In the past week, MLB teams have shown that they are willing to part ways with the most accomplished managers if they don't meet lofty expectations. How much longer can Tony La Russa be blamed for the White Sox struggles?
The White Sox were one of the favorites to win the World Series and are currently four games back of the lead in the worst division. They are not out of it because of the playoffs. They might wake up on Sept. 1 with a.500 record but not where they should be. There have been reasons for the struggles such as injuries to key position players and starting pitchers, but the Phillies and Angels could've pointed to a lot of things for their shortcoming and instead fired the manager anyway.
I didn't see anything that pointed to the problem in Philadelphia being the one with the Yankees. It felt like the front office was panicked because they built a weird roster with a big payroll and needed a scapegoat. Maddon made a lot of mistakes like when he walked Seager with the bases loaded. It is easy to fire someone if they have lost 12 games in a row.
The Angels had a slightly better winning percentage after they lost their 12th straight. Two managers who have won multiple World Series have been relieved of their duties in the last few days.
It is possible that La Russa is still a year away, but there are many examples of his mismanagement in that time. The way he treats his players and the way he makes decisions on the field have both contributed to poor results.
The early months of the 2021 season showed that La Russa is a relic of the past. At the time, Mercedes was a young catcher with 10 years of minor league experience. Mercedes hit a home run in a game against the Minnesota Twins.
La Russa said there would be a consequence he had to endure in our family. When the Twins threw at Mercedes, he took their side. The consequences must have worked because by the end of June Mercedes was batting.270 and.732. Mercedes hasn't played in a major league game since he retired and was sent down to the minor leaguers.
The public perception was that there was tension between La Russa and Tim Anderson, but that seems to have vanished today. Anderson referred to La Russa as his best friend with the title of manager. You want to be nice to the guy batting over.350 if you're on a sub.500 team.
There are many examples of bad on-field management. Deadspin wrote about how La Russa put LeuryGarcia third in the lineup in two games. There are very few lineup decisions that you can look at and say, "He shouldn't be batting there." That makes absolutely no sense.
La Russa admitted early last year that he didn't know about the rule about starting extra-innings with a runner on second until his team played an extra-inning game. He received a drunk driving conviction the day before he was announced as the White Socks' manager.
The drunk driving incident could not be looked back on. I don't want to make light of that, but when you combine them all together, it's worse than what Maddon did.
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