Padres Right To Move On From Andy Green
The San Diego Padres decision late last week to fire manager Andy Green didn’t exactly make waves in the baseball world, and that might be evidence enough that it was the right call.
Green, a first time manager, was wrapping up his fourth season at the helm of the Padres, and his fourth straight losing season. This year, he went 69-85 after winning 66, 71, and 68 games in the previous three seasons.
This year was different though. This year, Green had Chris Paddack in his starting rotation, Manny Machado at third base, Fernando Tatis Jr. at shortstop, and a generally higher level of talent all over the field.
Sure, the Padres play in a bloodbath of a division and the Los Angeles Dodgers are an absolute powerhouse, the favorites to win their third straight pennant. But the Padres, to their credit, are absolutely trending in the right direction and building in a sustainable way.
San Diego shocked the baseball world when they signed Manny Machado to a $300 million deal this past winter, showing unequivocally that their mixed luck with Eric Hosmer, their last high priced free agent, hasn’t scared them off.
In addition, some of the Padres much- ballyhooed young prospects have started to arrive, chief among them Paddack and Tatis, who were both outstanding this season. It’s not just them, though. Cal Quantrill is a legitimate part of the rotation now and Francisco Mejia, the catcher they got from Cleveland last season, had a rocky start but improved over the course of the year and shows the potential to be an above average starter.
The Padres expected to compete this year but right from the get go, it didn’t happen. When the team flipped Franmil Reyes, who was having a fantastic season with 27 homers, before the trade deadline, effectively waving the flag on the season, it didn’t bode well for Andy Green’s status with the team.
Last year in my managerial rankings, I gave Andy Green a C- and asked if, after 3 crappy seasons, he was on the hot seat in 2019. Turns out that having way more talent and doing absolutely nothing more with it is exactly the type of thing that motivates front offices to make a change.
Are the Padres as talented as the Dodgers? Are they ready to compete for a division title? No, certainly not, see for yourself by checking out the odd at the top UK betting sites. But they have a few wildly impressive players and a bona fide superstar. They absolutely feel like a team that could get hot a the right time and make a sneaky run into second place and Wild Card contention. In fact, I think that’s what the front office was expecting and when Andy Green didn’t come close to delivering, they realized it was time to move on.
This is not to say that the Padres are just a manager away, mind you. They still have some serious holes, Wil Meyers is still an enigma, they still need another real major league starting pitcher or two, and Machado needs to play as well as they expect him to. But their better than they played this year.
P.S. – While we’re here and talking about the Padres, let me just say that I am firmly on the #bringbackthebrown bandwagon. The Friday brown and yellow jerseys look awesome and when I was at Petco for the first time this year, I seriously considered buying a hat. The brown digital camo, however, should be ground up into little pieces and then burned for good measure. No team should have to wear that garbage again. And that’s how I feel about that.
– Max Frankel
