Ryno PCL Mgr. of the Yr. (UPDATED)
Back at it with a full blog, and we’ll get to today’s Cubs lineup and some rotation juggling. By now you’ve probably read that Ryne Sandberg has been named Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year. The Des Moines Register had the story first, and we’ll keep the link:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100903/SPORTS1402/9030340/100...
The I-Cubs, the big Cubs' Class AAA affiliate, meet Memphis this weekend in a first-place showdown. They're tied for the division lead. The I-Cubs must win three out of four to make the playoffs, as Memphis owns the tiebreakers. While you're at it, check out today's column by me on how it might behoove the Cubs to hire from within:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=405408
The Cubs have tried the "big-name" route with Baylor, Baker and Piniella. All have been overwhelmed, to varying degrees, by Chicago. That won't happen with Sandberg, and Quade knows the deal here, too.
While we’re on Managers of the Year, Tennessee’s Bill Dancy won that honor in the Southern League. The Smokies are headed to the postseason.
GM Jim Hendry is back from Albuquerque, where he did indeed meet with Ryne Sandberg, even if it wasn’t a formal “interview.” You get bet they weren’t at lunch discussing the lovely weather in New Mexico.
“The system’s had a real good year, not just from win-loss point of view but also for the development part,” Jim said this morning on the field. “It’s been a very good year in the system from top to bottom, and Oneri (Fleita) and his staff deserve a lot of credit.”
Jim praised both of his in-house candidates, Sandberg and current manager Mike Quade.
“I think the guys are playing well,” Jim said. “I missed a few games, obviously, being on the road. Saw a few on television. I think the guys are playing hard. I think Mike’s done a real nice job of getting everybody involved and giving people chances and putting people in spots we’d like them to be in so we can see what we got by the end of the year. It’s a combination. It’s not an easy job when you take over with five or six weeks left, and I think he’s off to a real good start. He’s handled himself at the highest level on and off the field.”
Lineup against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey of the Mets:
Fukudome, RF
Castro, SS
Byrd, CF
Ramirez, 3B
Nady, 1B
Soto, C
Soriano, LF
DeWitt, 2B
Wells, P
Soto is back in there, but the Cubs also officially called up catcher Welington Castillo from Iowa. Q was happy to have Soto against Dickey.
“There were several knuckleballers in the PCL,” said Q, who managed at Iowa. “He (Soto) went to an all-star game that year, and the International League starter was a knuckleballer. I can’t remember who the skipper was of the all-star game, but I was begging him. I said, ‘Hit him third. He has had good success against the knuckleballers.’”
The Cubs have tweaked their rotation. After Wells today, it’ll be Carlos Zambrano tomorrow and Ryan Dempster Sunday. From there, the Cubs can go with either Casey Coleman or Carlos Silva, with Silva probably getting the nod on Labor Day. Despite some ugly numbers in Kane County the other night in his rehab start, the Cubs said Silva threw well. A spy told me the radar gun read 91 mph on the fastball.
“Not a lot of great contact against him,” Mike said of Silva. “I guess he gave up a home run on a changeup. The velocities were good.
“Before rehabs were in vogue, I was managing in Macon, Ga., in the Sally League. Early-80s, mid-80s. We had a rehab guy. It was very unusual to come down and pitch for us. He pitched for us and didn’t get out of the third inning. He threw a 1-hit shutout in his next start in the big leagues. Knock on wood, I would love to tell that story again in five days.”
From the handy-dandy game notes: Castro is 71-for-200 (.355) at Wrigley Field this year. He has 72 hits since July 10 to lead the major leagues. He also has 19 doubles since that time, also leading the majors…Fukudome is 26-for-64 (406) since Aug. 3. His OBP is .506 in that span, with an OPS of 1.225.
Here are two interesting hitting lines:
.255/.313/.503 with 19 homers and 50 RBI
.260/.318/.507 with 21 homers and 69 RBI
The top player is Tyler Colvin. The second is Alfonso Soriano.
MINOR-LEAGUE ROUNDUP
Iowa fell 13-3 at Albuquerque, with Austin Bibens-Dirkx working 5 innings and giving up 6 hits and 5 runs. Albuquerque scored 8 runs over the final three innings. Brad Snyder hit his 24th homer, and Marquez Smith extended his hitting streak to five games. He’s 9-for-21 in the streak.
