Who is considered the best manager in MLB today? I’m not just talking about win-lose records either. Who garners the most respect from players, coaches, owners, etc?
Now that Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa are retired, I’m not sure there is a consensus answer. Bruce Bochy, Bob Melvin and Joe Maddon are pretty high on my personal list.
Terry Francona and Buck Showalter are at least as high on the list as anybody else, too.
Mike Sciosia as well.
I agree with previous posts. I’m just adding Lloyd McClendon as very impressive this year, given some serious challenges.
It hurts me to say, but I’d vote for Bruce Bochy.
I’d throw my vote in for Maddon, though Bochy, Showalter, and Francona certainly know how to not fuck it up with the best of them.
Rick Renteria of the Cubs. Getting the most of the young talent. Playoffs next season easily.
Bochy.
Since the Cards finished first in their division, 18 games above 50/50, and had a very low excess runs margin, one could argue that the manager who made the most difference was Matheny.
2013 he didn’t have much to do but decide who to send to the plate to get the hit with runners in scoring position, setting a record by a huge margin…
2014 his starters weren’t as good as advertised; his relievers were spotty; his new talent didn’t quickly live up to expectations (but are getting there); the ‘help’ he got from Mozeliak at the trading deadline proved to be pretty terrible…yet they won the division…
Hard to argue against the facts – Matheny did the best managing job in the NL, got the most out of the least.
I actually am most impressed by Terry Collins of the Mets. He got 79 wins out of maybe (If I’m generous) 60 wins worth of talent. And his best player (David Wright) had a relatively crappy season.
I like to think Terry Francona is pretty great for getting so many wins out of so few runs and so many errors.
But why were there so few runs and so many errors? Fuck.
He is working with a lot of talent but they are playing way below their potential. If and when the Tribe has their dominating 2015 season he can be manager of the decade. But this year it wouldn’t be a disappointment if he got passed over.
I’m probably biased, but you have to give some recognition to Clint Hurdle, after leading the Pirates to their first winning season in over 20 years. (Seriously, the joke around here before was “City of Champions…and the Pirates”)
Bochy.
He has some classic moments, like catching Don Mattingly accidentally visiting the mound twice and getting the Dodgers’ closer removed (the Giants won the game off the next pitcher). Apparently the correct decision by the umpires would have been to eject Mattingly himself rather than removing the closer, but still.
More importantly, you can’t say enough about the respect he has from his players. He left Barry Zito (the 126 million dollar man) off the playoff roster in 2010, then Zito became a playoff hero in 2012. He barely let Pablo Sandoval play in 2010, putting him in only one world series game. Then Pablo was the world series MVP in 2012. Lincecum was the hero in 2010, then was moved to the bullpen in 2012. These all seemed like moves that could blow up for the player, but they all worked.
Joe Maddon.
Matheny is still young and inexperienced. He may well someday deserve consideration as best manager in MLB, but he’s not there yet.
AFAIK he’s well-liked and respected; but he has been criticized by some fans for his in-game decisions and for playing “his guys” even when they don’t seem to give the team the best chance to win.
Matheny is an extremely poor in-game manager. His decision to continue playing Allen Craig in RF basically forced his GM to trade Craig away just to fix the situation. He continues to bunt in ill-advised situation, and made a number of double-switches that defied all reason.
That said, he seems to be a decent leader, and is improving (marginally) tacitically.
My answer is Showalter, with nods to Maddon and Hurdle. The Orioles ran away with the AL East (no mean feat) and I’m still not entirely sure how.
I thought of this thread when I saw this article making the case that Bruce Bochy is the best manager in baseball.
I agree with these four.
Saw that too. They didn’t come out and say it, but the logical extension of their arguments is that Bochy is a HoF manager. Not ready to go that far, yet.