The Ol' Ballfield

More Managerial Goings On...

Some updates on open manager posts and their suitors:

This article on MLB.com reports that ousted Florida Marlins manager Joe Girardi as well as good manager/mediocre broadcaster Lou Piniella are being contacted by the Nationals. Both of these candidates seem unlikely; as reported before, Piniella will likely only head some place he knows can win, and if the Nats can't hold on to Alfonso Soriano, they might not meet his standards. Girardi is an Illinois native, and might like to return home to Chicago, and manage a team with a higher payroll that would probably pay him more as well. The Nationals have also contacted Tony Peña, first-base coach for the Yankees, and Manny Acta, who is coaching somewhere now, but I forget where (Mets?).

No sooner was that reported than this was, adding Dusty Baker and Terry Pendleton to the list of Nationals manager candidates. A lot of the Cubs' problems were in the management, but you have to believe at least some lay with the manager. After taking much of the blame for riding Kerry Wood's and Mark Prior's arms into the ground, it would surprise me if Jim Bowden jumps on Baker. Pendleton is a hitting coach with the Braves and has long ties to Nats President Stan Kasten from Pendleton's years as a player with Atlanta.

The Nationals have also reportedly NOT contacted Buck Showalter about the job; in a player poll about a month ago, Showalter was voted the most popular manager. Seems like a logical successor to the votee for least popular manager in Frank Robinson. I guess Bowden wants to avoid the polls entirely.

And speaking of Showalter, is anyone else puzzled by his firing? He had three years left on his contract, and the Rangers, though finishing in third, had a pythagorean W-L of 86-76, best in the AL West. A lot of luck went against the Rangers this season, I'm not sure what GM Jon Daniels wants from a manager. Showalter went 319-329 in four seasons with Texas.

posted by Carnival @ 10/06/2006