The right shortstop could play 150+ games (well I guess we’re all about that club 162, though right?), hit above average and field at least average shortstop level. The Braves lineup looked much better
with Ha-Seong Kim rather than the more offensively-challenged group of Nick Allen, Orlando Arcia, and Luke Williams (although Vidal Brujan was decent). The right shortstop could add two or as many as eight wins to a playoff-adjacent team.
The right manager can optimize a hitting lineup. He could deploy the bullpen in terms of leverage and situation rather than inning. He could keep an eye on players so he can help avoid injury. And just keep the team motivated, inspired and keep all the different personalities from killing each other over the course of seven to eight months a year.
There isn’t really a framework to measure manager effectiveness, or to measure how the team appreciates and supports the manager. There’s lineup optimization autopsies that can be performed and a measure of matching handedness for relief pitchers. I may kick this around during the offseason. But there’s nothing like a “manager WAR”.
Y’all tell me, but I tend to lean toward the on-field personnel.
