Looking Back at TGP’s 2017 Predictions: Managers of the Year

How much does an MLB manager actually impact the game? I asked that same question below when this post was originally posted and yet I still don’t have a true or concrete answer to it so I’ll ask it again. Does anyone know? I know if you ask a Yankees fan every loss is on the back and decision making of Joe Girardi while every win is just the talent of the players outweighing the bad decision making of Girardi but I wanted to ask a broader spectrum. Does anyone have any thoughts? Leave them below as you check out my predictions on the 2017 AL and NL Manager of the Year Award winners.

TGP 2017 MLB Predictions: Managers of the Year

Some have argued that the actual impact and importance of a manager is as insignificant as it gets while others swear by the decision making of their favorite team's skipper. Those fans obviously have never had to deal with Joe Girardi and his magical all-knowing binder that has since turned into an iPad but regardless of whether the manger has a true impact or not the awards are given out every year so let's predict the winners. We can always have the debate of whether the manager actually has a bearing on the outcome of a game at another time, remind me. 

American League Manager of the Year: Terry Francona

I have real high hopes for the defending American League Champions this season because somehow I think the team is better than they were a year ago. Cleveland has a full season of Andrew Miller in their bullpen and they have added an absolute huge bat in Edwin Encarnacion to the middle of their lineup. All this should equate to more victories and more air time for the Indians and their manager. Plus, and not to say Francona is going to win it by default as he is an incredible manager, but no other managers really stand out to me aside from maybe AJ Hinch. Maybe. 

National League Manager of the Year: Bud Black

I truly believe the Colorado Rockies are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the National League West this season. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see this team finish as high as second in the division and at least in the discussion for one of the final Wild Card spots in the league. For that reason I can see their manager Bud Black winning the National League Manager of the Year Award while Nolan Arenado, his third baseman, tears up the National League at the plate and in the field. 

TGP 2017 MLB Predictions: Managers of the Year

Some have argued that the actual impact and importance of a manager is as insignificant as it gets while others swear by the decision making of their favorite team's skipper. Those fans obviously have never had to deal with Joe Girardi and his magical all-knowing binder that has since turned into an iPad but regardless of whether the manger has a true impact or not the awards are given out every year so let's predict the winners. We can always have the debate of whether the manager actually has a bearing on the outcome of a game at another time, remind me. 

American League Manager of the Year: Terry Francona

I have real high hopes for the defending American League Champions this season because somehow I think the team is better than they were a year ago. Cleveland has a full season of Andrew Miller in their bullpen and they have added an absolute huge bat in Edwin Encarnacion to the middle of their lineup. All this should equate to more victories and more air time for the Indians and their manager. Plus, and not to say Francona is going to win it by default as he is an incredible manager, but no other managers really stand out to me aside from maybe AJ Hinch. Maybe. 

National League Manager of the Year: Bud Black

I truly believe the Colorado Rockies are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the National League West this season. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see this team finish as high as second in the division and at least in the discussion for one of the final Wild Card spots in the league. For that reason I can see their manager Bud Black winning the National League Manager of the Year Award while Nolan Arenado, his third baseman, tears up the National League at the plate and in the field. 

Who Takes The Fall If Yankees Continue To Flounder?

There are a few things certain, namely life, death and Yankees fans calling for the jobs of the Manager and General Manager when the team falls short of expectations. The calendar has barely turned to May and fans and the media have invoked the all too familiar phrase "If George were still alive..."

The Yankees have struggled tremendously out of the gate stumbling to an 8-15 record at the time this was writing. There is still some hope for the Yankees as no team in the AL East has run away with the division however if the ship doesn't right itself, and the Yankees finish with a sub .500 record / last place it is hard to see Joe Girardi, his staff, and Brian Cashman retain their jobs.

Joe Girardi's Staff - Girardi's staff has born the brunt of punishment for failing to make the playoffs in the past, Kevin Long after 2014 and Mick Kelleher, Jeff Pentland did not return after their Wild Card Game loss in 2015. Girardi's staff is not looked on as fondly as Torre's staff to fans. With the Yankees already replacing staff the past few years doing so again may be seen as a half-measure.

Joe Girardi - Manager's are fired because teams can't fire the players. Joe Girardi has never had a losing record in his 8+ years at the helm of the Yankees though he has failed to make the playoffs in 3 of those years, 4 depending on your feelings on the Wild Card Game. It can be argued that in 2013 and 2014 Girardi did a tremendous job of getting those teams to a winning record. Fans despise Joe for his strict adherence to his binder. I like Girardi though I do find myself frustrated with his defined roles for relief pitchers. I believe he is one of the better Managers in the game but with his contract only running through 2017, he could be shown the door.

