Hurdle, Wedge are on the hot seat
Posted: Monday, May 11, 2009 3:41 PM
The dam broke when Arizona fired Bob Melvin last week, just two years removed from his winning National League Manager of the Year honors.
Now conversation quickens about the fate of other managers whose teams are stumbling, or like Arizona, have young players stagnating.
For Clint Hurdle in Colorado, and Eric Wedge in Cleveland, nights are uncomfortable. Will they have a job the next day?
Hurdle’s Rockies bested Melvin’s Diamondbacks in the 2007 NLCS, but at no time since have the Rockies recaptured the magic of their spectacular six weeks in that September and October. Their young players (Ubaldo Jimenez, Troy Tulowitzki, and Manny Corpas) have battled injury and inconsistency. Key veterans are fading as Todd Helton no longer hits with much power, and Garrett Atkins just isn’t hitting. Matt Holliday rejected a long-term contract last spring, and was dispatched to Oakland on a one year sell-your-soul tour of MLB.
And the Rockies, like the Diamondbacks, are wobbling in a weak division. When a general manager sees the offensively challenged Giants (translation for old school types: they can’t hit) ahead in the standings, queasy is the feeling. Firing happened to Melvin, a well-respected man, and now Hurdle as well as general manager Dan O’Dowd, are answering the usual questions asked of an underachieving team.
Then there is Cleveland that had the misfortune of being named on ESPN Sunday morning as the season’s most disappointing team. First, the Indians couldn’t pitch, now their hitting has gone south, and they were never regarded as a strong defensive team, so what does general manager Mark Shapiro do? Wedge has survived major changes, and managed over 1,000 Indians games. But from a distance the Tribe looks like Arizona and Colorado. Their division isn’t as weak as the NL West, but it lacks a dominant team. To sit 10 games under .500 with Kansas City leading the way in the American League Central makes for an interesting stretch in Cleveland.
FIVE SWINGS:
1. THE BEST WEEK…belonged to the Mets. Seven straight wins sent them into the NL East lead. Livan Hernandez has had consecutive winning starts, and John Maine appears to have settled into a rhythm.
Unnoticed in the first 30 games has been the start of Carlos Beltran (.374 BA, 6 HR, 24 RBI). Hard to believe this is Beltran’s fifth season in New York, and it must be noted that he is building a strong case as one of the better premier free-agent signings of the recent past.
2. THE WORST WEEKS…go to Pittsburgh (eight straight losses, and a return to the all-too-familiar NL Central cellar), Arizona (losing two to Washington after firing Melvin), Cleveland, and the Dodgers (nothing real good can come from Manny Ramirez’s 50-game suspension.
Although, I ask this question to those who gloat over the Dodgers’ misfortune: Are the Dodgers better off with 100 games from Ramirez than 162 games without him? And Juan Pierre is off to a strong start as Ramirez’s replacement, giving the Dodgers life in the leadoff spot. Sunday, he reached base four times and scored three runs against Tim Lincecum).
3. GOOD WEEK…for San Francisco. The Giants competed on the road for the first time this year, displaying the strong starting pitching (although Randy Johnson and Jonathan Sanchez struggled on the road) that could keep them a factor in the NL West. No team is riper to make a midseason strike for a big bat -- remember the Giants have a pair of ace pitching prospects -- Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson -- in high Single-A to use as chips.
4. COULDN’T LAUGH LOUD ENOUGH…at the giddy Giants fans mocking the Dodgers on Ramirez’s bust. First, ask the same question to anyone with the Giants: Would they be better off with 100 games with Ramirez or 162 games without him? And at the same time, signing Ramirez would have allowed the Giants to simultaneously weaken the Dodgers. But the most galling part of this San Francisco reaction was that many of these same fans blindly support (yes, present tense) one Barry Bonds.
5. BEST REBOUND WEEK: Atlanta. I discounted them after a bad week at home, but the Braves toughened with a 4-1 stretch through Florida and Philadelphia. Now, starting tonight, come their first three games at Citi Field, and a chance to slow the Mets, who have won seven straight.
