In what was a total shock, the Arizona Diamondbacks fired general manager, Josh Byrnes, and manager, A. J. Hinch, were fired yesterday. The pair paid the price of an awful half a season where many picked the team to be in contention. Instead the team is locked in last place for the second straight season in the NL West.
Byrnes has been considered a bit of a wunderkind and was signed to a big extension a few years ago. His personnel decisions were once touted as he brought in young players like Stephen Drew and Upton. But those young players have stalled in becoming the big stars their talent predicted them to be and both, along with Mark Reynolds, are in the top 25 in the league in strikeouts. Reynolds and Upton are one and two on that list.
Byrnes has to take responsibility for a bullpen that has failed in epic proportions and as the Fan mentioned in his post last night, the D-Backs are near the bottom of the 30 team list in OPS+, ERA+ and fielding efficiency. The Fan had mentioned earlier in the season that general managers weren't facing the same kinds of scrutiny for failure that managers were. This is one case were the GM was seen as part of the problem.
But you know, things happen and Byrnes will find another job. He seems to be a bright guy and his personnel decisions just didn't work out...yet. A. J. Hinch on the other hand admitted just a short while ago that, "This group hasn't responded that well to me." Gosh, why don't you just run the white flag up there?
Hinch's record with the D-Backs of 89-123 over parts of two seasons indicate that he was correct. The Diamondbacks have some talent but that talent hasn't been able to burst through. It seemed obvious that Hinch wasn't capable of pulling that kind of performance out of his players.
So now Kirk Gibson is in charge, at least for now. And now the Bobby Valentines of the world have another team to consider. It's too bad. Hinch seemed like a nice guy and the Fan was appreciative that he gave Edwin Jackson that opportunity for the no-hitter last week despite the pitch count. Unfortunately, the bottom line isn't pretty and somebody had to pay the price.
Showing posts with label A. J. Hinch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A. J. Hinch. Show all posts
Friday, July 02, 2010
Friday, June 04, 2010
For Orioles and D-backs: Manager Change?
The Baltimore Orioles have lost eight in a row. The Arizona Diamondbacks have lost ten in a row. When teams are performing that badly, how much blame falls on each team's manager? Will a change in leadership help at this point or are bad teams just going to be bad teams? Are the players still playing hard for them? Is the manager still upbeat and fighting every game for a win? Those are the kinds of questions these two teams will have to decide in the next couple of days or weeks. Let's look at them individually.
Baltimore Orioles - Manager: David Trembley
Analysis: Trembley is in his third year at the helm of those Baltimore Orioles. Though it is somewhat understandable that the team is committed to building from within, the young players like Wieters, Reimold, Adam Jones, Matusz and Bergesen are not growing and are regressing. That doesn't speak well to Trembley or his staff of coaches. Of course it can't be blamed on the manager if veterans brought in like Lugo, Izturis and Atkins all bomb. The bottom line here is that the youth are not being served and the Orioles' record has regressed for the third year in a row under Trembley. There have been some stories out there that the executive branch of the Orioles is considering a change as a mercy killing. In other words, let Trembley go before he has to suffer too much. That, friends, is a smoke screen. A clean sweep of the entire on-field staff needs to occur before these kids get too messed up. After watching most of the last three Orioles - Yankees games, Trembley's body language is terrible. He just stands there stoically in the dugout. Not good. Would Bobby Valentine take this club?
Arizona Diamondbacks - Manager: A. J. Hinch
Analysis: A. J. Hinch is only 36 years old and only six years removed from his rather mediocre playing career. Does he command enough respect to lead this group of young players? And make no mistake about it, the D-Backs are young. When the Diamondbacks won their World Series title in 2001, they were an average age of 31.9. They now average 26.7 years of age. The offense is okay and can improve a lot if Justin Upton gets going and Connor Jackson can get back. Mark Reynolds is off to a slow start as is Chris Young. But their offense (though it leads the lead in strikeouts) is third in the NL in slugging and sixth in OPS. Four of the five starters seem fairly solid. Ian Kennedy has been a nice surprise. Dan Haren has been extremely unlucky as indicated by his 9.1 K/9 and his 5.5 K/BB ratio. He'll be fine. Jackson has been disappointing but has shown signs of the pitcher he should be. Rodrigo Lopez is league average and always has been. But for a fourth starter, that's okay. Everyone they've tried as a fifth starter has bombed. They need a break there. What is really plaguing this team is the relief pitching. How bad is it when Aaron Heilman has been their best reliever? Juan Gutierrez has been historically bad. At his current pace, he'll blow the doors off the record for most homers per nine innings for a relief pitcher as he how has given up ten dingers in 18 innings of work. Wow! The bullpen is the easiest part of a team to fix and if the D-backs can make progress there, they will be a better team in the second half. Hinch should probably finish out the year. But if this losing streak gets any longer, all bets are off.
Baltimore Orioles - Manager: David Trembley
Analysis: Trembley is in his third year at the helm of those Baltimore Orioles. Though it is somewhat understandable that the team is committed to building from within, the young players like Wieters, Reimold, Adam Jones, Matusz and Bergesen are not growing and are regressing. That doesn't speak well to Trembley or his staff of coaches. Of course it can't be blamed on the manager if veterans brought in like Lugo, Izturis and Atkins all bomb. The bottom line here is that the youth are not being served and the Orioles' record has regressed for the third year in a row under Trembley. There have been some stories out there that the executive branch of the Orioles is considering a change as a mercy killing. In other words, let Trembley go before he has to suffer too much. That, friends, is a smoke screen. A clean sweep of the entire on-field staff needs to occur before these kids get too messed up. After watching most of the last three Orioles - Yankees games, Trembley's body language is terrible. He just stands there stoically in the dugout. Not good. Would Bobby Valentine take this club?
Arizona Diamondbacks - Manager: A. J. Hinch
Analysis: A. J. Hinch is only 36 years old and only six years removed from his rather mediocre playing career. Does he command enough respect to lead this group of young players? And make no mistake about it, the D-Backs are young. When the Diamondbacks won their World Series title in 2001, they were an average age of 31.9. They now average 26.7 years of age. The offense is okay and can improve a lot if Justin Upton gets going and Connor Jackson can get back. Mark Reynolds is off to a slow start as is Chris Young. But their offense (though it leads the lead in strikeouts) is third in the NL in slugging and sixth in OPS. Four of the five starters seem fairly solid. Ian Kennedy has been a nice surprise. Dan Haren has been extremely unlucky as indicated by his 9.1 K/9 and his 5.5 K/BB ratio. He'll be fine. Jackson has been disappointing but has shown signs of the pitcher he should be. Rodrigo Lopez is league average and always has been. But for a fourth starter, that's okay. Everyone they've tried as a fifth starter has bombed. They need a break there. What is really plaguing this team is the relief pitching. How bad is it when Aaron Heilman has been their best reliever? Juan Gutierrez has been historically bad. At his current pace, he'll blow the doors off the record for most homers per nine innings for a relief pitcher as he how has given up ten dingers in 18 innings of work. Wow! The bullpen is the easiest part of a team to fix and if the D-backs can make progress there, they will be a better team in the second half. Hinch should probably finish out the year. But if this losing streak gets any longer, all bets are off.
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