OT: Dusty Baker

[brett05]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/springtraining_2016baker/mlb-dusty-baker-last-stand

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Interesting piece. I'm not a fan of Baker but you do have to give him some grudging respect. He wins everywhere he goes even if he falls short of the prize. I actually think, after initially thinking otherwise, that he's going to do very well with the Nationals in 2016. While I still think Bud Black would have been a better long term choice for them Baker almost always wins in his first year and he's go the talent to do it. The fact that he has one of the 5-6 best pitching coaches in the game in Mike Maddux certainly doesn't hurt. How he's going to do it though is part of my issue with him. Dusty instills an us against them attitude in his veteran players that give them gigantic chips on their shoulders and makes them unlikable to varying degrees. It also usually makes them win, at least for a while. Guys like Papelbon and Harper already have those chips and they are likely to become even more surly under Baker. All that said, barring major injury, I'm picking Washington in the NL East.

 

[Parade_Rain]

I think Baker will do a lot better getting the talent to produce than Williams did, so the Mets will definitely be challenged in that division. Either one of those teams could be picked to win the NL East.

 

[DanTown]

I absolutely do not trust Dusty Baker to be a good manager. He manages incredibly talented teams and takes them about as far as any other manager would. Then in the playoffs, I absolutely question his strategy. For god sakes, this a man who said walks clog the bases.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Baker is great at killing pitching staffs by overworking the starters and his inability to handle the bullpen. Ironic that he winds up on Washington. I assume this will be Strasburg's last year in the MLB, and Scherzer's career will probably be done by 2017 if Baker remains as the manager.

The difference is that Mike Maddux is the pitching coach which should help. I'm no fan of Baker's but Mike Rizzo taking that decision out of his hands was very smart.