Well, today’s the first day of the post season for 22 teams. That usually means the managerial carosuel gets going, and this offseason is no different. The Cubs announced today that they’ve parted ways with Dusty Baker. Frank Robinson is already out in Washintgon. It’s probably the worst kept secret in baseball that the Marlins will likely let Joe Girardi go after one (really good) season. There’s several others who are expected to be on their way out, including Felipe Alou in San Francisco (update: Alou’s gone now), possibly Charlie Manuel in Philly (although not likely), and I’m sure some others too who I’m not sure about. And of course if you believe the local media, our own Buck Showalter. If Buck goes, are any of these guys on the carosuel the ones you want replacing William Nathaniel Showalter? If he was about 10 years younger, I’d be all over Felipe Alou, I’ve always thought he was a great manager, but I’m not so sure about now. Girardi is rumoured to be the same style of manager that Showalter was, so that’s not likely to happen, even though I’d like to have him. I think the choice of Showalter’s replacement, should there be one, is probably not on the carousel.
I wonder how much love the franchise would generate from the fans if they named Rusty Greer the next manager? Or, as been rumoured giving the job to Rudy Jaramillo as he was up for the Mets job, and then hire Rusty Greer as the hitting coach? I see a love of fan generated love in that, and I’m sure the current core players would like to see that kind of move, I would think. I’m not personally convinced that Showalter needs to be removed, but then again I’m not in the dugout or the front office, either.
On the non managerial side, there’s also a good article over at MLB Trade Rumours about Gary Matthews Jr. free agency. Man, I seriously hope we hang on to him. We finally found a center fielder that works. As I’ve said before, we need to give him some of the money that would have gone to Carlos Lee, and let Lee go. I’d rather the Rangers make a run at Soriano again to play left field instead of Lee.