire someone who will try to subvert the power structure or undercut superiors. But the idea that the business doesn’t care about the traits of the person they hire is patently absurd.
What Alderson is saying here, as much as anything, is that you don’t want situations like Jerry Manuel convincing Omar Minaya to make Jenrry Mejia a middle reliever. If Alderson really believes that, as I suspect he does, there’s no way that’s a bad thing.
Thank you for reading the blog. I think that you may have missed the sarcasm of this particular post.
It’s true, I am oversimplifying the issue — in the same way statheads oversimplify their assessment of a manager based on the number of sacrifice bunts attempted.
Just speaking as somebody who keeps up, if he thinks the characteristics of the manager don’t matter at all, why is Alderson (presumably) leaking that he wants somebody with more experience than Wally?
Why does he get a 5 for entertainment value when no one else gets over a 2?
Who is going to go out and buy season tickets just because Wally is there when they will likely have the same starting lineup next year they had this year?
You guys are just so in love with a guy who has never managed above AA!
Stick around … I have yet begun … stay tuned for more laughs !!!!!
LOLZ!!!!!!
Joe your sarcasm is often lost on those unfamiliar with you. I sometimes miss it too. I think this whole post is fairly over the top. I really don’t know Wally outside of blogs, and even having watched Playing for Peanuts I don’t think people are lining up to buy tickets because he is the manager.
Also, Joe had addressed the Buntapalooza argument in another thread. It turns out that the Cyclones’ best hitter has zero sac bunt attempts. That suggests that Wally understands that the higher the player’s OBP, the worse a gambit the sac bunt is. Maybe his cut-off is higher than you or I would like it to be, but at least we know there IS a cut-off.
Willie won’t be a candidate and will never return to Flushing, but he would qualify as an ideal soldier under General Alderson.
Aside from the injury to santana…THIS version of the Mets (Manuel aside) could easily have been in the playoffs. Santana-pel-dickey-niese (when good) were very good. WHICH MEANS…a midseason change in manager or a Cliff Lee trade MIGHT have done it.
texas-and SF do not impress me.
Alderson inherit (as he said) a mid tier farm….Omar inherit one DEAD LAST….(Sans Kaz, Peterson, jose Bautista)…Omar hired a rookie manager….will that happen again….(?)