March 05, 2008
Learning to Leadoff
Manager Trey Hillman and coach Quilvio Veras are getting through to David DeJesus about upping his on-base average:
At first glance, DeJesus emerges as a poster boy for Hillman's philosophy. DeJesus ranked second among the club's regulars last season with a .351 on-base percentage and was even better, at .358, when serving as the leadoff hitter.
Dig just a little deeper, though, and a need for improvement screams out.
DeJesus' .358 OBP placed him 10th among 22 AL players last season who got at least 150 plate appearances while serving as a lineup's leadoff hitter.
"There are so many little things that I just took for granted in my first few years," he said. "So many of these little things that coaches are pointing out are things that I never really thought about.
"It all comes down to on-base percentage and runs scored. Those are the two things a leadoff hitter wants. That's your job; get on base and score runs."
I really can't wait to see how all this plays out in Kansas City. Reading the various articles about Trey during this spring, I'll ask a question I've asked before. Why don't the Moneyball GMs hire managers who agree with their philosophy? Hillman should be managing the Athletics or the Blue Jays. Good for Dayton Moore for hiring someone who actually believes in OBA and doesn't mind talking about it.
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Posted by David Pinto at
11:47 PM
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I think Hillman will work out very well, too.
In Beane's defense, he was interviewed for the A's job. He might've been Beane's second-favorite choice.
Never having met him of course (which makes this opinion utterly meaningless), I think that Beane would be hesitant to hire anyone who could potentially rival him in power one day.
Look at what happens when teams hire guys like Dusty Baker and Lou Pineilla: They start publicly advocating for the team to sign players, publicly challenging players and the front office, etc. Why do they feel comfortable doing that, or feel entitled to do that? Hard to say, but it might be combination of the respect they garner from players, their age or experience, and their popularity with the media.
Beane doesn't place a high value on charisma in a manager. It makes sense: If any manager were to ever become TOO popular with the players (as Hillman has the potential to do), that would make it slightly more difficult for Beane to assert what the lineup should look like, who plays, who stays in AAA, etc.
I bring up Dusty Baker only because, he's clearly "wearing the pants" more than any A's manager ever will again. This can be inferred anecdotally from The Good Book (Moneyball), when Beane and Sandy Alderson both relay some frustration with Tony LaRussa's subversive power over the mid-90s A's teams (in terms of rigidity with lineup cards and general philosophy).
Different philosophies, different pros and cons.
I would like for the A's to have a manager that truly inspires players to work harder and smarter - which doesn't appear to be Geren's specialty. I'd be hesistant if that came at the price of Beane losing some of his power or leverage, because he's far more important to their long-term success.
Obviously the best situation would be to have both. :)