Tennessee lost 6-2 to Jacksonville. Rafael Dolis took the loss, going 5.2 innings and giving up 8 hits and 4 runs. He’s 5-4 with a 4.07 ERA. Catcher Robinson Chirinos, and outfielders Tony Campana and Brandon Guyer were named to the postseason all-star team. Chirinos now is with Iowa.
Daytona (A) won its third straight, beating Clearwater 5-4. Nick Struck got the victory, working 5.1 innings and giving up 5 hits and 3 runs. Rebel Ridling DJ LeMahieu each homered.
Peoria (A) was eliminated from playoff contention, losing 5-3 to Kane County in a rain-shortened game. Logan Watkins hit his first homer.
Boise beat Spokane 1-0. Brent Ebinger got the win, working 5 innings of 2-hit shutout ball. He’s 3-2 with a 3.60 ERA.
Enjoy it all, and keep it here all day.
Cubs should try and find a way to trade for Zack Greinke who wants out of KC.
Combination of Wells, Gorzelanny and perhaps a couple of young pitchers.
Try Marshall as a starter, but we'd have to replace him with a decent short relief.
Sign Victor Martinez to play first base, and be the back up catcher. Nady is decent but also
a Boras client.
1Walton: I agree completely. I actually prepared a spreadsheet of targeted players and possible trades, and Greinke was at the top of the list.
Here are some of my thoughts:
Wells-tradeable from the standpoint that I don't see him developing into a #1 or #2 starter. Same as Gorzelanny.
Second player to target is a #2 starter. I'd say Ricky Nolasco would be the guy to go after.
Trade Soriano to an AL team. He's worth about 8 M a year now, so the Cubs will have to eat 10M a year for the remainder.
I totally agree on Marshall. At 28 he's in his prime. He has the pitches. I see him being a complete sleeper. Easily a #3 starter.
I'd consider moving Ramirez to Seattle for Chone Figgins. Figgins could lead off and play 3rd or second. Give us some much needed speed and better defense.
Okay really...a spreadsheet targeting players? Do you have a life? It's just a game..let it go and just enjoy it. Win or lose, it has no bearing in real life. Dude, take your wife for a dinner and a movie.
So you would trade Aramis Ramirez who not only has had an excellent 2nd half (well since June really) and who only has 14.5 million left on his contract, for Chone Figgins who is a considerably inferior defensive player and who is still owed 27 million over the next 3 years?
Doesn't really seem like a wise move. If you want Figgins, the only way to do it is to work something out with the Mariners on Soriano.
I love Figgins base stealing ability, but he is not a good fielder, and maybe a little like
Bradley, Nyjer Morgan and Rasmus a head case with an overblown ego. Ramirez may not
be the best fielding 3rd baseman, but his stats are up there above a lot of present 3rd baseman. In others words Aramis is not the problem. Besides the Cubs don't really have
a replacement coming up yet for him or a 1st baseman either.
well, since Sandberg has no ML managing experience, than he should never be hired, by any ML team. now that's solved, let's enjoy our weekend.
to say it's harder to win in this city (to me) is BS. cry babies make excuses.
recently Riggleman joined Baker, and now Louie in making that crying statement.
you try, you fail, hold your head up and walk away like a man. if you win, walk away as king forever. lol, you could run for mayor.
it takes, as many have said, players and a good manager. not "the product" on the field only. the manager is part of the field product.
the 1984 Cubs were the best team/product in baseball, didn't make it to the WS.
arguably the Cubs had the best team/product in baseball in 2003 and 2008 under Baker and Louie. didn't get to the WS.
mariners had the best team/product when they won 116 games under Louie and......didn't get to the WS, what was the excuse there?
could Joe, Tony, or Torre won with those teams? we'll never know, but I think we could/should have won at least one of those years. was Ditka a average coach with a great team/product?
worse team/product ever to win a WS against arguably the best team in BB that (2006) year was the way most of baseball's so called experts called the 83 win cardinals, and yes, under Tony LaRussa.
the players/product is always good to have, but without a good manager that product may not be enough.
didn't the hawks fire Savard for Q to put them over the top?
didn't the Bulls fire Collins for Phil to put them over the top?
and the talk of, it's not fair to hire Sandberg cause of the bad team/product is also BS (to me). don't judge him on the 2010 Cubs, judge him on the 2011-12-13 Cubs, if he's hired.
some years back I was hired as a supervisor in the worse department. it was offered to in house people who refused it, that's how bad it was. 2 years later I asked for a huge raise, was offered 1/2 so I left, leaving the best department in the place. oh, it was the first job as a supervisor for me, no prior experience.
the perception seems like Hendry has done everything to discourage Ryno, so give him this bad team/product. if he's good, things can only get better.
