Breaking News: Kanzler will be the new manager

[Big_Maple]

This tells you how serious the M's are for this next season. They went with the guy who had the best haircut and who will do whatever the front office tells him to do. And who was likely the cheapest.

They had a chance for a full reset, and they went with another iteration of the same level of mediocrity as the last 2 guys. The dude is literally a day old donut - cheap, stale, and and best enjoyed by people who’ve already given up on better.

Whatever ambitious off-season plans I had just went out the shitter. This is the benchmark they have set. Good god.

[DanielVogelbach]

This tells you how serious the M's are for this next season. They went with the guy who had the best haircut and who will do whatever the front office tells him to do. And who was likely the cheapest.

They had a chance for a full reset, and they went with another iteration of the same level of mediocrity as the last 2 guys. The dude is literally a day old donut - cheap, stale, and and best enjoyed by people who’ve already given up on better.

Whatever ambitious off-season plans I had just went out the shitter. This is the benchmark they have set. Good god.

This post is loaded with assumptions. They might all be correct. But something tells me you don't really know anything about Kanzler.

[Big_Maple]

This post is loaded with assumptions. They might all be correct. But something tells me you don't really know anything about Kanzler.

Assumptions is all we have to go on right now. The dude has no actual coaching experience. My opinion has gone from "meh" when I first read the news to "oh hell, no" the more I read.

Kanzler is 36 and a former minor-league player. He never played a game in the majors and he was selected 20th round. So he is/was a super "meh" player who never broke into the majors.

He was an Astros major-league assistant hitting coach, and he’s now the Cubs’ director of player development. He has no managerial experience at any level. He was one of two finalists, with former Astros manager Joe Espada, who has two division titles in three years. So the M's went with "exciting new ideas" over actual, legitimate, proven experience (and success).

We do not need some dude who watched people coach, to actually leading a major league team - especially a team that has underperformed and whose rebuild window is closing.

So yeah - I am making assumptions based on data (or lack thereof). I am assuming that a guy who never played a single major league game, or who has ever managed baseball at any level is not the best option that a team wanting to aggressively improve should have chosen. But hey - he used to teach high school chemistry, so there's that.

The pattern bothers me more than he does. A president who keeps hiring first-time managers is picking people who’ll follow his plan, and the plan itself is what produced the 76-86 season.

I'd love to be wrong. I'd love for my assumptions to be invalidated. But this guy's resume does not scream success.

[Hy Feiber]

Well, the Mariners talked about wanting “fresh ideas.” A player-development background fits a roster that is about to bring Emerson, Arroyo, Montes and Young into big roles.

But... he has no in-game managing track record. So much for getting someone who has experience.

No one with any experience wants to manage there.

[Mesully11]

I think he was the best guy they could get for the money.
Maybe the only guy they could get or the money they were offering.

Maybe the third time is the charm with first time managers, maybe they strike gold?
Maybe nobody knows for sure yet and all we can do is wait and see. No point in getting too upset after all it is just business as usual.

[DanielVogelbach]

Kanzler is 36 and a former minor-league player. He never played a game in the majors and he was selected 20th round. So he is/was a super "meh" player who never broke into the majors.

This part is so meaningless.

Earl Weaver never played a single MLB game... career minor leaguer....

The highest level Jim Leyland ever played was AA.

Joe Maddon... never played MLB... career minor leaguer

Buck Showalter... never played MLB... career minor leaguer

Sparky Anderson... one MLB season, .218 avg, zero home runs

Tony Larussa... 176 big leage at bats, .199 AVG, zero home runs

A lot of players with mediocre talent but high intelligence and passion for the game become great coaches and managers.

But, the most important thing you should remind yourself of is that the field manager is not that important. What matters is the roster.

[acctingman]

Kanzler is 36 and a former minor-league player. He never played a game in the majors and he was selected 20th round. So he is/was a super "meh" player who never broke into the majors.

This part is so meaningless.

Earl Weaver never played a single MLB game... career minor leaguer....

The highest level Jim Leyland ever played was AA.

Joe Maddon... never played MLB... career minor leaguer

Buck Showalter... never played MLB... career minor leaguer

Sparky Anderson... one MLB season, .218 avg, zero home runs

Tony Larussa... 176 big leage at bats, .199 AVG, zero home runs

A lot of players with mediocre talent but high intelligence and passion for the game become great coaches and managers.

But, the most important thing you should remind yourself of is that the field manager is not that important. What matters is the roster.

How can you type when you're slobbing on Dipoto's wang?

[DanielVogelbach]

Maybe the only guy they could get or the money they were offering.

I would've accepted it. As much as I love teaching the World Champion Brewers how to hit a baseball....

[Big_Maple]

A lot of players with mediocre talent but high intelligence and passion for the game become great coaches and managers.

But, the most important thing you should remind yourself of is that the field manager is not that important. What matters is the roster.

You're arguing against a point I never made. I never said great players automatically make great managers, or that mediocre players can't become great ones. You're cherry-picking legendary managers and using survivorship bias to pretend Kanzler belongs in their company.

My argument is about his entire résumé, not just his playing career. He never reached the majors as a player, has never managed at ANY level, and has no proven track record of leading a team. So what exactly in his résumé suggests he's ready to lead an underperforming MLB franchise with a closing competitive window?

And your claim that managers don't matter makes your argument even weaker. You just listed legendary managers to defend a hiring decision, then argued that managers aren't particularly important. Which is it?

My bigger concern is an organizational pattern of hiring inexperienced managers who'll execute the front office's vision rather than challenge it. That's a legitimate criticism, especially coming off a 76-86 season.

You can believe Kanzler might become a great manager. I hope he does. But potential isn't proof, and naming six Hall of Fame-caliber exceptions doesn't magically turn an unproven résumé into a strong one.

You're defending what he might become. I'm questioning what he's actually accomplished. There's a difference.

[DanielVogelbach]

You're arguing against a point I never made. I never said great players automatically make great managers, or that mediocre players can't become great ones. You're cherry-picking legendary managers and using survivorship bias to pretend Kanzler belongs in their company.

You mentioned his mediocrity as a player, so I commented on how that's meaningless.

I never said Kanzler belongs in HOF manager territory lol. He's never managed a single game.

You just listed legendary managers to defend a hiring decision, then argued that managers aren't particularly important. Which is it?

Managers aren't particularly important.