Baseball Musings: Dropping the F-Bombs

June 05, 2008

Dropping the F-Bombs

After a profanity laced tirade yesterday, Jerry Brewer believes John McLaren is gone:

McLaren's antics felt forced. The entire postgame was a strange, calculated event.
The Mariners' public-relations staff advised the media to go to the clubhouse immediately after Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Normally, when the clubhouse opens, the manager speaks first and then the players talk. On this day, we were told to talk to the players, and in the surprise of the season, most all of them were sitting at their lockers.

It felt like a firing. Reliever Arthur Rhodes threw a tantrum, kicking and throwing gear. For most everyone else, there was an eerie silence, an anticipation of bad news.

And then it was time for McLaren to speak.

The nice man did his best Al Pacino impression before storming away without taking any questions.

Now, I have a firm belief about managers and coaches who go bonkers. I call it the Cuckoo Principle. When they go cuckoo, that's it. They're done. It works in almost every case, except for Guillen. The White Sox manager is incessantly cuckoo and blessed with the cushion of a World Series. But even his time will arrive soon.

An explosion is always proof that either you've lost the grip on your team, or you're struggling with the pressures of the job. McLaren had to be provoked to act out of character.

The Mariners are worse than even their toughest pre-season critics imagined. They're on a pace to lose 105 games. Is it McLaren's fault? If the job of the manager is to get the most out of his players, John is certainly not doing that. I agree with Jerry that the axe is likely to fall soon.

Posted by David Pinto at 09:17 AM | Management | TrackBack (0)

Comments

I'm surprised he's lasted 'til June really. If were the M's GM, I'd have done what Florida did in '03 -- replace the bad manager just before Memorial Day. By that point in the year, it's been long enough to turn a decent team around...and Memorial Day is a nice mental reboot weekend...a good place to start over and get into another section of the season. He just hasn't been doin' it for Seattle yet...he should've been gone already...I agree.

Posted by: Devon at June 5, 2008 12:09 PM

They blow up and then they're gone. That's why Earl Weaver had such a short career. Also why Jim Leyland was fired last year.
Honestly, managers do these things to motivate their players sometimes. Or even to change the focus of attention. This whole Oprah-style focus manager tirades is silly.

Posted by: Peder at June 5, 2008 12:27 PM

There's one glaring problem with the Mariners:

Reliever Arthur Rhodes.

He still has a job in MLB?

Posted by: rbj at June 5, 2008 12:30 PM

The M's most glaring problem is their GM, Bill Bavasi. Giving Carlos Silva a four-year contract for $48 million was idiocy. Having Jose Vidro as your DH is idiocy. Not doing anything about Richie Sexson is - well, that's a tougher one, but a better GM wouldn't just throw up his hands and not do anything.

Posted by: Steve H at June 5, 2008 12:52 PM

Not to mention Beltre - they were in it for most of last year and Bedard seemed to make them better - mcLaren doesn't seem to be helping - I'm not saying firing him is going to turn them around but having him flip out isn't helping.

Posted by: Bandit at June 5, 2008 03:56 PM

I dunno about that theory. Last season Charlie Manuel went nuts on local talk radio host Howard Eskin during a post game press conference, and Charlie is still with us.

Posted by: coley at June 5, 2008 06:53 PM

Another team wanted to pick up Sexson's contract last year, after he was put on waivers or somesuch. And the Mariners pulled him back.

Idiocy.

Posted by: Sal Paradise at June 5, 2008 07:46 PM

Agree, Sal/steve/bandit. If I am Yamauchi, bavasi gets fired on 30 march after not having signed Barry Bonds.

How in the world can he justify giving up 6-8 games over the course of the year for staying with a failed 2b AS A DH?

Posted by: SleepyCA at June 8, 2008 07:42 PM