Loading ...Saw this on Rotoworld first and they linked to Trent Rosencrans’s blog. Pete Mackanin will be named as the interim manager.
I pray there is a real search for a new manager at the end of the season and not just a removal of the word “interim” from Mackanin’s title.
Chris here: The move is up at the official site. Mackanin is the guy who took over after Lloyd McClendon was fired in 2005. The Pirates went 12-16 under Mackanin, for whatever that’s worth. Probably less meaningful than the fact that he was McClendon’s bench coach from 2003-05. Before that, Mackanin was third base coach for the Expos from 1997-2000. Those were some dark, dark, years under Felipe Alou.
I agree with Eric’s thoughts above. My worry all along is that the “interim” manager would get the benefit of this team’s likely regression to its true level (i.e. improvement), and we’ll be stuck with a probably-unqualified dude for three years, ala Dave Miley and Jerry Narron. If I’m being optimistic, I can look to the idea that the Castellini/Krivsky group brought Mackanin in last February, and very well could have done their due diligence with him already. It’s not the same as a “real” managerial search, but it’s something.
Here’s a Q&A from when Mackanin took over for McClendon:
Tell me who this sounds like:
GVB– What about expectations for this team down the stretch, what are you looking for from this team down the stretch?
Mackanin– What I’d like to see is some clean baseball. Over the past month or so we have not played clean and part of it is due to the young players playing together on the field unable to execute a lot of the things that they should be able to execute. My goal would be to make sure that we keep things simple, we talk about and do the things that we’re supposed to do – hitting cutoff men, getting bunts down, making routine plays on different type of bunt situations and not making mental mistakes.
- The next question was unrelated, but Mackanin went right back to the same answer:
As long as we play clean baseball I think that the rest will take care of itself. You don’t want to lose games on fundamentals. You don’t want to lose games because you make a mental mistake. If we don’t get the hits when we’re supposed to or make the pitches when we’re supposed to – well then you deal with that on different level. You don’t want to lose games because of an errant throw. Lose the game because somebody gets a base hit off your pitcher.
It has been nice Jerry, I am sorry it did not turn for the better. I have always liked you but it is time for a change. Bring back Daveey Johnson.
Wow. Wasn’t expecting that just yet.
This is Castellini’s chance to make a splash. They need to bring in a big name manager. Any retread or name we’ve never heard before (Pete Mackanin) would be a disaster.
Mackanin finished his playing career, playing for none other than…you guessed it…the Twins!
Coincidence? I think not.
Mackanin won’t be anymore than a temporary.
The Reds are going to make this guy a very happy man.
More rearranging the deck chairs to quiet the talk radio crowd for awhile. Mackanin won’t make a real difference, but since the Reds are underperforming their Pythag by about 5 games, they’ll likely improve slightly as Chris says. We’ll hear in October how Pete deserves a chance at a full season to show what he can do with this team and more blather about being competitive in 2008. And this organization will avoid yet again facing up to the overhaul and rebuilding it’s needed for at least a decade. Meanwhile Brewers’ and Indians’ fans will cheer division champions.
I hope they aren’t making organizational decisions based on phone calls made to talk radio.
I don’t know how to fix it, but I’d hate to see them “overhaul” and “rebuild” and waste the multi-year deals they signed with Harang and Arroyo.
I don’t know how to fix it, but I’d hate to see them “overhaul” and “rebuild” and waste the multi-year deals they signed with Harang and Arroyo.
Is there another choice, Greg? I guess they could continue to cobble together rosters like they have been and hope two or three guys have career years and they get lucky and make the playoffs, only to sink below .500 again the next season.
I, for one, am not interested in that. I want to see a foundation built that puts this team in a position to compete for a several-season run. As a fan, I want to feel that every spring when we break ST, the Reds have a chance to play meaningful games in September. If you build a strong player development arm and have a steady stream of talent moving through the system to the big club, you don’t have to get caught up in short-sighted worries like possibly “wasting” the deal swith Harang and Arroyo.
I know it can be done because Doug Melvin and Mark Shapiro have done it for their organizations. But I doubt that it will be done as long as Wayne Krivsky is the GM.