More on Torre and Girardi

by Adam J. Morris on Oct 30, 2007 9:07 PM CDT in News

Keith Law has a column up, explaining why he believes Joe Girardi is probably a better fit for the Yanks going forward than Joe Torre...

And in reading it, there are a few paragraphs that jumped out at me:

Torre showed himself to be a strong manager of a veteran club with defined roles for most of its members, above all those in his bullpen. But when presented with competitions for specific jobs, or with a bullpen without a clear hierarchy of usage, he struggled.

Perhaps the biggest criticism of Torre is that he did not have any track record of developing young starters. Andy Pettitte already had a full year of above-average pitching under his belt when Torre arrived in 1996, leaving Chien-Ming Wang as the only starter to reach the majors under Torre and develop into a starter with the team.

Torre's track record with St. Louis in the early 1990s wasn't much better, with highly touted Allen Watson never panning out and Donovan Osborne blowing out, but with Ken Hill flourishing after one season under Torre and then a trade to Montreal.

There were some cries for the Rangers to ax Ron Washington and hire Torre when news broke that he wasn't going to stay in New York, including Jim Reeves' column lamenting that Tom Hicks is too cheap to hire Torre.

But does anyone -- even Reeves -- want the Rangers to bring in a manager who is "a strong manager of a veteran club," but who struggles when players are competing for jobs? And whose track record for developing young starters is as poor as Torre's?

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Well I'll be ________

I have always had some curiousity about Torre's managing, perceiving that he was rather robotic. But I couldn't pin down why. Law's item you just posted makes it clear as a bell. Thanks!

'At Georgia Southern, we don't cheat. That costs money and we don't have any.' Erk Russell / Georgia Southern

by Ed Coffin on Oct 30, 2007 9:24 PM CDT reply actions

That and a dime...

Kreidler speculates on how ARod would fit with the Dodgers:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?id=3087385

by hightowersmith on Oct 30, 2007 9:32 PM CDT reply actions

Kreidler

That was one of the better written articles I've read on Espn's web site in a while. Perhaps not saying much, but good sports writing is nice to read when one can find it.

But that river of tears has dried for all of us.

by trza on Oct 30, 2007 10:48 PM CDT up reply actions

umm...

How many young starters has he really had to work with in the first place? Until the recent youth revival, the yanks seemed content to trade anyone and everyone in the minors.

The only "big name" prospect pitcher I that even reached the majors off the top of my head was Brandon Claussen, and he was traded after getting only one start for Aaron Boone.

by ksf42001 on Oct 30, 2007 9:46 PM CDT reply actions

Bottom line

Managers make very little diffence for a team. They actually can hurt a team much easier than they can help.

Bob Brenly may be the worst tactical manager of all time and he won a World Series. I'm sure there are guys out there that always make the right decisions and never win.

In the end, in baseball maybe more than any other sport, the players win the games. Just make sure that your manager doesn't kill you.

by badradiorules on Oct 31, 2007 2:42 PM CDT reply actions