Player Managers

[prouster]

Last night I went down the Baseball Reference and Wikipedia rabbit holes, looking at different player/managers throughout baseball history. Obviously they were a lot more common a hundred years ago, but they haven't been totally absent from the modern game. The last person to serve at once in both capacities is Pete Rose, who was the player/manager for the Reds from 1984-86.

This got me wondering, who are the players now that would make capable player/managers, either on the Twins or throughout the league? I actually think Josh Donaldson would be a candidate. He is obviously very knowledgeable about the game, especially the mechanics of hitting. He also has a fiercely competitive attitude and stands up for his team. Yadier Molina is another guy that I think could do it. Maybe Joey Votto, as well.

I'm curious to know what anybody else thinks!

[ashbury]

2 hours ago, prouster said:

Last night I went down the Baseball Reference and Wikipedia rabbit holes, looking at different player/managers throughout baseball history. Obviously they were a lot more common a hundred years ago, but they haven't been totally absent from the modern game. The last person to serve at once in both capacities is Pete Rose, who was the player/manager for the Reds from 1984-86.

This got me wondering, who are the players now that would make capable player/managers, either on the Twins or throughout the league? I actually think Josh Donaldson would be a candidate. He is obviously very knowledgeable about the game, especially the mechanics of hitting. He also has a fiercely competitive attitude and stands up for his team. Yadier Molina is another guy that I think could do it. Maybe Joey Votto, as well.

I'm curious to know what anybody else thinks!

When I saw your subject line, I wondered if you were leading to the idea of Rocco suiting up and playing some outfield in the absence of just about everyone on the original 40-man roster.

As for Donaldson, not only is he very knowledgeable about the mechanics of hitting, he seems to have picked up a thing or two concerning the mechanics of pitching.

Okay, joking aside, I will nominate our Turtle as a possible future manager, and maybe someone who would know when to insert himself into a game.  Short on natural talent but constantly on the lookout for a way to beat the opposition.  The only problem might be he's not a strong enough player to hold up that end of the equation you're looking for.

[prouster]

4 minutes ago, ashbury said:

When I saw your subject line, I wondered if you were leading to the idea of Rocco suiting up and playing some outfield in the absence of just about everyone on the original 40-man roster.

As for Donaldson, not only is he very knowledgeable about the mechanics of hitting, he seems to have picked up a thing or two concerning the mechanics of pitching.

Okay, joking aside, I will nominate our Turtle as a possible future manager, and maybe someone who would know when to insert himself into a game.

Lol. Rocco seems no more likely to get hurt than any of the other guys they’ve put in center so far. Part of analytics is experimenting with the status quo, right? He’s probably still better with the glove than some fairly recent Twins outfielders. Willingham, Arcia…