2 minutes ago, SongInTheAir said:

this is a good take, some strategies are built for long term success, and a 162 game season is absolutely a large sample. other strategies are better for shorter term success, and I don't think the Rays/Dodgers employ the short term strategies, so they're always excellent in the regular season but have so little to show for it

right, I mean who the fuck cares about regular season success when the real prize is in the post season.  You cant play gimmick set in your ways baseball in the post season.

 

Its why I've said for a LONG TIME that Dave Roberts is a piss poor manager.  Great guy.  Awful manager.  If the analytical stuff doesnt tell him what to do, he has no fucking clue.  

In that respect,  he is WORSE than Donnie.  If the Analytics in April says to do something then those same numbers tell you exactly what to do in October.  It doesnt work that way.

Lets look at the managers Dave Roberts has lost to in the playoffs:

 

2023 - Torey Lovello - underrated manager, but relies too much on numbers and the 'nerds' stuf

2022 - Bob Melvin - knows how to win, plus the whole little brother syndrome 

2021 - Brian Snitker - as old school as they come, knows how to manage from his many years in the minors

2020 - fake season, good on them for winning

2019 - Dave Martinez - average manager, but rode his starting horses (like you should) to win

2018 - Alex Cora - cheating manager, fairly overrated in my book

2017 - AJ Hinch - Astros cheated blah blah blah, Hinch is a far superior manager, I think he is damn good, Detroit will be good sooner than you think

2016 - Joe Maddon - the king of gimmickey managers

 

I mean an 'AVERAGE' Manager who understands how to win games and how the postseason has to work wins in at least 3 of those seasons they lost, lets be real.  Especially given the talent advantage the Dodgers usually had (not this year, I'm really unsure how the fuck they won the division with the injuries and trash they were sending out normally toward the end, especially pitching)

So ya, we can argue a manager doenst make a difference. That's true in the regular season.  In the postseason you need a guy who will understand that you cant just rely on the computers to make your decisions.  You have to have a feel for the game and an ability to make moves that may go counter to what a computer tells you, be it a pitching matchup, a lineup construction, even a pinch hitting situation.  A good/average/even slightly below average manager will always take lesser talent to victory over a terrible gimmicky manager who has zero feel for how to manage other than parroting what the computer tells you.  

13 hours ago, SilverBullet said:

The second line here is fair to say but the first line might be completely false if Bruce proves he has an actual plan with his restructuring of the front office and if he continues to show he wants to win now.

This offseason is starting to remind me of the way people claimed the 2012 and 2017 teams were so great after they were dismantled. I loved what Kim Ng did the last year but this front office still had glaring issues and Bruce apparently wants to fix them but suddenly everyone is acting like this front office was untouchable and should never have been changed.

At the end of the day, the team was still last in the NL in runs. That’s not a team that can really compete with the big boys.