We didn't get a chance to cover it much yesterday afternoon, but in case you missed it, Joe Maddon signed a three year extension worth roughly $6 million total. He had one year left on his old contract, and was never going to seriously entertain any other offers, but it's nice to lock up, and I say this with no hyperbole, the best manager/coach in the history of major Tampa Bay sports.
In his six seasons at the helm the Rays are 495-477, something that seemed impossible in the franchises' first ten years of existence. He may infuriate some with his lineup tinkering, but there's no questioning the success he's had with an ever changing roster. He's transformed himself into the best manager in baseball and I'm glad he's on our side. Congrats, Joe.
On to the links:
- Over at Baseball Nation, Jeff Sullivan runs down the worst swings of the 2011 season -- complete with GIFs! Johnny Damon checks in at number 10, swinging at a pitch from Josh Beckett that was 46.6 inches away from the center of the strike zone. Beckett dominated the Rays at times last season, and Damon can take some funky swings, so this one isn't a surprise.
- Geoff Young of Baseball Prospectus spoke with former Rays farmhand, and occasional Major League reliever, Dirk Hayhurst, about his baseballing future. If you hadn't heard by now, Mr. Hayhurst is taking his talents, both of the pitching and journalistic variety, to the Italian Baseball League. It's a good synopsis of the whole situation.
- How much does a win cost? In the first of a two part series at FanGraphs Matt Schwartz tries to answer that question. He does a very good job explaining how FanGraphs comes up with their price estimations and how we can use them to analyze free agent contracts.
- If being David Price wasn't enough fun already he gets pitching tips from Kate Upton, she of SI Swimsuit Issue fame, in this commercial for MLB2k12. Not a bad life.
5 things you may not know about Joe Maddon
Check out five things you might not of knew about Joe: http://theraysway.com/slideshows/5-things-you-may-not-know-about-joe-maddon
Yossi Feins - February 15, 2012
3. Playfully nicknamed "Boozy-J", Joe enjoys his first drink at breakfast and continues throughout the day.
Hatfield - February 15, 2012
Ha
Sandy Kazmir - February 15, 2012
*have known
Everytime I see this I think of poor joey, that lost soul
ShawnTSA - February 15, 2012 via mobile
If only he would of been here for that comment :(
SRQman - February 15, 2012
Yossi Feins = joeybw?
Hatfield - February 15, 2012
No, Yossi is actually smart and knows stuff.
DeadeyeRR - February 15, 2012
My favorite
http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1043582-tampa-bay-rays-8-creative-deals-to-move-surplus-of-pitching-for-a-bat
BossmanJunior333 - February 15, 2012 via mobile
lol
mr. maniac - February 15, 2012
lolol
benderbrodriguez - February 15, 2012
No regrets
I notified him 10+ times in comments, warned him twice, and banned him for 5 minutes. I guess we’ll all take naps we won’t wake up from one day.
benderbrodriguez - February 15, 2012
I think the last one is a little silly, considering that of the MLB managers, Joe maddon had the worst career
http://joeposnanski.si.com/2010/08/26/managers-as-players/
benderbrodriguez - February 15, 2012
That Kate Upton seems like a nice lady.
Hatfield - February 15, 2012
This site needs more Kate Upton progressive statistical anal.
MakeitRayn - February 15, 2012
Phrasing?
Not sure that’s an appropriate abbreviation in that context
Barnacles - February 15, 2012
Certainly not appropriate, I'm offended
Sandy Kazmir - February 15, 2012
Im sure Lueke was offended too
BossmanJunior333 - February 15, 2012 via mobile
Can the Rays do an Upton for Upton trade?
and I’m not talking about Justin
maris61 - February 15, 2012
I heard she plays good double d
BossmanJunior333 - February 15, 2012 via mobile
Tough to compare across sports, but Dungy/Kiffin did create the best defense ever.
(And due to a change in score keeping needed to calculate Football Outsider’s DVOA, “ever” means 1992-present).
And the wrinkles they introduced quickly proliferated around the whole league. Can Maddon claim to have changed the game in the same way?
Whelk - February 15, 2012
Defensive shifts?
I don’t think you can quite put it on the same level — and the FO surely helps — but I think Maddon’s responsible for some much more dramatic defensive shifts being used around the majors these days. (Or did I just not notice them until Maddon started doing it?)
Steve Slowinski - February 15, 2012
Comparable, but I think not on the same level
The Tampa 2 created the market for middle linebackers with legitimate coverage skills. For the shifts to bee the same, we’d need to see a proliferation of third basemen who can play shortstop.
Whelk - February 15, 2012 via mobile
Truth.
I would put Dungy and Maddon as equally great coaches, and tied for the best coaches in Tampa Bay history.
Maddon is the best manager in baseball though.
