Ignorant Need Not Apply: The Mind of the Manager Must Evolve

As baseball trends and talent evaluation skew towards traditional first person scouting coupled with statistical analysis, major league managers are expected to keep up with new ways of putting together a team and assessing their roster. New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman chose Joe Girardi from a small pool of candidates to replace Joe Torre after the 2007 season due in large part to his ability to remain consistent with his beliefs and because he displayed an openness to new ideas and methods of appraising his talent, while being direct with the organization and adhering to the philosophy agreed upon.

At a recent gathering with fans, Cashman described what he was looking for in a skipper. While never mentioning any other managerial contenders by name, it is hard not to draw the conclusion that Don Mattingly was unable to match the qualities that Cashman saw in Girardi, raising questions about Mattingly’s ability to lead going forward. Girardi and Mattingly, along with current bench coach, Tony Pena, were the only people interviewed for the job helming the Yankees after Joe Torre’s ouster.  Just as many assumed “Donnie Baseball” was a lock to replace Torre in New York, many now think he is manager in waiting in Los Angeles. If Cashman’s description of the philiosophical faux paus of the applicants is any indication, Mattingly may not be ready for the big stage.

Cashman talked about the process of choosing a new manager for the first time in his career as a Yankee executive. He contacted some of his peers, including Indians’ GM Mark Shapiro, and asked for different means of interviewing possible replacements. Cashman’s eventual process took eight hours and ranged from a written questionnaire to situational questions.

One example cited by Cashman presented each applicant with a statistical breakdown of three anonymous players. They were asked who they would prefer to have on their roster and why. Cashman said some managerial hopefuls were obviously ignorant of what some of the advanced statistical measurements even meant. Another query asked the contender to create a lineup to face CC Sabathia on June 1 using the current Yankee roster. They were then asked what lineup they would use against Sabathia in the playoffs. Cashman found fault with the applicants who would sit their lefties in June yet start them in the playoffs. He wanted a consistent approach to do what it takes to win, regardless of hurt feelings among veterans who may face the indignity of sitting against a tough lefty in the postseason. This became an issue towards the end of the Torre era, as he eschewed his early tendency to play the better player that day (i.e. sitting Tino Martinez in favor of Cecil Fielder in the 1996 World Series) and relied on his old favorites to pull the team out of the fire night in and night out.

While one can’t be sure if Mattingly is indeed one of the culprits described above, Girardi surely is not because Cashman would not have retained Girardi if he didn’t understand the advanced way of thinking that has supposedly permeated the Yankee universe in recent years. Pena doesn’t strike me as the OPS type, but he seems to have found a place on Girardi’s staff. However, the Yankees knew Mattingly would not remain on the team after the ignominy of being denied a job he was clearly being groomed for. The Yankees made the decision to alienate a fan favorite in order to bring in the man they thought was best suited for their style and philosophy going forward.

Mattingly seemingly aligned himself with Torre once he was added to his staff and made standing by Torre his priority. Cashman again did not name names, but made it clear there were people on his “field staff” who routinely ignored his directives and lied about their execution of the orders. On the topic of Derek Jeter’s declining defense, Cashman says, “There is no doubt that here was some problem with Derek’s range. It was obvious. You could see that he lost not one but two steps.” When Cashman approached Jeter the offseason after Joe Torre’s dismissal, Jeter said he wasn’t aware of the problem. (which is a column in itself. How can Jeter be counted on to know when to change positions or when to hang it up if he wasn’t aware his defense truly stunk?) Cashman said, “He wasn’t aware because nobody had told him. My staff told me they were confronting him on it. They weren’t. Clearly I was being lied to by my field staff.”

While I hesitate to indict Mattingly with such thin evidence (Larry Bowa is the sensible choice for the majority of the blame), everyone on Torre’s staff becomes accountable when management is lied to and orders go unfulfilled.

The Yankees are late entrants into the fray of improved scouting and varying tools of assessment. All managerial applicants will need to be aware of what it takes to manage a team in the 21^st century, whether they are Don Mattingly or a minor league lifer with hopes of moving up to the big league office one day. Mattingly may very well be a fine manager one day, but his apparent ignorance of now basic statistical analysis and consistent strategic methodology may doom his first campaign even before he starts.

Note: FCP attended a WFAN sponsored Q&A with New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman. All of the quotes attributed to Cashman are from that gathering.

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