Never should have not brought back Dusty. Great regular season manager who got better at post season managing in DC and Houston at the end
Wrong.
He was freaking dreadful in DC at postseason managing. He used Sammy Solis in meaningful playoff situations.
Also, Houston basically Dusty-proofed their bullpen. Pressly, Montero, Nerris, Abreu, and Stanek were all closer-level relievers.
Dusty should have never been hired in 2016. Should have been Davey Martinez. We'd have multiple WS championships
This is a great scenario to think about. I think Dusty Baker was a clubhouse hire after the issues off the field under Matt Williams. That was right at the time. He had two good regular seasons with the Nats. Both ended in disaster.
I'm of the opinion managers are very unimportant unless they oversee clubhouse dysfunction.
I wanted Baker back but wasn't too torn up when he was let go. When Martinez was brought in, year one was ugly. He deserves a lot of credit in year 2 not letting that 19-31 stat turn into an absolute disaster. As far as the postseason, I think he made mostly the right moves at the right times. Even some lineup changes and using starters in relief, I initially disagreed with him but it almost without fail worked out.
Martinez needed to be fired when he was if not earlier, still that doesn't change as a manager in a Game 7 of the World Series he was good enough to get the job done. And unfortunately for him, had he been let go by Nats sooner, he may have gotten another shot managing. Instead, I think he is done unless he feels the passion to come back as an assistant.