Devil Ray - February 15, 2012
+1
Maddon is not only without a doubt in the top 3 analytical minds among MLB managers (probably #1, but you can’t really say that objectively), but also consistently ranked as the one players says would want to play for above all others
benderbrodriguez - February 15, 2012
*players say
benderbrodriguez - February 15, 2012
I think it is more unusual
to revolutionize practices in baseball than in football. What would you say is the last one universally regarded as dramatic in baseball. since let’s say the 1950s? (And that can be attributed to a particular manager.) The use of a 9th inning only closer? The double switch? Batting the pitcher 8th? (I don’t think so.) There are subtle variations, and Maddon’s defensive alignments may be an example of that, but rarely revolutionary changes.
Football, I think, is more prone to coaching decisions that become copied. Since the 1950s, the west coast offense, the blitz, the prevent defense? ( As you can tell, I am not much in tune with football strategy these days.)
I think the really dramatic changes in baseball strategies took place in the first 100 years and have become pretty much just tinkered with since then while football is still undergoing a lot of strategic innovation.
bobr - February 15, 2012
I'm really more aware of the history of football strategy than of baseball strategy, so maybe someone else can answer this.
But for revolutionizing baseball since the 1950s, I would say the biggest thing is LaRussa’s use of large specialized bullpens to get the lefty/righty matchups. I think that’s pretty big.
You may be right about football changing more quickly, though. I think a lot of that has to do with college, where the very uneven playing field drives innovation.
Whelk - February 15, 2012
Earl Weaver's extensive use of platoons was big
Especially from the mid/late 70s thru the end of his career, his teams consistently outperformed their Pythag record
nomoredevil - February 15, 2012
But that style
had been developed by Casey Stengel in the 1950s.
bobr - February 15, 2012
If you have Baseball Between the Numbers
Go to Click’s chapter about Mike Redmond v. Tom Glavine and read the final page. You’ll notice he basically outlines the Danks Theory idea.
R.J. Anderson - February 15, 2012
"Best manager in baseball"?
I’m not so sure about this. I think we have the best FO in baseball. And I think you can say we have the right manager for this team & organization. But that doesn’t make him the best. Mostly, I’m sure his unusual style and personality would be transfer to other organizations & locales.
But I am glad he’s ours for three more years.
nomoredevil - February 15, 2012
I think picking the "best manager" in anything is always hard and open to debate.
I personally do not look as closely at 29 other teams and managers, so I can not justifiably say he is the best, but I can say he is great at preparing a strategic gameplan for each individual game.
MakeitRayn - February 15, 2012
I'd say he's the best, although yes, it's obviously open for debate.
I think Ben Lindberg had a piece at BPro recently that talked about how managers might be the next great “inefficiency”. If you can find managers that are willing to use statistical analysis to make informed in-game decisions, that aren’t afraid to think outside the box, and that get the very most from their players, you’d theoretically have a large leg up on other teams that are using their rosters sub-optimally.
And hey, that’s exactly what the Rays have. Maddon’s a good fit for the Rays in that regard.
Steve Slowinski - February 15, 2012
Who would you say could be better?
benderbrodriguez - February 15, 2012
girardi
pudieron89 - February 15, 2012
.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1108/most.popular.manager/content.1.html
This is a big part of why I think Joe Maddon is the best manager in the MLB
benderbrodriguez - February 15, 2012
i was hoping it would just be pictures of the road trip outfits.
pudieron89 - February 16, 2012
Oh great 3 more years of Maddumb
Sveet - February 15, 2012
MLBTR on who is out of options
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/02/out-of-options-2012.html#more
Jason Collette - February 15, 2012
Pretty much settles it for Chirinos/Guyer, I suppose.
Whelk - February 15, 2012
Yep
Jason Collette - February 15, 2012
Lobaton could get hurt again
Transplanted - February 15, 2012
and Gomes I'd imagine he is either DL or Durham bound
Dbullsfan - February 15, 2012
Can Elliot Johnson please not make the roster
Not even in a Joe Dillon/Nathan Haynes role
Imperialism32 - February 15, 2012
Agreed
I can see the wisdom in hoarding catchers with limited offensive skills. I don’t see the point of having him, keppinger, rodriguez, brignac, and Zobrist on the same roster. We could still field a decent team for weeks at a time with an injury in the middle infield.
Along those same lines I’d just as soon waive the guy if the plan is to play him in front of Beckham at Durham.
GomesSweetGomes - February 15, 2012
*if he clears waivers, which I assume he would
GomesSweetGomes - February 15, 2012
Don't be so sure
Houston is pretty bad-they’ll take almost anyone
Transplanted - February 15, 2012
especially if he has a good spring I'd be suprised if EJ passes through waivers again
last year I don’t think teams realized he could play a good defensive SS.
Dbullsfan - February 15, 2012
I wonder
if Friedman is looking at the list of out of option players-and the players with options with whom they are competing for jobs-to help fill out the roster. I don’t see any obvious picks, but perhaps a catcher or RH power hitter becomes available that route and is cheaper than one would have been via free agency or a trade earlier.
bobr - February 15, 2012
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