Mantei's fault

[Matrix31]

I know im reaching here, but ever since Mantei's comments were made public our offense has gone back to early season form. Seriously, what kind of egotisitcal, childish, selfish person makes comments questioning his manager during a 12 game win streak? That has to have messed with team chemistry.

 

[schillingfan]

Well, I certainly can't argue that the hitting went way south. Two hits in 7 innings at Coors. Ugly.

 

[Lefty]

I wonder if some of the players are believing the rumors that the team is looking to trade for a right fielder?

 

[AZZenny]

In one sense, Mantei's blow up combined with Hillenbrand's return had to have shoved their immediate future in their faces, and that's a downer. Threw a wet blanket on the party. But it's not like most of the veterans are hot these last two games either - thank heavens for Fins.

 

[AzKarl]

He issued a massive apology

His comments in today's paper satify me that he was simply venting frustration. He is a competitor and the competition will only make the bullpen better. I believe the D-Backs need a big bopper right handed big bat to go with Fins and Gonzo.

 

[Lefty]

Looks like if the Diamondbacks trade Mantei this month they not only have Valverde, the have Brian Bruney down in Tucson.


Bruney praised

Pedrique credited closer Brian Bruney for helping the Sidewinders overcome the loss of Jose Valverde, who was called up to the D'backs on June 1 and has since served as the big club's closer.

So far, Bruney has bested Valverde at the Triple-A level, earning three saves and pitching nine hitless innings since being called up on June 17.

"It's good any time you get to move up and help a team,"ä Bruney said. "It's good for me to come in there and in sort of the same situation.ä"

Pedrique's confidence in Bruney is nothing new; as Pedrique's closer in the Arizona Fall League, Bruney logged an AFL-best seven saves.

"I wasn't afraid to give him the ball,ä" Pedrique said. "He's a power-type pitcher. When he starts getting consistent with his slider, he can be nasty."

 

[mark1]

Joe Jr has said that rightfield is one area they could upgrade. Who do you think the D-Backs should go after? I don't want to give up any of our youngsters. I would put Spivey in right before I would trade the kids.

 

[RLakin]

In regards to Mantei, I don’t really blame the guy. Bob Brenly stated that he would be the closer upon healthy arrival and then basically hedged his bet by instituting a all right handed closer platoon, the likes of which I’ve never heard of before.
Mantei’s criticism is along a long line of others (Sanders, Womack, Myers, Durazo, Swindell) who basically come to same conclusion: Bob Brenly doesn’t communicate well with his players. This falls directly in line with the character profile of a man who many (including myself) have described as anti-confrontational and very sensitive of criticism. The former forms a pattern similar to situation described to me by my father. During his numerous years of working in the medical field he noticed that doctors would very rarely confront other on a professional level, even if they were upset by a decision (etc.) that a colleague made. They didn’t have the same problem w/ nurses or other employees, as they would routinely berate them for mistakes. So as it pertains to Brenly, he seems to have a major problem confronting players and/or communicating their roles.
Unfortunately, the local media always lets such obvious comportment go unchecked, and, instead, we get erroneous excuses like "(the Valverde/Mantei closer dynamic) gives the Diamondbacks a bullpen similar to the 2000 Yankees." Brenly was referring to a Rivera/Nelson combo which is hardly similar to the current one in Arizona. That year closer Rivera had 90% of the Yankees 40 saves while Nelson had exactly 0. In short and unlike the current situation, their roles were clearly defined as closer and set-up guy. This is important as any good closer would tell you that they have to maintain the mentality of fearlessness and confidence, neither of which, in this case, is aided much by Brenly. Given this, it seems pretty obvious (in John Kerry-esque fashion) that Brenly's rationale was merely to hedge his bets so he would be immune from mass criticism. Think about it, if Brenly had given the closer role back to Mantei and he failed, some would scream at him for not keeping in Valverde (in the closers role). And if Valverde would have failed, some would criticize him for not sticking with the incumbent and/or giving a players job away while he was on the DL, a no-no amongst most major league player circles.
So it's easy to berate a player who vents during a winning streak. It's much harder, though, to get to the heart of issue, and discover that it has much more to do with a man that is seeking to avoid criticism then the man seemingly seeking it with some untimely comments.

 

[schillingfan]

Unsurprising that you would voice this opinion RLakin.

Players should not mouth off about manager's decisions in the media - particularly when the team is on an 11 game win streak. The fans will kill you.

Worst thing any player can do is complain about lack of playing time, makes him sound 1) whiny, 2) more interested in his personal performance stats than the good of the team.

Player should let their performance on the field speak for itself. I'm one of the least attackers of the "modern day player" and believe in communication. But I think critics of Brenly are too attacked to some out-moded concepts, such as having defined roles.

 

[RLakin]

Originally posted by schillingfan
But I think critics of Brenly are too attacked to some out-moded concepts, such as having defined roles.

The role of closer could hardly be described as "out-moded." Furthermore, I don't see too many teams during the all-right handed power platoon thing. I would think that any good closer around the league would object to his job being reduced due to injury.

 

[schillingfan]

Originally posted by RLakin
The role of closer could hardly be described as "out-moded."

Go talk to the guys at baseball prospectus. But you miss my point, the outmoded part is the insistence on defined roles as opposed to matchups.

 

[Dback Jon]

Originally posted by RLakin
The role of closer could hardly be described as "out-moded." Furthermore, I don't see too many teams during the all-right handed power platoon thing. I would think that any good closer around the league would object to his job being reduced due to injury.

But baseball is a team game - Matt needs to do whatever it takes to help the TEAM win. And many people think the idea of a closer set in stone is vastly overrated.

And if a player has a hot hand, why sit him just because another player is coming off the DL?

Bottom line - Mantei shouldn't have spouted off to the press.