I'm getting the steaks, beer ready for this holiday with family, you do the same hear. lol
Personally, it is a tie to what is more annoying to read---Goniou's unhappiness about Sandberg potentially becoming the manager, or these damn Air Jordan ads that should be banished from blog sites.
So maybe Sandberg is not an eloquent speaker by some of your standards. I can give a s*** how he comes across to the media; what matters to me is how he communicates to his players and coaches. And, apparently, he IS very skilled at that, because his players have responded successfully over the last four years and love to play for him. And, with the constant player-train to Chicago in shuffling players in and out of Des Moines, Sandberg seems to handle roster adversity very well.
Is his baseball strategy good? Well, success over the last four years shows he must have a good idea of what line-ups to start, when to change pitchers, when to bunt, hit-and-run, steal a base, etc etc. I ask you Goniou, show us where Ryno has failed at that.
Sandberg is most familiar with what it takes to win games at Wrigley. I would take his playing experience there over other candidates. Just like Fergie and Maddux are the best at knowing on how to pitch at Wrigley. Hiring a previous player is not necessarily a wrong move.
You know, I like Lou and was happy to see him come to the Cubs. But, in reality, he won one championship in all of his years managing, and he did have some very strong Mariner teams (featuring two Hall-of-Famers in Griffey and Johnson and two more potential ones in Edgar Martinez and ARod), but never took the Mariners to the World Series.
I am happy with the idea of Sandberg becoming the manager. If he fails, well, he fails. But, if this team is going to be leaning on the youth of the organization for the next few years, who better to have than the candidate with the most experience managing and developing that talent?
On the idea of Loney and Dunn for first base, please forget both of those candidates. A Nady-Hoffpauir platoon at first is fine with me for one year, and then see if Adrian Gonzalez is someone that can be affordable for 2012 and beyond. Money assigned for this off-season should be geared toward top-quality pitching talent, hopefully a Cliff Lee (for four-years max). If we sign Lee, I would then re-direct toward bringing Lilly back for a few years, and trade off Randy Wells and maybe Carlos Silva. A Lee-Zambrano-Lilly-Dempster-Gorlzelany rotation would be strong, and allow Archer, jackson, and Carpenter one more year of mastering three-four pitches as future starters.
I agree with the thought of moving Soriano, even if it means swallowing $40-50 million of the remaining contract obligation. We will obviously be inexpensive next year at first, second, short, catcher, and left field. Not to mention the few million a year we save from not having a veteran manager.
I really agree with the suggested platoon at first, especially if it will allow money to pursue Lee and Lilly. As much as I agree that the Soriano contract is the poster child for terrible deals, at this point I say "hope for the best" from him in left field. I would wait another couple years until he is nearer the end of his contract. Perhaps then he might be moved to a team in AL to HD. Swallowing millions by forcing him out and replacing him certainly would impair the Cubs ownership's desire/ability to spend where also needed.
Why are those annoying spam ads allowed on here anyway
I'm working on it. I delete them whenever I can. Hopefully, we can get some sort of spam filter or some such. They annoy me more than they do you.
I was unsure how and why they were allowed. Did not know if, perhaps, you even HAD to allow as a result of some wacky regulation. Well, they are a pain but your writing and the discussion it stimulates are top notch!
BTW, Mark Prior is on his way back...again.
It would be really wasteful and not very wise to just waive Soriano's contract. Granted he's a liability on defense but a guy that puts up an .800 OPS and hits 20+ homers a year has some value. I'd say he's worth about 8 Million a year at this point in his career.
If the Cubs are willing to eat the other 10 Million per year for the remaining years, I'd say an American League team would definetely take him as their DH. I think the Red Sox could be a destination, as could the Yankees or the Angels.
All in all the Cubs' defense is horrible. The left side with Ramirez, Castro and Soriano is just awful. Upgrading their defense has to be an off season priority.
