Dusty Baker Should Never Manage Again
Dusty Baker is horrible. All this guy does is make excuses. He is a horrible manager. He has ruined Kerry Wood and Mark Prior forever. I am shocked he didn’t destroy Carlos Zambrano. It’s a wonder he still has an arm, let alone a healthy arm.
He handles pitchers horribly. In addition to destroying Wood and Prior, his abuse of pitchers has ended Rob Nenn’s and Chad Fox’s careers prematurely. He has no regard for pitch counts. In 2003, Wood and Prior were 1-2 in pitches thrown. Prior was only 240 behind Wood, and he missed 3 starts that year. Zambrano was 7th that year also.
He also does not like to give young players a fair chance. He puts them in position to fail, and he unfairly passes them over in favor of unproductive veterans who have “earned” it b/c of what they have done in the past. He plays kids some, yes, but he still found a way to get Neifi Perez 236 at-bats in 87 games w/ the Cubs this season and 572 AB in 153 games last year. Way too many. Dusty only played a lot of kids AFTER his hand was forced due to injuries.
Neifi is good to give a guy a day off here or there, and for late-innings defense. He gives stupid reasons for playing veterans over young players even when his teams are out of it, saying last September that he “had to play veterans” to “maintain the integrity of the post-season races.”
His ideas on hitting are just absurd. He does not value walks and disregards OBP. He believes that walks clog the bases for guys who can run. Can someone explain to me how walks clog the bases, but singles don’t?? He believes great hitters are wild swingers. This, despite the fact he managed Barry Bonds for 10 years in SF, the all time leader in walks.
He is an incompetent manager. Do not be fooled by his record or his 3 manager of the year awards. He won in SF b/c of the talent he had, same in Chicago his 1st 2 years. When Derrek Lee went down, he just moved Todd Walker over to 1st base, put him in Lee’s spot in the lineup, and put Neifi where Walker usually was, batting and playing 2nd. He said Aramis Ramirez would have to step up and be “the man”. Well he never got the chance to be “the man.” He just played the injury card, saying “I need my horses.” He never addressed the issue of winning without his stars. Good managers find a way to win even w/ injuries to marquee personal.
I understand there is nothing you can do about Lee getting hurt, nor is there any way you can plan for it. I also understand you can’t call up your top 2 1B prospects b/c 1 has a broken foot, and the other is stinking it up. Fine. But Jerry Hairston was on the bench. He could have come in, played 2B, and the Cubs could have been more of a scrap team like the 2003 Marlins were. The only major power on that team was Mike Lowell, and some from Pudge and Lee. When Lowell went down, the Marlins didn’t whine. They kept winning. They found a way to get Miguel Cabrera on the field and get his bat in the lineup, and Lee stepped up as well. Maybe you find a way to get Felix Pie on the field so you can have his bat. Maybe convert him to 1B or move Jones or Murton there. The point is, the Cubs could have kept winning w/o Lee, but Dusty just used it as an opportunity to play Neifi.
And while Lee was out, players like Jacque Jones were not performing. Dusty kept batting him ahead of Matt Murton and Ronny Cedeno, b/c Murton and Cedeno are the kids, and Jones is the veteran, even though Murton and Cedeno were doing better than Jones. He has no regard for riding the hot bat if the player is young. If it were Neifi or Jones, he’d have “earned” a week in the lineup. The double-standard he has is clear.
With Lee gone, his lineup should have been like this:
1. Pierre – CF
2. Walker – 1B
3. Ramirez – 3B
4. Barrett – C
5. Murton – LF
6. Cedeno – SS
7. Jones – RF
8. Hairston – 2B
His double-standards extend to the rotation as well. With Wood and Prior injured, the Cubs had to go w/ a makeshift rotation. Big Z and Mad Dog were the only constants. Sean Marshall was an amazing success when starting the season in the rotation. That left the final 2 spots to be rounded out by Glendon Rusch and a bunch of kids from the minors.
All of them were inconsistent. One good outing would keep the kids up until they got roughed up. Rusch would “earn” 3-4 starts if he did good. Yes, Jim Hendry did not give him much to work with, but in any sport, in order for young players to develop, you have to let them play thru their struggles/mistakes. Dusty has shown he will not do that. All he’s concerned about is winning immediately, even when a season is lost.
His act is tired, his ideas are stupid, his rationale is irrational. He should never be a manager again. Winning does not make you an automatic success. Being named Manager of the Year does not make you an automatic success. Dusty is not a success. His faults outweigh his strengths. He is a horrible manager.