October 20, 2007
Why Hillman?
Dayton Moore lays out the case for hiring Trey Hillman:
"A lot of people view the Japanese major leagues as (being on par with) the major leagues," Moore said. "In some cases and some aspects, it's more challenging to go to a culture that is night-and-day different from how you were raised and what you grew up in.
"To go over there and develop relationships and to motivate players and keep players focused and to win -- it shows you a little bit about his guts and confidence level."
Those qualities, Moore said, made Hillman a better fit than some better-known names who might have generated more immediate fan interest.
"This guy is about relationships," Moore said. "This guy is about success. He's been a winner his whole life, and that's what fans want. Fans want a winning baseball team.
"There are a lot of guys with great bubblegum cards who aren't great managers."
Joe Posnanski love the signing:
The Royals spent $55 million to get starter Gil Meche, who up to that point had never even thrown 200 innings in a season. "Well," the presidents of Optimists Clubs said, "he has talent, and if he harnesses it, you know, that could work."
That's just how it has gone for the Royals (and I should know since I'm generally one of those glass-half-full, sun-will-come-out, Optimist Club members). Some of these moves work better than others. But the overriding feeling around here has been that the Royals -- because of their tuna-fish and ramen noodles budget, their recent history as doormat and perhaps Kansas City's perceived lack of glitz and glamour -- would have to overpay or take a chance or settle for second best and then hope for a little luck.
Slogan: Hey, you never know, it all could work out.
Friday, that all changed. There's no telling if Trey Hillman will win championships in Kansas City. There's no telling how successful he will be as the Royals manager. But here's the big thing: This time the Royals got the No. 1 guy. They got the hottest managing prospect around. They got a 44-year-old man who has been chosen the Yankees' minor-league manager of the year three times, who has won a championship in Japan and is on the cusp of another, who has worked in scouting, development, coaching management, you name it, who has wowed just about everybody in the game.
And, on top of it all, they scooped the Yankees. If New York had let Torre go right away, they might have had time to acquire Trey. But taking their time let him get away.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:46 AM
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Management
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This is more a question than a statement (since I'm not that familiar with Japan's baseball). Are the Japanese leagues geared more to playing "small ball" with bunts and sacrifices? And if that might be a good tactic in Japan, is it necessarily a good strategy in modern major league ball? And that leads me to wonder if he will bring managerial tactics which might not be suited to the Royals. As I said, I don't know, but maybe someone else can comment on it.
If all teams are stressing "small ball" then the better team at that (not accounting for pitching) would end up more successful.
If only some teams stress small ball then they only need to be compared to the teams that won't use that philosophy. With the current high run rates lately I don't think small ball would work as well over the longterm but it'd be interesting to see.
They'd still need to improve their pitching and defense, though.
Hmmm...maybe I'll move back to the KC area. This sounds like a real good thing. I tend to be one of those types who think a winning club starts with a good GM & manager and doesn't start with what players you have. Aftet that, everything else just falls into place when you have a foundation of people who know what they need & go get it. Take the Indians, A's, and Braves, as a good example of that.
Small ball... I remember how well some small ball worked for the Marlins in the '03 WS. The Yankees allowed infield hits and bunts to Pierre and Castillo and seemed like their defense played like they weren't prepared for that possibility even though it was expected by them. A measure of small ball, works great, especially during a period when teams won't expect it to be used much. If the Royals do go with that style for a while, they should win...and then as they win more, higher profile players will be attracted to the team and they'll be able to transition over to a more slugging offense which should attract pitchers to KC. It's a domino effect into a winning culture, not an overnight affect.