Right, and there were people who accused him of playing favorites when he did. I just hope he’s right on both guys.

Right. Who wants a manager from a winning organization? Say what you want about the Red Sox and their fans, but their front office knows what it’s doing.

Are you saying that we have a good chance of going to the playoffs in 2010.

No, I am saying we have a reasonable chance of competing for the playoffs in 2010. I don’t think our best chance next year or in future years is with Eric Wedge. In that case, I want a new manager to get acclimated as soon as possible.

who is the guy that significantly increases our chances of making this happen?

I don’t know, but it is not my job to figure that out. I am confident there is a potential manager out there that will in fact have a more positive effect on our team’s ability to make the postseason. In fact, I think there are a number of people who could do better than Wedge.

And what proof do you have that this would be true?

This is kind of a silly point, but you got me, I have no proof. Just my instinct that Wedge really isn’t a very good manager. Yes, I still hold the opinion that there are other people that will do a better job of getting us to the playoffs in 2010 and years after that.

You would have a hard time convincing me that Wedge and Crennell share similar coaching styles.

I don’t think they have similar styles at all, just pointing out that how the players feel about the guy and winning games are two different things.

If he was detrimental to players development or abilities, then surely a few more players would have piped up.

The players may not realize that Wedge is a bigger factor in the team’s ability to win games than he actually is. I would use both Jhonny and Marte as evidence of players who may not think Wedge has helped them all that much, even if the information isn’t entirely public.

So, if 2010 is largely a developmental year and Wedge (who has a good amount of experience in doing this type of thing) and (through antecdotal evidence) is not detrimental to players and their development … what exactly is the harm in him staying on for 2010?

I find it far more important to get in a manager as soon as possible who I think will have the best chance of taking us to the playoffs. If the plan is to keep Wedge for just the rebuild year (2010) then what is the point. Either he is the future as manager or he isn’t. If we think he isn’t our best fit, then we get rid of him and find someone new.

If Wedge is going to be a detriment to making that happen, who is the guy that significantly increases our chances of making this happen? And what proof do you have that this would be true?

The burden of proof is on Wedge, whose teams have underperformed, not on those who would fire him.

What proof do you have that as these teams underperformed, they would have won even fewer games without Wedge? I think the very proposition is absurd on its face.

And finally, what proof do you have that Wedge will help the team win more games going forward?

So, if 2010 is largely a developmental year and Wedge (who has a good amount of experience in doing this type of thing) and (through antecdotal evidence) is not detrimental to players and their development … what exactly is the harm in him staying on for 2010? In fact, you could say that it would be a benefit.

Wedge has experience with young players, but his track record helping them mature into consistent veterans is dubious at best.

Wedge has had plenty of opportunity to show some improvement, but this season we saw substantial failure to get key players to perform up to their potential — Peralta, Shoppach, Carmona, Garko, Perez — and while we wouldn’t place the blame for each one primarily on Wedge, since talent is paramount (as you note), ultimately this is the number-one job of any manager. A close second would be getting the most out of your roster, i.e., knowing which players to deploy, and when, and how much. Again, I think there is at best a mixed track record here. Another close second would be in-game management, especially of the pitching staff. To be clear, I am not and have never been willing to blame Wedge for the bullpen, but again, at best, the track record here is mixed.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it one more time here. After seven years, the onus is on Wedge and his supporters to explain why he should be a major league manager. The results present a prima facie case that Wedge has not been a net-positive on this club’s efforts to win games.

Nah. 10% serious is like my cruising speed…

I won’t even take sides in GM vs. manager. I will say, however, that if you believe the GM is one of the best in the business — as Dolan has said recently — then an underperforming team must be viewed as likely to have an underperforming manager.

but isn’t wedge at least somewhat complicit in the regression of younger players? or at least hasn’t helped to prevent that regression from happening?

If you read in to any of Paul Dolan’s comment over the past month then I think it’s obvious that Wedge is gone after this year. He’s thrown his full support behind Shapiro but said he’ll evaluate Wedge at the end of the year while noting that the Indians have underachieved in three of the past four years. That sounds like he wants to make a change and it ain’t gonna be the GM.

The dealer gives Scioscia seven cards to make his hand and gives Wedge three.

I think his complaint was batting Valbuena before LaPartay, not having in the lineup at all.

I’ll respond to both at once.

This isn’t about dollars, this is about taking the players you have and creating a lineup that gives you the best chance to win. Scoscia wakes up every day and realizes that his best case scenario is three OF’ers that are healthy and well rested to keep Gary Matthews on the bench. And he’s done that for 3 years now, ignoring the contract GM2 signed.

As for Valbuena’s numbers, well, let’s take a look a little closer. Here is Fangraphs numbers for the past 30 days. (I don’t know where to find OPS+, so I’ll use OPS.) Valbuena has an OPS of 740. Good for 6th on the team. He’s behind Hafner .776, Marte .780, Droobs .841, Choo .856, Sizemore .868 and LaPorta .972.

Unless LaPorta’s OPS of 972 translates to an OPS+ of 40, or Marte’s 856 is 12, I fail to see any logical reason that can justify Valbuena hitting 5th while LaPorta is 6th and Marte 7th. Both of them have a higher power ceiling than Valbuena.

Or maybe 30 days is too much. 14 days shows Val with an OPS of .684 and an ISO of .170. Marte is 1.013 and .319. LaPorta is .972 and .271.

Any way you look at it, Valbuena has no business hitting 5th in front of LaPorta or Marte during any stretch of the season, let alone while both of the others are hitting better.

Mangers of non-playoff teams get fired during the playoffs, don’t they?

But there are conversations taking place in the Indians’ front office right now about the fate of Wedge and his coaches.

What’s there to talk about?

I’m afraid you are going to hear this out of ~80% of major league managers.