Bruce, do you think the Cubs would even consider trading Marmol if they got back the right prospect, say a Jesus Montero who could be our next 1st baseman. Just an example, I don't know if the Yankees or Cubs would do that. I just know it is easier to replace a closer than almost anything else on the team and the Yankees would love to have a setup man to eventually replace Rivera.
He'll be only a second-year arb guy. I don't see them trading him.
Probably the Cubs most valuable potential trading chip. I don't see the Cubs moving Castro or Soto at all, so Marmol is probably next, given lack of salary and production.
I would guess you are right, but I would think about it if I were GM.
Bruce,
Nady had a very good August as you well know. What's the reason? Was it fluke (randomness) or getting consistent plate appearances or is he finally just healthy? Interested in your thoughts.
Also, do you think the Cubs plan on keeping him for 2011 as a starting 1B, or at the very least a 4th OF/back-up 1B? I was very surprised the Cubs didn't deal him before August 31 (assumed some contender might need an extra bat), which led me to believe he might be in their plans for next year.
Hoops
From everybody I talked to, including Lou, it was a matter of at-bats. I know Lou felt Nady would have benefited from some early ABs in the minor leagues, but that wasn't in the plans. I don't know if they cut a deal with Boras on that or not. It was interesting, though, that Boras was on the conference call when they signed Nady. Never experienced that one before.
They might have come close with the Giants near July 31, but after that, there were virtually no calls on Nady. It's an interesting question about next year. I'd say he's not coming back, but we'll know more soon after the season ends.
I think I would rather have Nady playing every day at 1st base, than Loney. Can't win with either of them, but given the choice and the cost of players to the Dodgers, Nady would be the better choice.
I would agree with what Len and Bob said about Soriano's defense. It has been clearly better this year, coming in, going left and right. However, part of defense is being able to go back on the ball. Soriano cost the Cubs at least 2 runs in the first. Those runs would have been prevented by a better defensive player. When Soriano was a better offensive threat, I think you could live with defensive misplays. I don't think you can with the current version of Soriano.
Bruce, is it possible that the Cubs would consider releasing Soriano, putting Colvin in LF, Byrd in CF, and keeping Fukudome in RF for next year? You add a lefty at 1st base, and then the Cubs would have 4 lefties in the lineup most days. Then the next season, Byrd can shift to RF, and Brett Jackson can take over in CF.
Colvin is a better player both offensively and defensively at this point (as evidenced by your post, basically equal stats, even though Colvin has 100 fewer plate appearances) and Colvin theoretically should be able to improve while Soriano should continue to decline. I think the change could result in as many as 5 additional wins for the Cubs, if you consider both offense and defense.
Not with four years left on that bloated contract.
Money aside, do you think the Cubs would be better on the field if they released Soriano and played Colvin if LF almost every day?
Colvin isn't as good as Soriano.
What makes you say that? Colvin has been quite a bit better vs RH pitching, nearly as good vs LH pitching, and way better defensively and on the bases.
Plus, I think Colvin will get better next year and over the next couple of years. And I think Soriano will continue to get worse. Of course, there is no proof of that, other than typical career paths given their ages.
But it's a moot point.
Thats too bad that a bad financial decision has to hurt not only the bottom line and restrict other movement, but also require you to play an inferior player in the field over someone with more upside.
I would think at some point you just right it off and count it as a sunk cost, and move on. The money will be paid either way, might as well get the best production possible out of the position.
Maybe Soriano will surprise us and have a comeback year next year.
... that Sori has had a comeback year. OPS of 833, which is about 100+ points higher than last year. If you look at LFs with 300 or more plate apperances, Soriano's OPS ranks 5th. If he's in that 7-hole, I think the Cubs (and fans) can live with the .320 OBP and .515 SLG.
He has had a comeback year, but nearly all of his damage has been against LH pitching. .953 OPS vs LH, .727 vs RH. Plus his defense costs the Cubs runs on a regular basis.
... though the split numbers you just showed suggest they should!
is that Soriano is such a streaky hitter, if you platoon him, it makes it more difficult for him to find that groove where he can actually carry a team for a couple of weeks. I am not sure he is capable of that anymore, but maybe.
Would be nice if he would start doing that a little more.
