As Bill James said, they'll forgive a terrible manager but not a mediocre one.

This is fair. They actually have a decent team riddled with injuries. He should at least get to manage a team when it’s healthy. Having said that, I’ve watched his managing and he’s not very good

I wouldn't bring back either Lovullo or Hyde. Sometimes the W-L record speaks for itself.

I was on the field at Fenway for BP one time when Lovullo was interim manager of the Red Sox. He couldn’t have been a nicer guy. I’m happy for him.

I don't see how injuries had a lot to do with. Marte missed half the season but even that is 2-3 wins at most. Calhoun and Reddick did too but they've been terrible anyway. (Heck Reddick was flat-out released and hasn't made it back yet. Asdrubal was put on waivers and has been terrible for the Reds.) Gallen, Bumgarner and Kelly all missed 10 starts but they also all have ERA+ in the low 90s and the pen is just awful top to bottom.

A "defense" of Lovullo is that they are 8 games below pythag ... and if you make them fully healthy maybe they don't quite lose 100 games. Clearly the main blame is on the GM but there's nothing here that suggests Lovullo or the team is "decent." Kelly, Marte, Gallen and maybe some of the cup-of-coffee young players are the only ones you'd want on your team.

Bingo Walt. The team was projected to win about 72 games heading into the season. Their injuries were probably a bit more extensive than you are allowing for, and it's not unreasonable to knock off another 5 wins or so due to that. But their record in one run games is a an astounding 9-29, one of the worst all time among teams with over 35 one run games. And that's MOSTLY on the bullpen.

I hope it's ok to self link in comments. It's easier. I covered the bullpen late inning meltdowns HERE

The rotation issues were covered HERE


On top of terrible pitching, their defense has been well below average, in large part because the team mistakenly thought they had a bunch of Chris Taylor's that can play anywhere and constructed a roster that was intended to use guys all over the field. The problem is most of those guys they tried doing that with, (Josh Rojas, Pavin Smith, Daulton Varsho, Josh VanMeter, etc) are all sub par defenders to begin with. Meanwhile after trading Starling Marte that forced Ketel back out to CF where he has been terrible and keeps suffering leg injuries. He's wanted to play 2b all along and wasn't happy playing out there, although he didn't publicly complain about it.

They have no power, they've been out homered by 86 this year, and that's not only worst in MLB, it's closing in on being among the worst 10 HR deficit seasons ALL TIME

Hazen constructed a lousy roster, constrained by low payroll, (cut to under 100M heading into 2021) and the front office dictates EVERYTHING. They completely control player and pitcher usage, workloads, etc. Torey is a great guy, he is a genuinely good man. The players love him, and he's no dummy. He knows this game as a player, a coach, and he's also very analytically inclined. Even a lot of the strategic moves that people criticize are really due to constraints and instructions handed down to him. I'm not saying he's a genius manager by any means. The coaching staff DOES bear responsibility for so many mental lapses that we see on a nightly basis. The 24 game road losing streak, the 8-48 stretch during May and June.....those things can't happen, injuries or not.

It's going to be a long road back for this team. Sorry one last link. Teams that finish with under a .350 W% virtually never get back to .500 the next year, let a lone the playoffs. Last time it happened was the 89 Orioles. I wrote an article covering the history of historically bad teams over the last 50 years and how long it took them to turnaround HERE

6 games to go for the D-backs. they are 50-106. 3 in San Francisco, 3 at home vs. the Rockies

If they go 2-4 they avoid the franchise worst record of 51-111 set in 2004

If they go 1-5 they tie it, and 0-6 they set a new franchise record for futility.

Also in a dead heat with the Orioles for #1 pick in the 2022 draft. (Baltimore also 50-106)

Orioles 3 at home vs. the Red Sox, then 3 in Toronto.

A tie goes the Orioles.... Both teams had same record in 2020, but Dbacks had better record in 2019.

So Advantage Orioles.....* (if you're rooting for them to get the #1 pick)

With six to play, the worst the Rangers can do is tie their previous worst (57-105 in 1973).

Bad as I usually assume the Rangers will be, since I started following them (1989) they have been over .500 as often as not. The worst previous season in that span was 2014 (67-95, though in the middle of a long excellent run). 2021 will be their worst by far that I can remember, cue somebody to blame it on the air-conditioning, naturally.

With six to play, the worst the Rangers can do is tie their previous worst (57-105 in 1973).

What happened to the Rangers? Huge market; new stadium. I look at their line-up and roster and do not recognize any names. I assume Jung is coming; is he a star?

I think the Rangers just had a really rough decade being unable to identify younger talent, whether via draft, trade, or international signing. Maybe that is changing. Their system supposedly has a lot of prospects if few sure things.

Josh Jung hit well in AA and AAA this year after recovering from an injury early on. He could be a star, or he could just be a league-average player, which would be an improvement on most Ranger prospects. Their other top position prospect, Sam Huff, was set back much further by injury this year and has batted .237 in AA. They do have some promising pitchers (Cole Winn, top draft pick Jack Leiter).

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was given a one-year contract extension through 2022.

I’d like to see data on how 1-year extensions work out, but my sense is that it’s the MLB version of being placed on probation under a last chance agreement in other industries. Unless you’re Walter Alston.

I'd like to know if he negotiated to get paid regardless of whether they play in 2022 or not.

For a franchise that's always had good hitters, the Rangers have been running out below-average hitters up and down the lineup for about 5 years now. Gallo is the only consistently above-average hitter, and he's gone.

For a franchise that's always had good hitters, the Rangers have been running out below-average hitters up and down the lineup for about 5 years now. Gallo is the only consistently above-average hitter, and he's gone.