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I asked the managing editor of Camden Chat, who has watched far more games managed by Buck Showalter than I have, about who Buck Showalter is as a manager, his fit for the Mets, and his legacy in Baltimore.
On Sunday, LaTroy Hawkins will manage the American League team in the All-Star Futures Game in Colorado, meaning he will become a temporary mentor to a bunch of youngsters who would benefit from his career advice. Before Hawkins became a star reliever for the Twins, or a happy wanderer who played for 11 teams over 21 seasons in the big leagues, he called home and tried to quit. The Twins selected Hawkins — then a skinny kid from Gary, Ind., and now a special assistant to the team's baseball operations department — in the seventh round of the 1991 draft. The next year, a bunch of newly dra...
share-square-2308781 PHILADELPHIA -- Gabe Kapler got booed the first time he jogged onto the field at Citizens Bank Park as Phillies manager in April 2018. He returns to The Bank on Monday night for the first time since he lost his job following the 2019 season. In one sense, Kapler’s time in Philadelphia feels like ancient history. Kapler manages the Giants these days. Joe Girardi manages the Phillies. But Kapler still elicits strong opinions from Phillies fans. He remains a fascinating figure. “I don’t want to say I haven’t thought about it,” Kapler said Sunday morning about the p...
Zooming in on the Phillies’ front office Share this story Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images The ’ power brokers recently held a Zoom meeting to discuss how the offseason was progressing. Once again, thanks to my super-secret source within the Phillies organization, I was able to get a transcript of the meeting. Present on the call are John Middleton, Dave Dombrowski, Sam Fuld, Ned Rice, Andy MacPhail, and Joe Girardi. Middleton: Thanks for joining us, everyone. I’d like to start out by saying I’m much happier with the way things are going than the last time we spoke.
For starters, the Phillies finished in the Top 5 in baseball in runs scored last year. They had a solid, if not spectacular, starting rotation that should be slightly improved in 2021 (more on that in a bit). And arguably their biggest addition (not counting players they re-signed like J.T. Realmuto and Didi Gregorius) was reliever Archie Bradley, who coupled with a few other additions to the bullpen should help correct what wound up being the worst relief unit in baseball history. They also have a new general manager in Sam Fuld and president of baseball operations in Dave Dombrowski who sho...