Bruce Bochy Says Managing Today 'Less Fun,' Should Rangers be Concerned?
Bruce Bochy appears to be a candidate for the Texas Rangers managerial opening. But does his recent quote about managing being “less fun” in the modern era serve as a red flag?
Bochy spent more than 20 years managing the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants, winning more than 2,000 games and claiming three World Series titles. It’s safe to say he’s seen it all. That includes the evolution of managing.
Bochy was quoted in Joe Maddon’s upcoming book, “The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball & Life.” Madden, also considered a possible candidate in Texas, managed the Tampa Rays, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels in his career.
Maddon lost his job earlier this year with the Angels in part because of a disagreement with team management over on-field decision-making. In the book, he related a story late in his tenure about getting a call from general manager Perry Minasian asking to pull a player in a blowout win. Maddon wrote that he drew a line there, and that ultimately led to his firing.
Among the other managers Maddon and his co-author, Tom Verducci, spoke to was Bochy. And he talked about how his enjoyment level changed in the final years of his career.
"I would say it was less fun," Bochy said. "I came up with the more traditional way of managing. I made the calls. I made the lineups. You could see how the game was changing, and that's fine."
Among the changes, analytics is a significant part of the game and team officials tend to have a more significant role in the day-to-day management of the lineup. It’s no longer an era of giving the ingredients to the manager. The general managers and analytics department help the managers cook the dish.
So is Bochy in the non-analytics camp or the analytics camp? Or is he straddling the line? Is “less fun,” as he is quoted, a problem if Rangers general manager Chris Young decides to hire the 67-year-old manager?
It might not be. Giants Baseball Insider wrote about Bochy’s quotes in the book, including what a manager has to do now to be successful in this new age.
"You need a different style of leadership today," Bochy said. "A manager has to sell it. You can't just tell a guy what to do. That's why relationships are so important. ... In some respects, leadership can be a little easier and less stressful because a lot of times the player knows it's not the manager's call."
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