Guest coaches

[Tony-OH]

1 minute ago, Just Regular said:

Its kind of you to mention, but I'm no resource there.    My kiddo's Little League time included gems like "baseball kind of seems like a waste of time".    I know some of the posters have shared they are doing the Driveline training and/or have high performing family members.   

People like Dave Cameron and Sig Mejdal have come far - we're just 16.5 years past Cameron's Open Letter (may or may not have been from his mom's basement) to the Mariners pitching coach how he was failing Felix Hernandez.     Cameron was kind of the MVP of Fangraphs writing when it was better, and is now Mariners Senior Director of Player Procurement.   I don't know of course, but I sense his presence in the structure of that Julio Rodriguez contract.    They may have overpaid for Jorge Polanco because he's as sick of watching Adam Frazier and Kolten Wong man 2B feebly for a couple years as any given OH poster.

http://www.ussmariner.com/2007/06/27/an-open-letter-to-rafael-chaves/

https://www.mlb.com/mariners/team/front-office

 

Cameron is a cool story. Going from message board poster, to fan graphs writer, to working for his hometown team. I once wanted that as well, so it's awesome to see how it progressed for him. 

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

I'm always interested in what kind of value an ex-player brings to coaching. The game has changed radically in the past 7-10 years. Coaching staffs, with the Braves being an intriguing exception, are getting younger and data scientists are those who can interpret the data generated are having a very large say in how the game is played. Palmer and MacDonald are entertaining color analysts, but what do they bring to the table as coaches? I ask because I truly don't know. Seems like a question for @Just Regular or @btdart20.

Me personally, I think you answered your own question. The game has radically changed in how it's coached and scouted, so it's tough for a lot of these guys to really bring a lot of "new value" to the players. I do think though that they may see little things here and there and if anyone can bring value it's JJ Hardy going over "hands work" and getting rid of the ball quickly. That's doesn't change.

Still, they bring the old stories and a link to past successes and allow the young players to hope that one day, they will be that guy the other young players look at and go, "Hey, that's Gunnar Henderson, wow!" 

[emmett16]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

This got me wondering who was the wealthiest ex-player to become a major league manager or coach.  Best I can come up with is Matt Williams, who made $78.9 mm.   He made roughly double the next guy I found, Phil Nevin at $39.6 mm.  

Carlos Beltran, who was named manager of the Mets but never served due to the trash can lid scandal, made $221.9 mm, so he would have dwarfed anyone else.  

Did I miss anyone obvious?

 

 

Barry Bonds came to mind.  Griffey does work with Team USA.  

[emmett16]

1 hour ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

I'm always interested in what kind of value an ex-player brings to coaching. The game has changed radically in the past 7-10 years. Coaching staffs, with the Braves being an intriguing exception, are getting younger and data scientists are those who can interpret the data generated are having a very large say in how the game is played. Palmer and MacDonald are entertaining color analysts, but what do they bring to the table as coaches? I ask because I truly don't know. Seems like a question for @Just Regular or @btdart20.

I think like anything it’s how you use the resource, not just the resource itself.  There’s a school of thought that successful players struggle as coaches because they didn’t have to go through the difficult trial and error process to be successful, it happened easier for them.  However, there is obviously a wealth of knowledge there that can be tapped in to.  The new wave front offices hire former players and call them “conduits” of information .  The data and analysis guys are fantastic, but getting a player to listen to and trust a front office nerd is going to be a challenge.  The former players come in to play as a voice for interpreting and translating the data  into bite size pieces so the players can understand it and don’t get overwhelmed.  This is why Sig Megdal spent a season as a bench coach for the Astros minor league affiliate one year.  He was trying to find out the best way to translate the data and find attributes that worked for potential future conduits.  

Edited February 18 by emmett16

[emmett16]

23 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Me personally, I think you answered your own question. The game has radically changed in how it's coached and scouted, so it's tough for a lot of these guys to really bring a lot of "new value" to the players. I do think though that they may see little things here and there and if anyone can bring value it's JJ Hardy going over "hands work" and getting rid of the ball quickly. That's doesn't change.

