Thus, Yost is No. 3

April 1, 2008

The Wall Street Journal invented and published a ranking system for MLB managers. Three stats, then averaged, and Ned Yost was third overall. Ron Gardenhire and Bruce Bochy ranked above him.

Whatever. This matters not at all. I’m not going to dispute the metrics too much, because I generally don’t believe managers affect anything. Someone is the best, someone is the worst, and swapping them would accomplish very little.

But I do love the confidence of the author. Explaining the methodology:

For the close-games category, we subtracted each manager’s overall winning percentage from his winning percentage in games tied after the sixth inning, thus determining whether he performs better or worse in close games.

Thus.

Thus determining.

Yes, with one-third of the game remaining and no way to evaluate any moves a manager may or may not have made in those remaining innings, whether the team wins or loses determines whether a manager performs better. OK, man.

Excuses entered on behalf of Eric Gagne after giving up three earned runs and earning a blown save in his Milwaukee Brewers debut

April 1, 2008
  • Things like that happen. -Ned Yost
  • He just got that fastball up, but he was fine. -Jason Kendall
  • Gagne was bothered by the muddiness of the mound. -Anthony Witrado
  • It looked like he couldn’t get his footing. -Billy Castro
  • Anybody can have a bad game. -Billy Castro
  • He was able to come back and at least hold them to those three runs. -Prince Fielder
  • Gagne was swatting at his face throughout the inning … to keep his goggles from fogging up. -Billy Castro

Boy, bad luck. But lots of people sticking up for the guy, who left the clubhouse without speaking to reporters.