Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

1. Bruce Bochy Giants
2. Buck Showalter Orioles
3. Terry Francona Indians
4. Clint Hurdle Pirates
5. J.Maddon Cubs
6. Bob Melvin A's
7. Mike Scioscia Angels
8. Joe Girardi Yankees
9. Ron Roenickie Brewers
10. Bud Black Padres

1. Bruce Bochy, SF--Not even close. A brilliant team manager, handler of pitchers, and in-game tactician.
2. Joe Maddon- CHC--Brilliant manager of his lineups and roster. More raw smarts than even Bochy.
3. Buck Showalter, BAL--Sly angry young turk has become wise team manager and mentor to young players.
4. John Farrell--BOS--Brilliant pitching coach has shown skills at lineup management as well.
5. Bob Melvin--OAK--Underrated as Beane's middle manager, he implements A's plan brilliantly.
6. Clint Hurdle--PIT--More gutty, less ingenious than Maddon, but a fierce team leader and season manager.
7. Terry Francona--CLE--Not particularly ingenious, but has recovered from BOS fiasco to show leadership.
8. Mike Scioscia--LAA--Is he a brilliant running manager, one tied to that game, or both? He still wins.
9. Bud Black--SD--An extremely well-respected manager and handler of pitchers for losing teams.
10. Joe Girardi--NYY--Another "instinctual" manager who has handled NYY's chaos well for years.

I don't think you can have Farrell rated over Tito. At this point in his career, Farrell wants to be Tito, not visa versa. Francona has strung together ten straight winning season as a manager, including the epic 2004 playoff comeback win over the Yankees along with two World Series wins in Boston. It didn't end well in Boston for Francona(the team did win 90 games), but eight years is a pretty long run anywhere, especially in Boston. He then went on to win the 2013 Manager of the Year his first year in Cleveland. I have heard them both on the Radio many times. In my mind, they are very similar, which is probably why they worked so well together. Both are calm, straightforward guys and I think they handle both the media and the players well. You may think Farrell is great and he may end up being great, but but at this point he has only managed to post one winning season as manager, albeit it was a fantastic one.

Of course I can have Farrell rated over Tito; it's my list. Also, I don't think either of them wants to be the other. They're very different managers who are probably very happy being themselves. The subject of the poll thread was "best manager right now," not "manager with the best career." Like Francona, Farrell has shown himself to be a solid lineup manager and a respected presence in the dugout, although Farrell never let his team fray as Francona did. That similarity aside, Farrell's knowledge of pitching and pitching moves are both keener than Francona's, so I would much rather have him managing my team if I owned one.

"Farrell never let his team fray as Francona did". Huh? Farrell has only managed for 4 seasons in the big leagues, with Toronto in 2011-2012 and with Boston in 2013-2014. In both cases his teams declined significantly in his 2nd year, going from 81 to 73 wins with Toronto and 97 wins (plus title) to 71 wins with the big market Sox.

Francona has managed for 14 seasons with 3 teams, and he has only had 4 losing seasons, all coming during his first 4 years with the Phillies. He has won 2 world titles and guided the RedSox to 95+ wins in 5 separate seasons. The Sox won 90 games in his last year with them. If that's "fraying" I'll take it.

With the smaller market Cleveland Indians he's won 92 and 85 games, respectively for teams that few pundits expected anything of.

It's definitely true that you are entitled to your opinion that Farrell is a better manager for Francona going into 2015, but it's equally true that the stated foundation for your opinion is full of holes. Francona has a longer track record, a better track record, and outpaced Farrell's 2014 performance by 14 wins while managing a team that everyone and their mother assumed was weaker than Farrell's.

I'd take Maddon #1

On Scioscia, I really like him, but at the same time I know quite a few Angel fans and to a man they all want him fired. I tell them I hope you get your wish so the Dodgers can hire him back

teamnasty wrote:"Farrell never let his team fray as Francona did". Huh? Farrell has only managed for 4 seasons in the big leagues, with Toronto in 2011-2012 and with Boston in 2013-2014. In both cases his teams declined significantly in his 2nd year, going from 81 to 73 wins with Toronto and 97 wins (plus title) to 71 wins with the big market Sox.

Huh? Try to think about what "fray" means before you go off on irrelevant tangents, TN. By "fray" I was referring to the Red Sox collapse in 2011, when Francona clearly lost control of the clubhouse. As to his successes you mentioned, he benefited from superior teams to Farrell's, no matter what you claim people's mothers think.

And you, too, are entitled to your opinion, even though the stated foundation for it is actually full of holes. As to my sound foundation for my opinion, you clearly misread it. I clearly stated I was choosing the best manager right now, not the manager with the best record...and Farrell is the better manager right now. He's an outstanding clubhouse man, knows more about pitching than Francona, and is a better handler of pitchers. He also won the WS in his first year with the Sox. QED, Team, despite your overestimation of Tito.