November 28, 2005
Maddon's Mind
Here's a nice profile of Joe Maddon, the new Devil Rays manager. I've often wondered why Moneyball GMs don't hire a Moneyball manager. Maddon seems to fit the bill perfectly.
Maddon, 51, has been one of the game's best-kept secrets for years. He was this gifted, even-tempered guy sitting on the Angels' bench just waiting for someone to give him an opportunity.
"Joe is the most prepared person I've ever seen," Manager Mike Scioscia said.
With the Angels, it was more than Maddon just lingering there next to Scioscia, providing wise counsel. He also was the team's numbers- cruncher, studying tendencies on one of his many computers. And no one on the staff knew how to soothe a young player's feelings like Maddon, who also managed to provide reporters with the liveliest quotes in the clubhouse.
This article paints Maddon as intelligent and open minded, someone who would be comfortable with the unconventional. I'm going to watch the Devil Rays very closely this year to see how Maddon performs.
Posted by David Pinto at
12:36 PM
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Maddon sounds a lot like Larry Dierker...though Dierker seems to have been blackballed from managerial consideration since his firing from Houston.
A little good luck and more importantly better pitching and the Devil Rays could win soon. They were tough down the stretch this year against teams fighting for playoff spots.
with all their young talent, the drays could be the best team to never sniff the wild card. too bad for them in the AL East, but i still like them
In one of the profiles about Maddon, he said he was going to force the issue, play "Angel-style" baseball -- hit and run, bunt, run wild on the basebaths. Basically, planned to manage like an "anti-Moneyballer."
Let's define some terms that get tossed about. What is a Moneyball GM? What is a Moneyball manager? How do we know one when we see them? This post implies that Maddon is a Moneyball bench-coach. Can such a thing be determined?
Phil,
I'd say a Moneyball GM is one who values talent based on two things:
The monetary value the market places on skill.
The actual value that skill contributes to winning.
A Moneyball manager understands the probabilities of various strategies and acts accordingly. I'd say that Moneyball managers don't bat players with a .309 OBA second, and they tend to avoid strategies that reduce their run potential.
We know nothing about Maddon from this article...but as for the reporter.
The reporter only cited Batting Average, SB's, and HR's for stats...not very moneyballish.
Again Maddon may or may not be a good manager, but there is nothing in this article to let us know.