Saturday, October 20, 2007
What will be Bak(ing) in the oven now?
On October 15, The Cincinnati Reds announced that
Dusty Baker would be their new manager. They have signed him to a three year deal worth approximately $3 million per year.
My initial reaction mirrored this, this, Which is to say "Dusty Baker?! Are you kidding me? Why him?" But after some reflection, I think the move was a good one by the Reds. His record does indeed speak for itself and it sounds better than what Dave Miley, Jerry Narron and Bob Boone all put out. It must be pointed out that some in the blogosphere wanted a "name" manager, not some johhny-come-lately like the aforementioned men above. Well, you have your wish. True, there were "bigger" names out there at the time, but I honestly could not see either Tony LaRussa or Joe Torre coming here to Cincinnati.
I think this is a big time move and I agree with Lance McCallister on this one: I will give Dusty the benefit of the doubt. According to Lance's stats, Baker stacks up pretty well with past managers. Let's wait and see what happens in the offseason and how Dusty goes about his business. He may surprise everyone and actually get the guys to play hard and to hustle, but you never know. The man can only do so much and it is imperative that the front office of the Reds give Dusty some players to work with, particularly pitchers. I think the Reds are starting in the right direction with this hiring.
Dusty Baker would be their new manager. They have signed him to a three year deal worth approximately $3 million per year.
My initial reaction mirrored this, this, Which is to say "Dusty Baker?! Are you kidding me? Why him?" But after some reflection, I think the move was a good one by the Reds. His record does indeed speak for itself and it sounds better than what Dave Miley, Jerry Narron and Bob Boone all put out. It must be pointed out that some in the blogosphere wanted a "name" manager, not some johhny-come-lately like the aforementioned men above. Well, you have your wish. True, there were "bigger" names out there at the time, but I honestly could not see either Tony LaRussa or Joe Torre coming here to Cincinnati.
I think this is a big time move and I agree with Lance McCallister on this one: I will give Dusty the benefit of the doubt. According to Lance's stats, Baker stacks up pretty well with past managers. Let's wait and see what happens in the offseason and how Dusty goes about his business. He may surprise everyone and actually get the guys to play hard and to hustle, but you never know. The man can only do so much and it is imperative that the front office of the Reds give Dusty some players to work with, particularly pitchers. I think the Reds are starting in the right direction with this hiring.
Labels: baseball, Cincinnati, manager, Reds