Brian Cashman - Cashman has been GM since the 1998 season and has seen tremendous success. He has also proven himself to be an evolving GM embracing analytics, an increased focus on drafting and development and more. In recent years, he has consistently made excellent trades acquiring the likes of Didi Gregorius, Nathan Eovaldi, and Justin Wilson. Hal Steinbrenner appears to have full faith in Cashman from top to bottom within the organization. If changes are made I could see Cashman surviving them.

When it comes down to it I think the Yankees will end up recovering from this abysmal start to be competitive. Whether they are competitive enough to ensure no one loses their jobs is still to be seen.

Analyzing the Yankees vs. Astros Head-To-Head Matchups in 2015

The New York Yankees and the Houston Astros have faced off seven times head-to-head this season and will go for an even eighth time tonight in just around three hours. The Yankees lost the season series to Houston with four losses in their seven matchups, and two of those four losses came at the hands of tonight's starter Dallas Keuchel, leaving New York and manager Joe Girardi searching for answers tonight. Will Keuchel respond well pitching on three days of rest for the first time in his career and can Masahiro Tanaka be the stopper, the ace and the workhorse that the New York Yankees signed him to be? Those answers are hard to answer but let's look at the seven matchups between these two teams this season to analyze just how much of a chance the Yankees have of moving on to Kansas City or going home for the winter.

Gm#	Date	Tm		Opp	W/L	R	RA	Win	Loss	Save
73	Thursday, Jun 25	NYY	@	HOU	L	0	4	Keuchel	Warren
74	Friday, Jun 26	NYY	@	HOU	W	3	2	Eovaldi	Harris	Betances
75	Saturday, Jun 27	NYY	@	HOU	W	9	6	Shreve	Neshek	Betances
76	Sunday, Jun 28	NYY	@	HOU	L	1	3	McHugh	Pineda	Gregerson
124	Monday, Aug 24	NYY		HOU	W-wo	1	0	Miller	Perez
125	Tuesday, Aug 25	NYY		HOU	L	1	15	Keuchel	Nova
126	Wednesday, Aug 26	NYY		HOU	L	2	6	McHugh	Pineda

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

As you can see by this very neat and clean embed above the Yankees are 1-2 inside Yankee Stadium and 0-2 against Keuchel this season as I said. Even in the Yankees victories they did not exactly hit any of the Astros pitchers especially well while the Astros got to Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda early and often in their most recent pair of contests. What it means for tonight remains to be seen, and with this being the second season it probably means relatively little, but this has to be in the back of the Yankees players heads... no?

Joe Girardi and his binder are in full swing this season so don't think they haven't seen these numbers and seen the Keuchel matchups. They have. Good luck Yankees family.

What Will I Write About Once Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi Are Gone?

Brian Cashman is a mysterious man that makes a lot of big and mysteries decisions sometimes. Isn’t there at least one or two guys on the roster every single year that you kind of shake your head about and wonder why they are even in the major leagues, especially on a high profile team like the New York Yankees? You have Stephen Drew and Chris Capuano this year and for half of 2014, you had Alfonso Soriano for the first half of 2014, you had Vernon Wells in 2013 and you had Raul Ibanez for every month not named October in 2012. You also have the trades that make you scratch your head, Tyler Clippard for Jonathan Albaladejo anyone? Anyone? Cashman is a mysterious and a very, very frustrating individual at times.

Joe Girardi, Joe Girardi and that stupid binder of his. Girardi and his obsession with stacking left handed hitters in a lineup against a right handed pitcher. Girardi and his sometimes short hook for his starting pitchers that are doing well and Girardi with his line that has just a little too much slack at other times for those same starting pitchers who obviously don’t have it anymore that night. Girardi and his Circle of Trust and his dependence on veterans like Stephen Drew and Capuano when he has more than serviceable and comparable options already on the bench rotting away six days a week. The way Girardi likes to “ride the hot hand” of players like Garrett Jones and the way he continues to stick up for and make excuses for others, if Lou Gehrig was the luckiest man in the world Stephen Drew is the unluckiest man on the face of the Earth.

There is an old saying, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. We all complain about Hal Steinbrenner as the Yankees owner but it could be worse, we could have Jeffrey Loria. Fans out there complain about Cashman but what if the Yankees had a GM like the Mets have in Sandy Alderson that just can’t seem to find a way to plug the holes on the team and can’t find that player to get the team over the hump. Yankees fans want Girardi’s head and iPad (binder) on a torch in front of Yankee Stadium but what if the team had Bobby Valentine or (fill in the blank here because I’m sure you get the message by now) wearing fake mustaches and thinking he’s Buck Showalter when he’s more like Bobby Show-killer.

Steinbrenner, Cashman and Girardi are good for business. They are frustrating, they go against logical thinking and they just plain ole don’t make sense sometimes. It’s frustrating as a fan but it makes it so much easier to be the arm chair quarterback as a blogger. Keep being you guys, “Daddy’s gotta eat.” I don’t actually get paid to blog but it sounded good… stay with me.