Jim Tracy - Perrotto article

by Greg Schuler on May 2, 2006 8:34 AM EDT Comment 3 comments

From the BCT - Story.

It is only a month in the new season and <insert religious deity name here> knows that Miller Huggins or Danny Murtaugh would not be able to get 80 wins out of this lineup, but color me unimpressed by Mr Tracy (from what I seen, heard and read).

What I am most unimpressed with is the amount of swagger and talk the new coaching staff came in with and the subsequent lack of progress out of spring training on the fundamentals. I still read and see of bonehead base running plays or missed fielding plays that seem more mental that physical. Supposedly the lackadasical approach of the "worst manager ever" McClendon were to be erased - completely. After all, this coaching staff won so many games with the Dodgers (and they should have with the teams they had - but only one playoff appearance and that was only because DePodesta made some bold moves).

Perrotto's main point is that Tracy has patience. The last thing this organization needs right now is more patience. When you lose for 13 seasons, allowing the team to look bad, let alone play poorly, is not what people want. The Pirates needed to do better - heck, even on this site, I read of people already cashing in the season. It is early, but Tracy does not give me much hope that he will be able to get more of this team than their talent dictates. But he's patient (and slightly arrogant in a bad way, if you ask me).

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Unimpressive

I never really put much stock into all the BS during spring training. It's all PR. The Pirates lost under McClendon because they didn't have talent, and they're losing under Tracy for the same reason. The only real impact of it was that it got fans' hopes unrealistically high.

What really matters is which players Tracy chooses to play. I don't give him any credit for sticking with Snell, Maholm, Duffy and McLouth, for the simple reason that there's nobody to replace them with. We don't know what would happen if Tike Redman was still around, or if we had a Brian Meadows clone in AAA (although Tracy apparently has thought about moving Torres to the rotation, even though he failed there several years ago). Tracy DOES, however, have an alternative to Randa, and had one to Burnitz until Casey got hurt and CWilson was needed at 1B. Starting Burnitz against LHPs while his hottest hitter was on the bench was especially idiotic. I also didn't get the need to play Cota so much over Doumit. So on the question of choosing his lineup, I give Tracy a "D."

by WTM on May 2, 2006 10:51 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

But

When that coaching staff walked in a said "We used to coach the Dodgers and we do things better" they should be judged on thos types of things.

The talent is poor - I even doubt how much help the Mickey White players are going to be the more I watch - and how a manager uses it speaks to his ability.

I guess what I don't want to hear is patience - it won't get better if you simply wait for McCutcheon and Walker to matriculate to the MLB (if they make it). This organization does everything the exact same way and frustratingly so.

by Greg Schuler on May 2, 2006 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs