Now that the offseason is settling into our house, the baseball homesick minds have to start breaking down what happened and what will happen going forward. This week, I participated in The United Cardinal Bloggers roundtable discussion. Here are my answers to the first week’s burning questions.
1.)Grading Mike Matheny’s second season as manager
Grading Matheny’s season isn’t easy because while the result was 2 wins shy of a World Championship, he made a few mistakes that would have crippled other teams less stocked with such an arsenal of young talent. Matheny was very solid again this season and for me that means a B+ grade. What he lost in injuries to key veterans and young arms was made up for with a late brigade of future pitching power and the full time arrival of Matt Adams. Matheny’s biggest attribute is also the thing that lessens his grade from the A level. His loyalty. He leaned towards his heart instead of his head and in the end I believe it costed him and the team dearly.