October 19, 201510 yr Author QUOTE (Vance Law @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 03:45 PM) Aha, so it's Maddon's "making changes with his lineup" that causes them to succeed. Having the game's #1 prospect (Bryant) and 3 more of the top 15 or so position prospects isn't particularly relevant. Maddon would be having the same success with Cubs prospects like Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters. That's how good Maddon's lineup changes are. No I said winning with 4 rookies in your starting lineup is harder than having veteran players. As far as making changes to the lineup, Maddon is managing the same way he did in Tampa. They also had different starting lineups to match up against opponents. In Tampa, Maddon was very big on lefty/righty match-ups some of which was caused by the nature of the roster he had. I also said this was my first look at the Cubs this season but having seen Maddon for many years here is Tampa , his managing style has not changed. Obviously the Cubs have highly rated prospects now playing for them. That does not guarantee success. I think we have one of the best 1-3 combination of starters in baseball. That does not mean we will succeed.
October 19, 201510 yr QUOTE (SCCWS @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 11:41 AM) I am not sure. The guy was a .259 career batter who only hit .167 here in limited appearances. If he was washed up then Hahn screwed up by signing him. I really wanted either denorfia or bonifacio this offseason. We got the worse one.
October 20, 201510 yr QUOTE (SCCWS @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 12:15 PM) No I said winning with 4 rookies in your starting lineup is harder than having veteran players. As far as making changes to the lineup, Maddon is managing the same way he did in Tampa. They also had different starting lineups to match up against opponents. In Tampa, Maddon was very big on lefty/righty match-ups some of which was caused by the nature of the roster he had. I also said this was my first look at the Cubs this season but having seen Maddon for many years here is Tampa , his managing style has not changed. Obviously the Cubs have highly rated prospects now playing for them. That does not guarantee success. I think we have one of the best 1-3 combination of starters in baseball. That does not mean we will succeed. Depends on the rookies and depends on the veteran players. And again, the Rays won more games this year than last year despite having largely the same roster and moving on from Maddon. The guy is a good manager, but he's not some magician.
October 20, 201510 yr Chris Archer and Longoria not having the worst season of his career could also explain that.
October 20, 201510 yr QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 20, 2015 -> 06:39 PM) Chris Archer and Longoria not having the worst season of his career could also explain that. That just supports the idea that managers can only do so much, but to your point they also had Price for half the season last year, and Longoria and Archer weren't far off from their 2014 production. OPS+ for Longoria: 2014: 107 2015: 111 ERA+ for Archer: 2014: 112 2015: 122 (he had a very poor end of the season)
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