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Jeff Manto fired


southsider2k5

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I know it sounds crazy, but I actually think he had done a better job than his predecessor (at least how Walker had done over his last several years as coach). He presided over Rios and Dunn returning to having value, which was incredibly important. Unfortunately, our team offenses have struggled due to PK's rapid decline, Alexei's regression, and the non-emergence of several other bats. It looked like Gordon Beckham might save his job, but Gordon has since plummeted into a position where he himself is probably losing his job. Dayan has remained inconsistent. Guys like Flowers, Phegley, Morel never broke through and Jeff Keppinger came in and had the worst year of his career. You might say Conor Gillaspie was an accomplishment, but turning a AAAA player into a slightly above replacement bat isn't something to hang one's hat on; and we really have no clue whether Manto had anything to do with Gillaspie who was acquired during ST.

 

I don't think that a bad season means heads have to roll, but from the outside looking in it certainly seems reasonable. Bad offense, pretty much no improvement from players short of veterans returning to past form (not quite that, in Dunn's case). I'm guessing that things that are seen from within by Robin, Hahn, and the players have confirmed that we can do better.

 

The key benefit to this timing is how little continuity we're going to have on the player side of things. The only key player who may "suffer" from the switch of hitting coaches is Dayan, who has clearly been working with Manto for quite a while. With that said, it isn't as if Manto had made Dayan into a great hitter and it may be the case that Tank didn't like working with him anyway. Beyond that, there is going to be a ton of roster turnover so this is the perfect time to get a new hitting coach into the mix. Get the coach who you want raising your young players like Avisail, Semien, etc. from Day 1. For that, it's a smart move. You let your fans know that you are serious and you put yourself in position to get a new guy to guide these young players throughout the offseason and into the starts of their careers. If Manto's the wrong guy, you get him away from the young guys ASAP and you don't waste their time working with a different philosophy of coach throughout AFL and whatever else.

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Strange that Hawk is the one dropping this news, in game 161 of the season no less, but it's definitely the right move IMO. I think a lot of people on this site, myself included, weren't fans of the hire to begin with when Manto explained his views on hitting. I don't expect a lot of people to be sad to see him go.

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QUOTE (Jake @ Sep 28, 2013 -> 08:36 PM)
Yeah I wonder about the reporting of this. I almost wonder if we misunderstood Hawk or Hawk misunderstood some other kind of info

 

I don't think there is any question they were waiting to announce it, at least until after the game. I would bet they told Manto earlier today that he had been relieved, and Manto decided he didn't want to finish the season.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 28, 2013 -> 08:40 PM)
I don't think there is any question they were waiting to announce it, at least until after the game. I would bet they told Manto earlier today that he had been relieved, and Manto decided he didn't want to finish the season.

 

That would seem the most logical. But this season has questioned logic in nearly every aspect! I bet you're right though.

Edited by WilliamTell
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