November 2, 2008
NEWSFLASH: Texas Rangers To Name Mike Maddux As New Pitching Coach
An unnamed "source with knowledge of the process" informed Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News late Sunday evening that the Texas Rangers were expected to announce the signing of Mike Maddux as their new pitching coach as early as tomorrow, conveniently coinciding with the onset of the general managers' meetings at the luxurious St. Regis Resort at Monarch Beach in Dana Point, California.
Brewers general manager Doug Melvin, who had just days before reiterated his belief that Maddux -- a six-year veteran of the Milwaukee organization -- would remain in place under newly appointed manager Ken Macha, confirmed the news, telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Texas had "overwhelmed" Maddux with a multi-year offer. Grant speculates that the deal will lock up the 47-year-old pitching instructor through 2011, if not longer.
Andy Hawkins, who began the 2008 season as the Triple-A Oklahoma Redhawks pitching coach and finished as the Rangers' interim pitching coach, is now the odds-on favorite to claim the vacant bullpen coach's spot. Minor league pitching coordinator Rick Adair had previously been mentioned as an internal candidate to square off against former Athletics and Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson (who will probably now interview to be Macha's pitching coach) for the role, but this development ensures he'll remain exactly where he is.
Maddux has been described by Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus as a "strong-willed coach" with the ability to make quick and effective fixes. He is often credited for the remarkable turnarounds of Derrick Turnbow, Danny Kolb and Francisco Cordero, the latter two of whom flourished immediately after coming to the Brewers from the Rangers.
Additionally, southpaws Chris Capuano and Doug Davis have previously lavished praise upon Maddux, with Capuano citing Maddux's vast wealth of pitching knowledge, and Davis noting that Maddux enabled him to "shorten [his] arm path," facilitating his emergence as an above-average Major League starting pitcher after the Rangers lost him via waivers in April 2003.
For what it's worth, the esteemed Jeff Sackmann of Brew Crew Ball -- and creator of the superb Minor League Splits -- wrote in June 2006 that Rick Helling's employment of a new cutter was the brainchild of Maddux; Helling went on to post a 2.39 ERA in 49 innings for the Brewers in 2005 and a 4.11 ERA in 35 innings in 2006, prolonging his once-fading career by two years. It's certainly not a stretch to think that Maddux's instruction was a significant factor in the revival of Helling.
We'll find out soon enough what compelled Texas to select Maddux over the similarly qualified Peterson, but I'll issue this one-line assessment in the meantime: so far, so good.
Discussion
9 Comments on "NEWSFLASH: Texas Rangers To Name Mike Maddux As New Pitching Coach"
#1
Posted by Jon Page, November 3, 2008 8:15 AM
Okay... let's see if the comments section works this morning.
I can't say this comes a a surprise to me - Maddux was clearly the man the Rangers (and presumably Nolan Ryan) where after these past few weeks, it was just a matter of convincing him to come here. Between the hard-fought pursuit of Maddux here and the hiring of Jackie Moore, it really seems like Nolan is trying to make sure he has as much of an influence down the the clubhouse as possible going into 2009. From an outsider's perspective at least, this is starting to look more and more like Nolan's team.
#2
Posted by briant, November 3, 2008 9:09 AM
I agree with Jon again, as usual, it is Nolan's team. That's nothing but a good thing in my eyes.
However, I'm a little confused (which admittedly isn't difficult). Baseball man was allowed to fire the guy who should be our manager in order to 'bring in his own guys'. This was the year he was supposed to get his turn to pick his guys. We're giving him the right to choose his staff, right? We're trusting him. He's the man.
Oops.
That is until he picks the wrong guy for his pitching coach. Then we'll have to "marginalize" baseball man because of his selection. No big deal - we can work around him. The front office got its pitching coach.
But this simply isn't how it ought to work. There should be a publicly unified front - any disagreements should have taken place in the meeting room when the decision was apparently made. That baseball man took the disagreement public shows him to be unclear on several concepts. Why is this guy once again swimming against the current within this organization? Is his political acumen on an equal plane with his grammar? It's like we turn our heads and ignore so many of his actions, but others are just so against the grain and silly that the front office has to intervene.
I fervently hope that the farce that is Ron Washington as manager of this team is not allowed to continue any further. Please, front office, we got our pitching coach - now get us a manager. The sooner the better.
#3
Posted by JDolla$, November 3, 2008 10:43 AM
Hey guys, a question. Peppered throughout the comments section of mlbtraderumors are comment after comment from people who say team X should just go and get Chris Davis from the Rangers to fill their 1B needs. Am I missing something. Why does EVERYONE seem to think that Chris Davis is available, and can be had for some average pitching? Did JD say something about Davis that makes everyone think he's on the block? I'm so confused.
