Transaction Analysis: Ken Macha to be named Brewers manager
I added the "Instant Trade Analysis" category during the trade deadline in July, but now that we're in winter, I need something a little more all-encompassing. Hence the new "Transaction Analysis," which we'll use for everything going forward - trades, free-agent signings, manager and general manager hirings and firings, Rule 5 draft, etc.
What fascinates me about this is that Macha will be managing his second big-league team, but I'm sure the job will feel dramatically different to him.
Yes, he'll still have to deal with the Xs and Os of game management. Yet the A's and Brewers are about as far apart on the philosophical scale as it gets in baseball.
The A's are new-school, with lightning-rod GM Billy Beane blazing the trail. Beane regards the manager's position as somewhat dispensable and largely dictates strategy (minimal bunting, for instance). A friend of Macha's told me, back at the time, that Macha intensely disliked working as Beane's manager.
The Brewers are old-school. GM Doug Melvin never would've fired his manager, Ned Yost, with 12 games remaining in the season. It took his owner, Mark Attanasio, to execute what turned out to be the correct and necessary move. While the GM clearly ranks above the manager in the Brewers' hierarchy, Melvin is much more inclined than is Beane to treat his manager as a partner and equal.
I don't think one philosophy is right and one is wrong. I think Beane and Melvin are two of the best GMs in baseball. There's more than one way to operate.
But when presented with today's question: "Is Macha the right man to lead the Brewers?" the answer is, "I'm not sure," because it's not very helpful to look to Macha's Oakland years as a reference.
One interesting note: Macha did seem to lose his players at the end of his run in Oakland, and one of those players, Jason Kendall, is now the Brewers' catcher. Someone told me that Melvin checked in with Kendall before hiring Macha, so I guess that wasn't an insurmountable hurdle.
UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: Sorry, was taking care of personal business, but this trade was interesting to me only because Mike Jacobs is interesting to me. As baileywalk noted, Jacobs has an odd mix of attributes: Great power, horrendous on-base skills, can't hit lefties. I'll ask if the Yankees inquired about him, but gosh, a .299 OBP is just lethal.
I don't remember seeing Nunez in person, but his numbers are impressive. Based upon what I know of Jacobs, and the respective histories of these two front offices, I'm giving the edge to the Marlins, who have a prospect, Gaby Sanchez, ready to replace Jacobs at a fraction of the cost.
Thanks to this site for the photo.
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Comments (24)
Ken, I would argue that one philosophy is clearly better than the other. (Can you guess which one? ;-) )
However, I would acknowledge that Pat Gillick (old school) is a far better GM than JP Ricciardi (new school). Given the choice, I would almost always take a brilliant guy employing a flawed battle plan than an amateur running a smarter strategy.
Selig is not the only commissioner who gets boo during the trophy presentation. I seen Stern and Bettman get boo during the trophy presentation.
The Marlins traded 1st baseman Mike Jacobs to the Royals for righthanded reliever Leo Nunez today. I'm a little bit surprise that the Marlins didn't get more for Jacobs. Not only that, the Marlins could have gotten more teams involve for Jacobs.
I like the Macha signing because baseball needs as many Larry David lookalikes as it can get.
I don't know if the Mike Jacobs trade is going to get its own post or not, so I'll just throw this in here...
I know this will engender some derision, but were the Yankees ever even remotely interested in Jacobs? He's a terrible defensive first baseman and he absolutely does not get on base (he also strikes out a lot), but he has crazy power, and he hit 32 home runs playing half his games in an airplane hangar. His home-road splits have been pretty even (though he slugged better on the road this year). He's only 28 (actually turned 28 today). And the Marlins gave him up for nothing -- a generic righty reliever. The Yankees have tons of those guys.
I imagine Jacobs would have a feast with the short porch. His swing was made for it. He's not a typical Yankee target because of his OBP, but he's young and cheap. Did they at least kick the tires?
The comments are taking on a kind of "Heroes"-esque time travel thing.
Ken, what was your favorite part of the World Series? Mine was when Bud Selig got booed. I hope when he gets inducted into the HOF no one shows up and if anyone does, they all turn their backs during his speech.
How does Ricciardi keep his job, especially after the "phone call incident" this year caught him in a clear lie?
Ricciardi keeps his job because the Blue Jays have had a winning record the last three years. And as I mentioned earlier, JMH, I enjoyed the Bud booing.
The Phillie fans would have booed Ryan Howard had he went 0-4 in Game 5! I tell this all the time, I remember asking my Dad in 1980 at the Vet, "Dad, why are they booing Mike Schmidt?" I thought it was hilarious they booed Bud.
I definitely think letting the manager manage is the best way to go. The players need to respect the manager and not go over his head. We saw with Willie how once the players lose respect for their manager, things go down quickly.
Ken, Jason Kendall is my favorite player. But is he really good enough to influence the Brewers manager? Does he have that much respect??
JMH, Ken ripped Selig for how he handled Game 5.
Selig is not the only commissioner who gets boo during the trophy presentation. I seen Stern and Bettman get boo during the trophy presentation.