I'll stay out of the Ryno as Manager debate. Instead, I'll approach it from the other side. Nostalgia and feel good aside, does anyone not believe that Fredi Gonzalez would be a better manager for the Cubs than Sandberg?
Hoops
1. The new manager should come in already knowing what Chicago's like when things are going poorly: nothing short of a miracle will turn the Cubs into a *legitimate* World Series contender this off-season, so the new guy shouldn't be someone who'll get blindsided by the reaction to a.) a losing season, b.) failure to make the playoffs, or c.) failure to win in the playoffs. Sandberg knows already; Gonzalez would have to find out the hard way, like Piniella did (and we know now how Piniella reacted after he found out).
2. It would help the new manager a lot if he were already familiar with the Cubs minor league personnel. It appears to me the days of $140M payrolls are over, at least until the Ricketts family can unwind some of the debt it took on to buy the team. At the same time, some of the big contracts that boosted the payroll into nonuple digits aren't going away any time soon. Of necessity, then, the Cubs will have to find inexpensive solutions to some problems -- and no options from outside the organization are more inexpensive than the guys in the minor league system. Sandberg knows a lot of these guys (and has won with them); Gonzalez doesn't.
These same points are in Mike Quade's favor. I think they're important -- a lot more important than benching Hanley Ramirez for acting like Hanley Ramirez.
Nice post, and I agree with you about the importance of the manager understanding all that is "Cubs baseball". I think one thing Ryno would bring is a special excitement with the players, media and fans, which could go a long ways in helping the Cubs overcome the huge obstacle they've been trying to hurdle for the last century. Basically, he might just be the guy who, if he can get that snowball rolling, might just continue to grow that snowball and gain enough momentum to get this thing done. I'm a huge Sandberg fan and I don't get the sentiment about him losing respect or adoration with Cub fans should he be elected manager and fail to win the WS like so many before him have done.
There is no front-runner. Careful what you read.
I'm asking "all else equal" is Fredi better equipped to manage the Cubs than Ryno?
He might well be. I liked him when Hendry interviewed him the first time. Thought he would have been good then.
I've seen a lot of random baseball blogs discussing how the Dodgers may be willing to move James Loney this offseason as they are not satisfied with how his power numbers have developed. Think the Cubs would make a run at him and see if a division filled with hitters ballparks would give his HR total a boost? He's been a consistent hitter for average and has driven in runs (granted he's had a lot of runners on base to drive in) and plays a respectable 1B. Oh, he's also a lefty. I believe he's set to earn around $5M next year through arbitration.
Give him a shot at Wrigley and if he doesn't work out at least you're not on the hook for 4 years @ $15M/each.
Loney is a doubles hitter. He racks up rbi's despite the fact he's not a home run hitter. He's actually similiar to Grace.
That said, Wrigley is not a great doubles park. I think Loney would do well in a big park like Colorado but not so much in Wrigley.
Read an article over at BP the other day and the writer basically wrote a list of thing the Cubs can/should look into this offseason in order to become at least somewhat competitive while pretty much rebuilding at the same time. They mentioned Loney as a possible match for the Cubs due to the fact that he's an FA next year and the whole change of scenery idea. They thought Marlon Byrd is a guy who should be used to acquire either an arm or a first base bat, and specifically mentioned Byrd for Loney might be a good deal for both clubs. Keep in mind that if Loney doesn't work out as a cheap alternative, we could go into the FA market looking at guys like Adrian and Prince. I'm all for getting James Loney at the right price. I love Adam Dunn, but I would hate to put ourselves out of the market for those two guys next year. This isn't a WS champ with Adam Dunn, so let's start cutting some dollars by not overspending like we have in the past. Unless we can get a guy like Cliff Lee, I'd like to stay away from the majority of this overall weak FA class.
Personally, I would rather have Adam Dunn at 1st base for the next 3 years, (even considering his defense) at somewhere around 10 - 12 million a year, than having to deal with Boras for Fielder who is no better offensively, no better defensively, and going to decline much faster (in my opinion) than Dunn. Boras has already said he is using Ryan Howard's 25 million a year as a starting point for Fielder. Thats crazy.
I am all for paying Adrian Gonzalez though. If that is the plan, I will suffer through a year of Nady, Loney, or even Hoffpauir.
http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/4594
We were all over that BP article the other day and had a good discussion. It's a thought.
tks for reposting.
