nypost.com/2023/09/16/another-analytics-...

I’m not Pythagoras. I’m more like ****icus. In math, once I have to carry the one, I’m in trouble. But if I were to spin a wheel that carried 30 numbers and all were, say, the number 12, I’d conclude that chances are the wheel will stop on a 12.

So the speculation has begun on who will replace Yankees manager Aaron Boone next season, when and if the team humanely releases him from his and fans’ misery.

And that’s where the wheel stops on a 12.

Who, in 2023, manages baseball teams any better or worse? Who defies the absurd code of modern analytics and pregame scripts to instead play winning, here-and-now baseball based on what’s happening rather than perfect-world, spread-sheeted robotics?

Already, Craig Counsell’s name has come to the fore. The Brewers manager’s teams have been fairly successful, as they’ve qualified for the playoffs four times in the past eight seasons. And his contract is expiring.

And someone has to win more than they lose in battles to find illogical ways to lose.

But is Counsell fundamentally different from Boone or, for that matter, any other current MLB manager?

Boone and Counsell have much in common. Both first made their MLB livings playing hard, advancing runners and taking advantage of their opportunities and in-game circumstances. But neither of them manages their teams that way.

In fact, over the past nearly nine seasons, the Brewers, with Counsell at the wheel, have pitched a total of just five complete games.

Counsell was a teammate of starting pitchers such as Livan Hernandez, Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson and others who regularly threw stacks of complete games per season.

Counsell, as does Boone, yanks effective relievers after they go 1-2-3 in favor of the next scripted pitcher.

Last week at Yankee Stadium, the Brewers, in the 10th inning, had runners on first and second with none out. No better time to bunt the runners over. Instead, Andruw Monasterio swung away the whole at-bat and grounded into a double play. The Brewers lost in 13.

Though such “strategy” is no longer surprising, the difference between Counsell the player and Counsell manager is impossible to miss or dismiss.

But ’round and ’round we go, where the wheel stops, well, we already kinda know.

Sep 19, 2023 -- 3:39PM, 1955nyyfan wrote:

Sep 19, 2023 -- 2:58PM, hampfan wrote:

Sep 19, 2023 -- 12:53PM, 1955nyyfan wrote:

IMO, Boone will be back. IMO, the job he did this year is hard to evaluate because of a very flawed roster and significant injuries. While we may argue about whether Bauers should bat 5th or 8th, or if we should have used Abreu or Ramirez in the 7th, the fact of the matter is there isn't enough talent on the current roster. If Boone were to be let go and Cashman retained, that would be a move to appease fans and would fall into the category of chickenshit. 

Re your last sentence: But the reverse wouldn't be.

If Cash were let go the new GM would most likely hire his guy to replace Boone. 

There have been plenty of GM changes without managerial changes.  It may limit the pool of GM candidates that want their control but it isn't necessarily a deal breaker.