Who's the Giants' Boss?
The A's and the Giants might not have a lot in common these days, but there is one huge thing they do have in common-- both are currently sans managers. The Giants needing a manager was somewhat expected as rumors that this year was to be Felipe's last were around all season. That the A's need a new manager has to be a surprise considering the kiss and makeup Beane and Macha did last year and the A's playoff success. So much for being the first A's manager to take a team to the League Championship series since Tony LaRussa.
With that in mind, we're going to take a look at what the Giants and A's are looking for and who has been rumored to be the new boss, starting with the Giants. The A's will come tomorrow.
So what are the Giants looking for? It's hard to know right now, as the Giants are a mystery on top of an unknown shrouded by confusion. The team has so many holes to fill and so many directions they could go that it's hard to get a read of what they're going to do. The hiring of a manager would go a long ways to helping us figure it out, but since they haven't hired a manager, we're back at square one.
Traditionally, the Giants have favored big, splashy hires and hired managers with a lot of history and a personality to excite the fan base and to provide an exciting face for the team. However, there are signs this year that the team is looking not so much for a splashy hire, but for somebody who could zero in and focus on the one strength the Giants have at this point, their young pitching staff.
Who is being rumored as potential coaches and what it all means, after the jump.
Ron Wotus- Wotus is a long-time coach for the Giants and is well-liked and respected by everyone in the organization. Hiring him would be an indication the team is going young and would emphasize building from within instead of without. His only drawback seems to be his name, not just because it's not big but because it's Ron Wotus. Wotus sounds like something you catch, as in "I came down with Wotus last night," and not a title-winning manager.
Dave Righetti- Righetti is the Giants' long time pitching coach and his hiring would signal the same thing hiring Wotus would signal, that the team is going to go youth. Righetti is also well-liked and respected but there are some people out there (mainly the Giants' bloggers) who think he's vastly over-rated as their pitching staff hasn't been all that in a long, long time. For proof, look at their inability to develop any of their young-supposed studs. Noah Lowry seems to be the prime example of this, a guy with great stuff who so far never hasn't been quite able to step things up to the next level. For what it's worth, Righetti has said he's not interested but well, that could just be a pose.
Bud Black- Ironically, back in '91 the Giants made some splashy free-agent signings (remember them?) and brought in Black as well as Dave Righetti and Willie McGee to bring the team back to the playoffs. It didn't quite work out so well, although both Black and McGee were part of the ill-fated '93 team. Could Black, once again be considered the man to take the Giants to the Promised Land? Black has been the pitching coach for the Angels for years and has been considered a hot managing property. The Angels have always had great pitching and Black is said to be the reason why. We wonder about his being hired because the Giants already have a pitching coach. If they wanted a pitching coach to be Manager, why not go with Rags? Maybe it's because the Angels won in '02 and the front office figures he's at least a game (or one bad inning) better than Righetti. Regardless, pitching coaches don't have a great reputation for being good managers.
Joe Girardi- Girardi was the manager of the Marlins and drew universal acclaim for taking a very young and very cheap team and making them competitive. He then got fired for all of his troubles. Everyone seems to think he did a great job with the team but we wonder about him. If he was that good, why did he get fired after just one year? Rumor has it that he feuded with the Marlins higher ups and for whatever reason, everyone took his side in the feud. The Marlins front office, however, said that he was basically an idiot and the only reason why he did any good is because the front office ordered him to not be such an idiot. This just might be a hunch, but we think Girardi is all hat and no cattle as they say in Texas. Or so we hear.
Dusty Baker- This one seems to be pulled out of talk show and columnists butts. Dusty would only be hired again if Magowan was feeling sorry and sentimental about firing him in the first place and somehow, we don't see Magowan as the type who stares longingly at pictures of ex-managers as "With or Without You" plays in the background. On the other hand, hiring managers who were once fired from their organizations seems to be the thing to do in the Bay Area.
Manny Acta- Acta, the third base coach for the Mets, appears to be this year's managerial It guy as every team looking to hire somebody is interviewing him. He's managed in the minor leagues and managed the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic this year. He speaks both English and Spanish and is beloved by everyone. And he's a stat-head. So what do we make of him? Meh. And that's probably why he won't be hired.
Bruce Bochy- This one is a puzzler as Bochy is currently managing the Padres. We've always thought he was one of the most underrated managers in baseball as his Padres have always been competitive and always played well, even when they weren't so competitive. The thinking here, supposedly, is that Sabaen loves how he handles young pitchers and young pitching is the only thing the Giants right now have going for them. The drawbacks to his hiring are that as befitting his under-rated status, he’s a bit of a yawn as a hire. He also has a really bad moustache and it's hard for us to take anyone with that kind of a moustache seriously (you know, as much as we read Tom Friedman in the NY Times, we just can't figure out how he could be so smart yet have such a bad 'stache). Then there's the fact he already has a job.
Barry Bonds- he's pretty much run the time over the past few years so why not make it official? Plus maybe he'll realize what an ass he could be when he has to manage himself. Like what would happen when he puts himself in the batting lineup only to discover he doesn't want to play that day? Or isn't sure how healthy he is because he's not talking to himself? Maybe only then would he realize how frustrating it is to only know what his status is by looking at his blog.