The Marlins traded 1st baseman Mike Jacobs to the Royals for righthanded reliever Leo Nunez today. I'm a little bit surprise that the Marlins didn't get more for Jacobs. Not only that, the Marlins could have gotten more teams involve for Jacobs.
Ken, timing is out of wrack.Day light savings time is this Saturday. So you should fix the timing on this blog.
Dennis the Marlins did a salary dump with Jacobs and got what, they wanted an experienced reliever, which the Yankees couldn't give to them.
I think Bettman gets booed worse than any commissioner in sports. He absolutely has ruined hockey and the fans don't ever let him forget it. Celtics fans booed Stern pretty loudly the other night.I doubt Selig cares if he's booed or not. I wonder if he gets booed in Milwaukee when he shows up there?
Don't be so quick to condemn the Fish, Dennis. What was the view at the time of last year's trade of Cabrera and Willis? Does anyone think the Marlins got completely hosed now?
One ought to wonder why the Royals so needed a Dave Kingman-esque first baseman (.299 OBP in '08) when they had talent on the farm, ready to go, and were willing to relinquish a top prospect in return....
Bettman came into hockey riding high from the NBA and tried to adopt that model. We know it failed. Stern is arrogant, to say the least. Bud is also arrogant and a few other things that I will avoid writing here since this is a family blog. I would think Bud dislikes getting booed but he is so in love with his $15 million salary that he does what Tina Turner sang about in "Private Dancer" and "keeps his mind on the money."
I know you wrote about loving the Bud booing, Ken, but I always get the feeling you think Selig has done a good job and, dare I say, harbor some warm thoughts of him.
The following appeared on James Hibberd's The Live Feed:
"In memoriam: The 2008 World Series"
"The World Series has been on a general downward trend for the last several years and this round easily became The Lowest Rated Ever."
"The series averaged 13.6 million viewers, down 14% from the last five-game series in 2006. Compared to last year, the Series was down 20%. Among adults 18-49, the Series averaged a 4.4 rating, down 21%. The Series also included the lowest-rated game ever -- Game 3 was the least-watched Series outing since Nielsen started tracking the Championships in 1968."
Bud is usually accessible so reporters tend to look at him favorably. Look at how Francesa sucks up to him when he is on and how he defends the guy when his name is brought up (like he did on the part of today's show I tolerated). In fact, every single guy I've ever heard Selig be interviewed by seems to think he's great. For one thing he usually calls the interviewer by name. Usually when I hear a famous person being interviewed on the radio, I doubt that person even knows who he/she is talking to never says a name.
I think I've been quite clear regarding my feelings on Selig, JMH. I admit, I do get along with him on a personal level, and Sandy is right: HIs access helps his case.
Grading him as a commissioner, I give him an A for innovation and a D for integrity. I ripped him this past week for pushing Game 5 into a place it shouldn't have been, and also for intending to use the "best interests of the game" power for something with which I didn't agree. And, I defended him for starting Game 5 in the first place and for going forward in Game 3.
So, as always, I am more gray and you are more black and white. Such different perspectives make the world go 'round.
TV ratings don't account for everything. For example they don't measure television audiences in environments outside the home, such as college dormitories, transport terminals, bars, and other public places where television is frequently viewed, often by large numbers of people in a common setting. I gather some people watch the World Series at a bar and the Nielsen ratings don't count that. So while the ratings were down for the World Series the last several years, let's remember the Nielsen ratings don't account for every TV audience.
I am sure Pelfrey will not miss Jacob's long at-bats and clutch hitting against him.
Ken
If the Rays move Price into their starting rotation, do you think they'd make one of their current starters available in a trade? And if so, who?
I didn't follow them too closely this year but I'm guessing it would be Edwin Jackson. What would you think about the Mets pursuing him? I'm wondering if they get outbid for Lowe who they'd be able to go after.
And yes, part of this is selfish on my part - my 5 year old's name is Jackson and it would be awfully cool to get him a Mets jersey with his name on it.
Sure, Jackson absolutely makes some sense, Andy. And the Rays have long had a man-crush on Heilman, so maybe there's the start of something.
Dennis, the ratings have never counted everyone, so it is appropriate to compare them year-to-year. We are still making the same comparisons. Ratings are very important in the industry because they form the basis for advertising rates and ultimately the price networks will pay for the broadcast rights. I never heard anyone else say that ratings aren't important.
JMH, I agree with you that TV ratings are very important. My point is that the Nielsen ratings don't count the audiences at places other than people's home. I'm sure certain Phillies fans were at bars watching the World Series on TV.
Dennis - They NEVER counted those audiences. That's my point. So the comparisons are valid because they are comparing the numbers in the same way. People always went to bars, stood in bus and airport terminals, etc. Viewership is clearly down. I never heard anyone debate this point.
JMH, in my opinion they should count it. Everything audiences should be accounted for.
They can't count those audiences. I'm not sure everyone understands how ratings are done, the technology that is used, etc. In homes, they know how old people are, etc. They need those demographics, etc. In a bar there could be 200 people of every age group. That would make the ratings meaningless. Are you following me?