Are They REALLY Smarter?

[DOUGHBOYS]

Pat Valaika went 0-4 and struck out three times last night. This is not a big deal to most. Valaika is a spare parts player.
He has 40 at bats, struck out (20) in half of those at bats, and only has two hits for the year (.050)
In our vernacular, he sucks.
A fantasy manager would never start Valaika. Heck, we wouldn't even roster him. Yet, here is an .050 hitter starting for a Major League team.
Why is Valaika in the lineup?
There are many general reasons. Trevor Story is hurt. His rookie sensation (why, when rookies haven't even proved themselves, called 'rookie sensations' ?). A lefty was throwing. A poor lefty (Drew Pomeranz).
Those are general reasons.
But the overriding reason is the Manager-General Manager decided Valaika should play.

I say Manager-General Manager because Manager's in baseball, as we know them are disappearing. We knew Managers as smart in-play thinkers.
Dick Williams, Tony LaRussa, Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, etc.
These type of Managers are no longer wanted or needed by General Managers.
General Managers want Managers to be an extension of themselves now.
Bruce Bochy knows this. He is leaving.
Now, more than ever, Managers talk to their General Managers more than ever.
Becoming a Middle Man of sorts between his boss and the players.

The General Manager makes all the player decisions in regards to drafting, signing, and trading. Like us, in fantasy baseball.
The Manager used to be in charge of everything that went on, on the field and with player relationships.
No more.
The General Manager now wants his analytical smarts to be displayed on the field. If the GM say that Pat Valaika can hit poor lefties and the sensational rookie isn't hitting, the Manager knows that Pat Valaika will be in his lineup.
Even if Valaika hasn't had a hit since April 8. (TRUE!)
Remember last year when Gabe Kapler was hired and in his very first game he tried to prove how analytically smart he was by giving Aaron Nola the hook early in a shutout, so he wouldn't face a lineup for the third time.
Yeah, it backfired and Kapler started the season with a loss.

Joe Maddon is not an extension of Theo Epstein. They won a Championship. But it is clear that Maddon, while still thought of as a 'fresh mind' is still old school when it comes to the new wave of GM extensions.
The Manager has also become a push button fella.
Pitchers are pulled around the 100 pitch mark.
Bullpenners are limited in days worked.
Righty faces lefty.
Lefty faces righty.
There is no more Managing with your gut.
The press jumps all over any Manager who Manages with his gut.

Last night, the Braves were playing the Cubs.
Julio Teheran did not have it from the start.
He had allowed several base runners but was only behind 2-0 after four innings.
With two outs and two on in the fifth inning, his Manager sent him up to hit. Not a pinch hitter.
Why?
Because he had a pitch count in the 70's.
Today's Managers are trained to get close to 100 pitches from their Starter.
An old school Manager may have seen that Teheran was struggling anyway and hit for Teheran in a moment where the game was winnable.
As it turns out, Teheran made an out and went on to allow five runs the next inning.
Nobody from the press questioned the decision.
They should have.

Nationals General Manager crowed about his wonderful bullpen during the off-season.
Trevor Rosenthal a great signing.
If he did say so himself...and he did.
Now, Rosenthal is run out of town to be replaced by....wait for it...wait for it....
FERNANDO RODNEY !
Fernando Rodney is to pitching as Jim Riggleman is to Managing. A limp dick.
I ask you, would ANY fantasy player put Fernando Rodney on their roster without a sniff of a Save?
Mike Rizzo did.

I understand everything from a General Manager's point of view. I would want complete power as well.
As a fantasy Manager, can you imagine drafting a team carefully at each turn, making sure all your players are in place, only to have somebody else decide who plays and pitches each week?
In baseball, this is present with Robinson Cano.
Cano sucks.
But his GM does not know that. He is paying Cano lots of money and sorta staked a reputation on Cano.
So Cano's Manager hits him third. To hit him lower, he would need permission from the GM.
Even if a detriment to the team as a whole.
And these General Managers and Managers are paid to be a lot smarter than us.
We're just baseball geeks. These guys are Harvard grads.
At the same time, Pat Valaika is on the roster at the behest of a General Manger and the Manager is playing him.
Even We, are smarter than that.