Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Kansas City Royals fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Earlier this week, we asked you whether manager Matt Quatraro could be looking for another job this offseason:
I was actually quite gratified by the results. The majority of you, 53%, voted that Q shouldn’t and wouldn’t be fired. Only 8% of you thought he might be fired,
whether he deserved it or not. That means a whopping 92% understand that he’s not going anywhere.
I have to say I’m a touch disappointed by the 38% who felt that Q wouldn’t be fired but should be. I understand that baseball managers are essentially hired to be fired. It’s really almost impossible to say whether they are good at their jobs, especially for us fans. Sure, we can point to decisions they make that we disagree with, but just because we disagree doesn’t make us right.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve screamed at my TV that such-and-such reliever should have been used instead, only to find out later that said reliever was unavailable for some reason that I hadn’t known when the decision was being made. And I’m certain that number is dwarfed by the times a player wasn’t used when I would have used them for reasons we still don’t know, but that made the choice obvious to the manager.
That isn’t to say that Matt Quatraro can’t be wrong, or that I haven’t disagreed with him or questioned his choices. I’m a baseball fan; of course I have. But I will say Matt Quatraro makes choices I can’t comprehend far less frequently than most MLB managers. Sure, it would make sense to replace him if you thought you could do better, but I just don’t know how you’d accomplish that feat. Even modern “legends” like Terry Francona and Bruce Bochy aren’t infallible. Given that, I’m content to keep the guy who at least doesn’t give me obvious concerns about the clubhouse.
And, just because I can’t help myself, let me address some of the biggest complaints about Q that I’ve seen over and over.
- He isn’t fiery enough!
- That kind of manager is dying out in the modern day; the only especially fiery manager I can think of is Aaron Boone, and no one likes him. If MLB players couldn’t self-motivate without a fiery manager, they wouldn’t have made it to MLB.
- He makes the wrong calls with the bullpen!
- There were zero right calls to make with this year’s bullpen. Daniel Lynch IV wasn’t even a good call. This is highlighted by the last two weeks in August, when, really, he couldn’t make a bad call. Mostly, a manager’s bullpen choices come down to whether they work or not, and that mostly comes down to the quality of arms that have been brought in for him to call on.
- He always wants his lineup to go L-R-L-R!
- I might dig into this a little this offseason, but anecdotally, he’s far from the only manager who prefers this. If you put a bunch of righties or lefties in a row, you’re making the opposing manager’s job much easier when he calls to his own bullpen.
- He bats Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez too high in the lineup! (Also, he plays Isaac Collins too often!)
- I will say the Vinnie and Salvy things have also driven me nuts, too. But also, to a degree, he can only build the lineups with the guys he’s got. I’m not sure how much more sense it makes to bat Nick Loftin or John Rave in the four-spot.
Having knocked down all of your strawmen, I hereby grant myself an exemption from arguing with you all in the comments. Have a great weekend!
These survey results are sponsored by FanDuel.
