Eric Wedge and Dusty Baker interested in Detroit Tigers managerial opening

With Jim Leyland stepping down as manager of the Detroit Tigers speculation has begun on who'll take over for the American League Central champions.

There might be two guys interested in the job. Former Cincinnati Reds skipper Dusty Baker and former Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedge.

Wedge stated that he would love the opportunity to manage the Tigers. Baker said that he would be flattered to manage the Tigers.

“If the Tigers have interest in me, I would love the opportunity,” Wedge said today. 

“I’ve always respected Dave Dombrowski and what Dave has accomplished,” Baker said. “I have the ultimate respect and friendship for Jim Leyland. I’d be flattered and honored to be given such an opportunity.”

Wedge resigned from his post in Seattle due to philosophical differences with the front office. Wedge wanted a win now approach while the front office felt the team should build with young players. Baker was fired from the Reds for his team practically collapsing late in the season and for sticking up for a coach the team wanted to fire.

The Tigers would also like a manager that is driven to win now. The team is clearly in a win now mode and is looking to win it's first World Series since 1984. The Tigers came up short in 2006 and 2012.

I don't know if Baker or Wedge are viewed as bonafide candidates, but I'm sure their names will be thrown in the mix.

If I had my choice I'd pick Wedge since Baker has a bad track record with overworking pitchers (Kerry Wood, Mark Prior).

This is the problem with fans wanting Leyland gone. No one seems to be thrilled with the possible list of candidates and can't name anyone to take over the reins of a possible championship team.

Dusty's Decisions May Have Doomed Harang

In the world of sports it doesn't take much for a player in any sport to lose it. Ask Jake Delhomme, Steve Blass, Jim Everett, Chuck Knoblauch, or Steve Sax. They were mental cases to say the least. Some are derailed by a strange coaching decision, like keeping a star player in a blow out game. San Diego Padres pitcher Aaron Harang was doomed by the latter.

When Harang was with the Cincinnati Reds, he says a relief appearance back in 2008 against, how ironic, the Padres, his current team. It was an extra innings game and Harang was summoned in by manager Dusty Baker, he of the weird pitching decisions. Harang pitched well in that game, but in his next outing, a start against the Pirates, he gave up six runs in four innings. You know Baker has ruined a pitcher before so this is nothing new.

Sometimes you need to conserve a pitcher for the long haul instead of using him for an early season extra inning game, especially if that pitcher is a starter that eats up a lot of innings for you. But you know Dusty, he consulted the wristbands and the wristbands told him to put in Harang.

"What it did," Harang said of the relief appearance to the San Diego Union-Tribune, "is fatigue me beyond the point of recovery. I started to change my arm angle to compensate for the fatigue and that’s when my forearm started to bother me. I feel like I’ve never been able to get back to the consistent, repetitive mechanics that I had," he continued. "The last couple of years have been, 'Try this, try that. Move your arm angle out a little.' I’ve had a couple of my old coaches call me, asking, 'What are you doing? You had so much success before doing the same thing. Now, all of a sudden, you’re turning your back on that?' "I got away from my main thing, which is throwing my fastball and throwing everything off that. I got to thinking I’m going to trick people and it just didn’t work."



I know the bottom line in sports in general is wins and losses. Sometimes you have to let one go early for long term success. The short term gain wasn't worth it for the Reds or Harang that season. Now Harang is working to get back to his old self while Dusty gets to possibly ruin Edinson Volquez or Aroldis Chapman.


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/11/padres-harang-homing-return-dominance/