Hiring Kurt Suzuki Tracks With Recent Trend Toward Lack Of Experience

If you’re of the opinion that major-league managers have become more disposable lately (raises hand), you’ve probably been shaking your head a lot at the current round of new hires. That includes new Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, who’s taken a route to the job that’s very out of the ordinary.

Alden Gonzalez of ESPN did a piece on this today, and it was aptly titled “Making Sense of MLB’s Newest Class of Managers.” It mentioned Suzuki prominently as one of the new guys who’s a product of advanced analytics rather than the nuances of in-game decision making.

"These days, if you can find traits that ultimately define a successful manager, that's enough to want to hire a guy," an agent who represents some current managers and coaches said, according to Alden.

There’s more than traits involved in this trend, however. Rookie managers like Suzuki aren’t familiar with the intricacies of the job, which can make easier to control once the hire is made.

"Some clubs may perceive that hiring a more experienced, higher-paid manager could diminish their influence and control," a retired former All-Star said, while other sources lamented how recent managers like David Ross, Brandon Hyde and Scott Servais received scant attention as candidates this offseason despite playing a big part in elevating their prior franchises.

Joe Maddon was a three-time manager of the year who excelled in pioneering innovative techniques, and he thinks the change is insulting. This is a bit of a “get off my lawn” comment from an older manager who never lacked for confidence and unusual tactics, but Maddon does have a point when he talks about what’s been lost by not coming up through the ranks.

“It appears as though you don't have to have any kind of experience on a professional level to do this job anymore,” Maddon said.

Suzuki does have related experience, however, that makes him at least somewhat different. He was a big league catcher with a 15-year career, which means he at least knows how to manage a staff.

What’s also different about Suzuki is that he’s coming into the job as a lame-duck manager who’s working with a one-year contract that’s backed up with some incentives. That’s a product of being hired by Arte Moreno, which makes him completely unique among the newcomers, an issue which surfaced to some extent as he went about the job of hiring his coaching staff.