Still, they bring the old stories and a link to past successes and allow the young players to hope that one day, they will be that guy the other young players look at and go, "Hey, that's Gunnar Henderson, wow!" 

I think you hit the nail on the head.  Half the battle is motivation.  You constantly have to be motivated to work harder and work disciplined or you are plateauing and not getting better.  The former players present a form of motivation and help push them forward.  Having those Guys simply saying “I love watching you play” “you’re better than I ever was” “keep pushing you got this” “I know it’s hard but you’ll get there” “all your sacrifices will all be worth it” will make a world of difference.  These a guys the players looked up to and idolized.  And apart from the motivation, if the guys can come away with one thing to help them overcome an obstacle it’s well worth it.  So cool to see they are doing this.  

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Barry Bonds made 188M and was the Marlins hitting coach for one season.  McGwire made 74M and was Cardinals hitting coach for 3 seasons.

I forgot Bonds was a coach.  And, I’m surprised McGwire only made $74 mm.  

[btdart20]

4 hours ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

I'm always interested in what kind of value an ex-player brings to coaching. The game has changed radically in the past 7-10 years. Coaching staffs, with the Braves being an intriguing exception, are getting younger and data scientists are those who can interpret the data generated are having a very large say in how the game is played. Palmer and MacDonald are entertaining color analysts, but what do they bring to the table as coaches? I ask because I truly don't know. Seems like a question for @Just Regular or @btdart20.

@Tony-OHmentioned sharing stories of trials and victory.  That’s a powerful motivator.  Data helps navigate the journey.  Stories fuel the ‘why’, especially in n times of trial and growth.  
 

It’s great to see the legacy and such a diverse background building into a shared pursuit.  The mysteries of life that hit differently from elder legends.

[justD]

On 2/17/2024 at 10:12 AM, Frobby said:

Scott McGregor: Feb. 18-25
Brian Roberts: Feb. 20-24
J.J. Hardy: Feb. 22-28
Ben McDonald: Feb. 22-27
Eddie Murray: Feb. 28-March 4
Robinson Chirinos: March 1-5
Adam Jones: March 2-9
Matt Wieters: March 5-8

Love it!   

I’ve arrived in Sarasota and will wear my Eddie Murray shirt to tomorrow’s game! Will save the Jones Jersey for Monday.

So excited to be here!

[DrungoHazewood]

On 2/18/2024 at 8:27 AM, Jim'sKid26 said:

I'm always interested in what kind of value an ex-player brings to coaching. The game has changed radically in the past 7-10 years. Coaching staffs, with the Braves being an intriguing exception, are getting younger and data scientists are those who can interpret the data generated are having a very large say in how the game is played. Palmer and MacDonald are entertaining color analysts, but what do they bring to the table as coaches? I ask because I truly don't know. Seems like a question for @Just Regular or @btdart20.

I don't see how it can hurt. At the very least it builds connections to the Oriole teams of the past. Most players are fans, too, and many of the current guys probably grew up watching guys like JJ Hardy, even if most of them were not Orioles fans. It's probably cool to be around players like that and to hear stories and maybe even get a few pointers.

I guess it could be counter-productive if the old guys were bitter, or the kind of person who rants about how the game has gone downhill with all this newfangled 4-inning-starter, nine relief pitchers a game, stat nerd mumbo jumbo... but I seriously doubt that's the kind of guy the team will bring in.

Edited March 2 by DrungoHazewood

[Can_of_corn]

12 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I don't see how it can hurt. At the very least it builds connections to the Oriole teams of the past. Most players are fans, too, and many of the current guys probably grew up watching guys like JJ Hardy, even if most of them were not Orioles fans. It's probably cool to be around players like that and to hear stories and maybe even get a few pointers.

I guess it could be counter-productive if the old guys were bitter, or the kind of person who rants about how the game has gone downhill with all this newfangled 4-inning-starter, nine relief pitchers a game, stat nerd mumbo jumbo... but I seriously doubt that's the kind of guy the team will bring in.

I was wondering where Albert Belle was.

[bobmc]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I was wondering where Albert Belle was.

Throwing corn kernels at kids running across his lawn or rock garden in AZ?