The BP writer was outlining some directions the Cubs could take as a whole, so I'm not going to nick-pick on the parts (and ambiguous details), since it's not a real SABR analysis that explains why some of her choices could work.
One thing, though:
"The Reds' opportunity relies on equal doses of home cooking... and choice discards..., not unlike the Brewers' bid a couple of years ago, but just as Milwaukee wasn't a division-cracking powerhouse, Cincinnati is not one now, and looks unlikely to become one."
She missed the point about the playoff. And she missed what made (watch this past tense here) Cincy good. The fact is the Reds HAVE BEEN playing good baseball since the end of last season. I was still checking the numbers of different teams, and I was surprised that Baker and Co. outhit and outpitched almost every opponent they faced. They made even some "power houses" such as STL to fall on their knees, in that span of a month or more.
Back to the playoff... Before the first pitch was made in NLDS 2009, would any one claim the Dodgers rotation better than the Cards? The Dodgers rotation put down the Central Division pennant to peace.
We can go back in to time, and nobody would expect the Rockies to get into the World Series; no expert could find a reason why the Tigers could sweep 7 games and get into the World Series only to be humiliated by a Cardinals team with less power pitching and perhaps less pitching overall.
Is the postseason a crapshoot? I don't know. But it's not who's more of a "power house" (with more "real" talents, I guess...) and who's not that makes a team move to the next level in October. I wonder if she loosely defined those terms and perhaps didn't even think twice about those terms again.
Hit the nail on the head...might be the best comment I've seen in awhile.
Here's the problem with James Loney. His overall OPS is 0.738, which is poor. And his road OPS (.716) is worse than his home OPS (.761), which is a scary thought in itself.
Just say no.
Didn't say he was going to put up Votto / Pujols numbers, but hitting in the NL Central may give his lifetime .790 OPS a boost. Could his low road OPS be attributed to the fact that a lot of his road ABs come in SD and SF instead of Cincy and Pittsburgh? The guy is 26 and should be coming into his prime, so to me it's worth a shot if the price is right.
Bruce,
You know the people involved - Hendry, Sandberg, Quade. If Sandberg were offered the job of MLB Cubs manager, would Quade accept the role of Sandberg's bench coach?
A chance to reward both? Gives Quade enough recognition to get a shot at another MLB managing position in a few years? Or too many cooks spoiling the broth at Wrigley?
I'll do some checking on this, but the Cubs and Dodgers have a history of trading.
A couple of different media types discussed this idea today. I don't know how much, if at all, the Cubs have discussed such an idea, but it could work.
That's what I believe. I love Sandberg as much as the next guy, but this predestiny of him being named Cub manager makes me sick.
Sandberg is Hall of Fame version of Jim Essian in the dugout. Meaning his greatest strength will be clapping a lot from his dugout seat.
has no facts, and no evidence to support you. He has done everything asked of him. He has not be predestined to manage the Cubs. He has done everything possible to earn the right to be considered as a potential candidate as manager of the Cubs. He managed at every level of the minors and won at every level. With different players of different ages.
No one will better understand the Chicago media. No one will better understand playing at Wrigley Field. No one had a better work ethic than Sandberg.
I think he will demand excellence and hustle from the team. As a HOFer, he should command everyone respect. Does he understand sabermetrics? I don't know. Does he know how to manage a pitching staff? I don't know. Can he communicate effectively with his players? I don't know, but I lean to yes on this one.
Will he be successful? I don't know. What I do know is there is no reason to assume that he won't (other than no other Cubs manager in the last 102 years has won a WS).
When people talk about Sandberg making a good manager the default logic is always "he'll demand excellence," or words to that affect. What precisely do these cliched phrases mean?!?! Didn't Jim Riggleman and Don Baylor and Bruce Kimm and Dusty Baker and Lou Piniella "demand excellence"?!?! Weren't Baylor, Baker and Piniella all well respectd and skilled baseball players for a long time?!?!? Baylor, Baker and Piniella each won World Series as players. And Baker took the 2002 Giants to the World Series while Piniella won the 1990 World Series while managing the Reds.
And more importantly, what are the TANGIBLE things Sandberg brings to the dugout in terms of strategy for winning, baseball execution, managing a pitching staff, lineup construction, the use of statistics, etc.?!?!?