#4
Posted by Jon Page, November 3, 2008 11:10 AM
Re: Davis, I think the reason he's seen as possibly available is because of the presence and tout of Justin Smoak, whom is of course projected by some to be in the Majors as soon as 2010, and the fact that we're expected to pick up Blalock's option this winter. Smoak could concievably make him expendable at some point, and Blalock could be seen as a nice stopgap until then.
Also, as much as I hate the idea of trading Davis, that might very well be something we'd have to do if we truly want to net a guy like Ricky Nolasco or Matt Cain this offseason. But you would think (hope, anyway) that Davis is off limits in dicsussions regarding anyone of a lesser caliber than that - I would have hard time conceiving of a scenario in which we'd trade him if it weren't for someone with true #1 potential.
#5
Posted by Joey Matschulat in reply to comment from Jon Page, November 3, 2008 11:28 AM
Comments should remain functional from here on out.
Interesting that Rick Peterson was apparently nothing more than a back-up plan all along. I sincerely doubt JD would have removed Adair from his post to oversee pitching instruction at the ML level when he is so instrumental in the development of the young arms, and Hawkins never seemed to be under legitimate consideration for that post.
#6
Posted by Joey Matschulat in reply to comment from briant, November 3, 2008 11:47 AM
This is really one of the more curious aspects of the entire Maddux hiring...Walbeck was purportedly a Daniels guy, brought in by the organization as a whole more so than brought in by Washington himself (who wanted Texas to hire Brad Fischer). The two don't "gel" (whatever that means, though I suspect there was some significant philosophical disagreements between the two), and Walbeck is excised.
Now, Washington publicly advocates the hiring of Rick Peterson, and again the organization overrules the manager, only this time it's Nolan Ryan leading the charge by going out and getting his guy. There's certainly the possibility that Washington is fine with the hiring of Maddux and that the two will congeal, but what happens if they don't (as we already saw with Walbeck)?
And, again, what does it say about Washington's power/voice in the organization when he's evidently not being permitted to hand-pick his own coaching staff? It can be perceived several different ways, but my personal guess is that there isn't overwhelming organizational support for Washington right now in spite of the Rangers' mid-season turnaround that somehow saved his job at the last possible instant, and that probably doesn't bode well for his long-term prospects in Texas.
#7
Posted by Jon Page in reply to comment from Joey Matschulat, November 3, 2008 11:51 AM
Gah, I forgot to use the new reply feature to JDollas there.
Yeah, JD wasn't going to pull Adair from his current role unless he had absolutely nobody else for the job - nor would I have wanted him to. Adair is much more valuable as minor league coodinator. I liked Andy Hawkins as pitching coach at the end of the season, but with the esteem the Rangers front office apparently held Maddux in and with Rick Peterson as the backup plan, I can see why he wasn't given more consideration.
I would imagine Hawkins should still be the front runner for the role of bullpen coach though, correct? I think that would be an ideal role for him really.
#8
Posted by Joey Matschulat in reply to comment from JDolla$, November 3, 2008 11:54 AM
Wishful thinking, I suppose? As Jon alluded to, a lot of fans across baseball know that the Rangers have Justin Smoak in the fold and likely presume that makes Davis expendable, but even if it gets to the point where Smoak is smashing down the door to the majors with monstrous numbers, JD isn't going to deal him for anything short of fair value. He's not going to be in a position where he has to do that.
There have also been a few scattered mentions of Davis-to-SF and the like, but any sort of deal in that vein would likely revolve around Matt Cain. Other than that, I haven't really seen any explicit mentions of CD's availability, and I wouldn't expect to see any either.
#9
Posted by Joey Matschulat in reply to comment from Jon Page, November 3, 2008 12:08 PM
I've read nothing to indicate that Hawkins isn't in the driver's seat for the bullpen coach's role...Peterson probably isn't going to settle for a less prestigious title (and less money) just to hang with Washington, and my sense is that Texas would rather leave Adair right where he is unless there is no other option. Seattle's Dave Wallace won't step down from a comfy front office job for that title either.
An argument can probably be made that Hawkins would have more overall organizational utility if he were re-installed as the pitching coach at OKC (where the likes of Feliz and Holland will probably roll through at some point in '09), but then you have a slew of Hawkins' young pupils in Arlington that could undoubtedly benefit from having a guy they're intimately familiar with around.
Remember, just because Hawkins is the bullpen coach doesn't mean he doesn't have a hand in overseeing the entire staff -- when McCarthy held his now-famous bullpen session with Ryan and Hawkins several months back, Jim Colborn was present as well.
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