Home MLB'Weekly' Hit Ground Ball Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Cooper and Cox

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Cooper and Cox

by Matt Smith

The end of September leads all eyes to focus on the potential postseason teams.  Excitement-filled nights in October await eight teams and only one will emerge from the marathon MLB season with their dreams fulfilled.

It’s a captivating story that leaves us all engrossed every year, but for many it seems a long way away.  While some managers are getting ready to lead their charges into the playoffs, others fear the axe or are packing their bags already. 

The Houston Astros sacked manager Cecil Cooper on Monday, a decision that had seemed on the cards for months.  His appointment to the permanent position of manager at the end of September 2007, a month after replacing Phil Garner on an interim basis, raised eyebrows to begin with.  Cooper’s managerial pedigree up to that point consisted of two uninspiring years at the helm of the Milwaukee Brewers’ Triple-A team. 

Houston finished third in the NL Central last year, largely on the back of a 36-18 record over August and September.  That positive end to the season convinced owner Drayton McLane and General Manager Ed Wade that their team was not far away from being a contender in a wide open division.  They were correct in thinking that the NL Central was there for the taking, but they showed a lack of understanding when it came to their own roster.

The 2009 Astros look similar to teams of previous years, with the same predictable results.  Although they have an excellent core of veteran players, the supporting cast matches up poorly to those found on the teams that are challenging for playoff places.  Too many roster spots have been taken up by players of minimal value and, combined with injuries, that has made the contributions by the likes of Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodriguez, Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman and Hunter Pence count for little once again.  Even a surprisingly productive year by Miguel Tejada has made little difference.

Flaws in the team’s roster construction should come as little surprise when Wade’s offseason work is considered.  He offered starter Randy Wolf a three-year/ $28.5 million deal and then pulled it off the table before he could consider it.  The harsh reality of the economic climate made them re-think the proposed contract and the fact that Wolf went on to sign a one-year deal with the Dodgers worth an initial $5 million (with an extra $3m in incentives now earned on top of that) showed that they were right to do so.  However, that they offered it to him in the first place indicates how badly they had misread the market and the end result was that they lost out on a decent starter who could have been acquired on a short-term deal at a fair price.  The Astros’ loss was the Dodgers’ gain.

The doubts over Cooper’s managerial skills have perhaps been proved to be well founded.  The article by Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart on MLB.com stated: “Cooper’s managerial abilities and communication skills frustrated the majority of the team. The players were often befuddled by his in-game tactics, and some of his clubhouse decisions were even more puzzling to the players”.  The decision to sack him can therefore be understood and maybe a new manager will help to get the Astros going in the right direction again.

However, the manager wasn’t the only person culpable for the poor performances, even though Wade was firmly putting the blame for the Astros’ failings at Cooper’s door.  He said in the press conference: “This is the most expensive baseball team the Houston Astros have ever had … we’ve made a huge investment of over $100 million. We invested in players we thought could be championship players”.

If Wade is genuinely proud of the roster he created with such “huge investment”, the Astros aren’t going to reverse their fortunes so long as he’s in charge, regardless of who they appoint as Cooper’s permanent successor.

Cox continues for one more year

For a while it looked like the Atlanta Braves’ manager Bobby Cox would be joining Cooper on the sidelines in 2010.  Rumours were circling that he would be calling time on his managerial career at the end of the season when his current contract expired.  Those rumours were put to rest when Cox signed on to manage the Braves for another year, his twenty-fifth with the club, although it was confirmed at the same time that 2010 will be his last season.

When Sir Alex Ferguson announced he would be retiring as manager of Man Utd before the 2000-01 season, his authority over the players seemed to have been diminished.  It no longer mattered so much if they crossed his path because they could just sit back and wait for the new manager to come in (his authority was firmly re-established when he went back on his decision in early 2001).  However, such a situation is not going to occur in Atlanta.  The role of manager in MLB is different to that of a manager in the Premier League, the latter normally having full control over who comes and goes from the squad.  And far from easing off, Cox is held in such high esteem by his players that they will be trying harder than ever to give him a fitting send-off.

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