Should Eric Wedge be manager of the year?

Question

Watching baseball the last few days, I have heard many announcers say Eric Wedge should be the AL manager of the year. Do you agree with that?

Just in case you don't know he is the manager of the Indians who are 81-58 with a 7 game lead in the AL Central.

Answer 1

YES! Eric Wedge should be manager of the year in the A.L. He is basically taking the same team he had last year (which was an under .500 team) and has them 23 games over .500 right now. Sure they added a few different guys to the team but it didnt upgrade the team. Joe Borowski leads the AL in saves but his ERA is 5.50 so that addition wasn't that great. Trot Nixon has 3 homeruns and is batting .260. Not much of an upgrade for what was supposed to be their starting right fielder.

My point is that Eric Wedge has really turned this team around.

If Eric doesnt get it then Mike Scoiscia shoould because he has been very consistant the past few years and his team is dominating and they dont have that many superstars like boston or new york

Answer 2

Red, I have to say absolutley 100% no he should not be. The team has got those wins, his managing ability is average at best. He irritates me. When you don't have the sense enough to have guys bunt with a runner on 1st and no outs atleast sometimes...I blame him for the slump in August. You, as a manager, need to be creative in finding ways to manufacture runs. Look at the way Kenny Lofton does it, he is patient and will bunt guys over. What, Sizemore can't bunt? Peralat can't bunt? Those two our two of the biggest strikeouts kings in MLB, I'd rather see them move runners by bunting, then strikeout. These are Wedge calls. I also think he leaves pitchers in too long after it is very clear they are out of gas, or they don't have their stuff going. A move he hasn't done and should be doing is having Borowski being used in relief and Betancourt as a closer. It's clear to anybody who knows baseball that you DON'T want Borowski saving 1-2 runs game in October. Betancourt could be used like Mariano Rivera has been used in the playoffs...a 2 inning closer at times. Bring him in the 8th and let him finish it. Wedge has too much unproven trust in Borowski. With that said, I'm an Indians fan of course, I'm just not a Wedge fan. He has the Indians really lacking when it comes to fundamental baseball. The best move he has made lately is NOT letting Cliff Lee's disgruntled (I never deserved to be demoted) butt pitch. He's a true fool if he does. Credit the Indians as a team, not Wedge as a manager. I'd kill to have a manager like Jim Leyland....we' be sitting at 90 wins right now.

Answer 3

I agree that he should be seriously considered.

There are few teams with a manager deserving of winning the award. Look at the other teams:

Boston or New York - They are supposed to win. So how can you give their managers the award???

Seattle - Two managers. Falling fast....

Anaheim - Serious consideration for Mike Scosia.

So other than Wedge and Scosia(sp) there aren't many other options. SO Wedge has a good chance, provided they don't blow their 7 game lead.

Answer 4

Between the crowded outfield and injuries to starting pitching, I think Wedge has done a great job managing this team. Coming into the year, I thought the team was set up for disaster with Dellucci, Michaels, Nixon, Blake, Choo and Gutierrez all fighting for OF playing time, but with Blake's move back to 3B and Wedge's impressive day-to-day shifting (even after Lofton was added) these guys have gotten their AB's in while also maximizing their productivity.

Likewise, injuries to Cliff Lee and Jake Westbrook created roadblocks at the year went on, but they were handled well. You have to give credit to that rotation, especially Carmona and Sabbathia, but Wedge deserves mention for dealing with adversity.

His handling of the bullpen is where he really shines, though. On paper, this a bullpen that is mediocre at best. Borowski is far from the prototypical dominant closer, Betancourt and Fultz have never been as effective as they have been this year, and it seems that Pérez has come out of no where to be one of the best middle relievers in all of baseball. Kudos to Wedge for handling this pitching staff.

The manager of the year award tends to go to the biggest surprise among playoff-bound teams, and I wouldn't consider Cleveland a "surprise" (they were my pick for the Central Division winners at the start, despite my allegiance to the Twins), but considering the strange managerial situation in Seattle, and also considering that Detroit was the consensus pick to win the division, I would day that Wedge is most definitely the AL manager of the year.

Answer 5

he's unquestionably the guy to look at. seem, he held this group at the same time in August while it ought to have thoroughly slipped away. They have been dropping video games a million-0, 2-a million-the ofesne replaced into ineffective. Carmona and Sabathia could have had 22 wins each and each if that they had some run help in this time. Then NYY involves city and DESTROYS Cleveland-outscoring them in a three interest set something like 23-4. Weddge made the circulate of going with Asdrubal Cabrera who had seen no action contained in the majors this 300 and sixty 5 days up until then-he inserted Lofton and Guitierrez into finished-cases roles and used Kelly Shppoach, a greater then adequate decrease back up catcher wisely-giving Martinez appropriate relax. He inserted aaron Laffey into the rotation and made some dazzling pinch hitting calls with Chris Gomez and Jason Michaels. He saved the dynamic duo of Perez and Betancourt sparkling contained in the pen-he controlled the pen o.k. (minus Borowski). This group could have went a thoroughly diverse direction in mid-August-he made the right personel strikes and solidified an outsatnding group on youthful gamers right into a respectable international sequence contending group-who has completed greater with maximum of "Non- kin call gamers"? i'm advantageous they are common names now-yet Wedge has been sensational-he has shown loyalty and alot of perception in those adult males. He could get my vote.

Answer 6

I think he gets consideration but so do several other managers, Scoscia in LA, Anaheim, Orange County, CA, USA, North America, Western Hemisphere, Planet Earth has to be in there...they are having a great season and have dealt with a lot of key injuries. Leyland is doing it again in Detroit through all kinds of injuries. I would even say that Torre has taken a horrible pitching staff and made a decent run at it. If Hargrove had stuck around he would have been in consideration as well.

Answer 7

I personally don't think so, sometimes the Tribe has won in spite of him, he has been smarter than last year, but still has a ways to go. I think if he had more common sense we would be a little better off. It's not always he just has brain farts every now and then. The positive thing about him is well look at the record this year, and their performance so he is doing alot of things right, so I guess I change my answer to I'm not really sure.

Answer 8

Eric Wedge is a good choice and I would go with Tony LaRusso in the NL for keeping the Cardinals in the race with all the problems the team has had this year.

Answer 9

No. The Indians have just gotten lucky that other teams in the AL Central have gone stone cold. Usually they play that role this late in the season. And it ain't over yet. As an Indian follower, I am not going to breathe easy until October 2. I am hard pressed to say I am a fan because I can't get their tv station where I live, the radio station comes in sometimes, and they are blacked out on Extra Innings. Hard to be a fan when you can't even pay to watch them.
And besides, Shapiro calls the shots.

Answer 10

He should be seriously considered. The Indians have had a lot of promise here and there and this team isn't that different from last year, so he's had SOME effect.