3 things I don't want in a White Sox manager

Me with Ozzie Guillen in 2019

Who will be the next manager of the White Sox? Rumors were flying this weekend, and as you might expect, the situation is clear as mud.

There are reports out there that the Sox are poised to name Houston Astros bench coach Joe Espada their next manager. It's also been reported that Espada is a candidate to manage the Miami Marlins.

Then, of course, there's the gossip about Ozzie Guillen allegedly getting an interview. Depending on who you ask, Guillen has either a) already been interviewed, b) will be interviewed this week, or c) would be a candidate for the job only over Ken Williams' dead body.

I've been amazed by how many Sox fans want Guillen to return to the manager's office. That 2005 nostalgia runs deep for every South Side baseball fan, but we can't allow that to get in the way of our better judgment. The World Series title was 17 years ago. Guillen has been out of baseball since 2012, and let's not forget how his previous tenure with the Sox ended in 2011.

I'd rather not rehash the 2011 season, in fact, so I won't unless Guillen somehow gets the job.

I'll be honest and say none of the managerial candidates I've heard tied to the Sox thrill me. I'm more in the "Rick Hahn screwed this up" camp than the "Tony La Russa screwed this up" camp. Don't get me wrong: I'm glad La Russa is no longer the Sox manager, but I don't think any manager could have covered all the flaws in Hahn's roster construction.

So, I'm not sure what I'm looking for in a Sox manager. I just know these are the three things I do not want:

1. someone promoted from within (sorry, Miguel Cairo)
2. a recycling of an old guy who wore out his welcome somewhere else (sorry, Joe Maddon)
3. someone who is a friend of Jerry Reinsdorf (sorry, Ozzie)

There are lot of things getting in the way of Espada taking the job. First of all, he might want to manage in Miami. Second of all, if the Astros win the World Series, Dusty Baker could retire. That could put Espada in line for a promotion with his current club. Third, Espada used to work in the New York Yankees organization, and he could be a managerial candidate there if the Yankees decide to move on from Aaron Boone.

It's also possible that Espada is Hahn's guy, but Reinsdorf is going to intervene in the process and name Guillen manager.

Hey, that's happened before, right? In the past managerial search, Hahn wanted to hire A.J. Hinch. Then Reinsdorf intervened and appointed La Russa. 

It's the White Sox, so expect something weird to happen, until they prove otherwise.

Rocco Baldelli, Mike Shildt win Manager of the Year awards

Mike Shildt

Some things never change: The Manager of the Year awards always go to guys who made the playoffs with a team the media didn't expect to be in the postseason.

Here in 2019, Rocco Baldelli of the Minnesota Twins and Mike Shildt of the St. Louis Cardinals won the awards in their respective leagues.

Everyone, including me, thought the Cleveland Indians would win the AL Central this season. They did not. Baldelli, who was in his first year with the Twins, led the team to 101 wins and a 23-game improvement. When the playoffs rolled around, it was the same old Minnesota -- the Twins got swept in the first round by the New York Yankees.

But that regular-season performance was enough for Baldelli to edge New York's Aaron Boone in the AL Manager of the Year balloting. Both men received 13 first-place votes, but Baldelli was second on 13 ballots, while Boone was second on only nine.

Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash got three first-place votes and finish third. Oakland's Bob Melvin finished fourth, and Houston's A.J. Hinch got one first-place vote and finished fifth.

In the National League, Shildt got the nod for leading the Cardinals to 91 wins and an NL Central title. I actually was not surprised by St. Louis' success -- I picked them to win that division.

I just kept that opinion mostly quiet, because I live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, and any White Sox fan who dares to question the greatness of the Cubs is subject to tar and feathering around here.

Most of the media had the Cubs winning the NL Central, too, even though the Brewers were the defending champions.

The Cubs, of course, were the mid-80s-win-total team I expected them to be. They finished third behind the Cardinals and Brewers, who won a wild card spot in the NL.

The respective managers of those two teams, Shildt and Milwaukee's Craig Counsell, finished 1-2 in the Manager of the Year balloting for "surprisingly" doing better than the Cubs.

Shildt got 10 first-place votes and 14 second-place votes to win the honor, while Counsell got 13 first-place votes, but only six second-place votes. Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves earned three first-place votes and finished third. Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers got four first-place votes and finished fourth.

Nationals use 4 starters, 2 relievers to beat Astros in World Series

World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg

Five times during the 2019 playoffs, the Washington Nationals faced elimination. In those five games, the Nationals trailed in all of them. However, they never lost.

Washington finished off an improbable run to a World Series championship Wednesday night, rallying to beat the Houston Astros, 6-2, in Game 7.

The Nationals trailed, 2-0, after six innings, but they came back with three runs in the seventh inning, one in the eighth and two in the ninth to stun the crowd in Houston and win the series, four games to three.

Most people will remember this series because the road team won all seven games -- that's never happened before in any sport. But hopefully, history will look back on this series as the one that brought good starting pitching back into fashion.

The Nationals won this series with basically six pitchers: World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, Anibal Sanchez, Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson. The first four men on that list are starters; the last two are relievers.

Washington pitched 36 innings in this series, and 32.2 of them were handled by the six men listed above.

Strasburg earned his MVP with a brilliant, clutch performance in Game 6. He went 8.1 innings and allowed two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts in a 7-2 Washington victory.

On the morning of Game 7, it was unclear who would pitch for the Nationals. But Scherzer answered the bell, three days after being scratched from his Game 5 start and taking a cortisone shot for back and neck muscle spasms.

Scherzer was far from his best, allowing 11 base runners (seven hits, four walks) over five innings, but only two of them scored. The Astros were ahead, 2-0, but they could have been ahead 6-0. Instead, they left 10 men on base and went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. It was a gutsy outing by the Washington pitcher.

Worth noting: Houston also got brilliant starting pitching in Game 7. Zack Greinke allowed no runs on one hit through six innings, before he ran into mild trouble in the seventh inning.

Anthony Rendon homered with one out to make it 2-1, and Juan Soto followed with a walk. Greinke had only thrown 80 pitches, but you know, the analytics say you shouldn't let a starting pitcher face a lineup the third time through.

So even though Greinke had good stuff, Houston manager A.J. Hinch went to the bullpen. And then Hinch spent the rest of the game desperately trying to find a reliever who had stuff as good as Greinke's was.

Howie Kendrick greeted Will Harris with a two-run homer that put the Nationals ahead to stay at 3-2.

Soto's RBI single in the eighth made it 4-2 and added a run to Houston closer Roberto Osuna's tab. Then Washington scored two more in the ninth off Joe Smith and Jose Urquidy, with Adam Eaton delivering a two-run single to make it 6-2.

The Astros used five relievers, and the game got out of hand on their watch. So much for the era of "super relievers," huh? Maybe it is better to stick with an accomplished starter over a bunch of decent but not great relievers, no?

Meanwhile, the Nationals relieved Scherzer with another starting pitcher, Corbin, who worked three scoreless innings and earned the win in this clinching game. Hudson came on in his familiar relief role and worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts, no doubt setting off a wild celebration in the nation's capital.

Our congratulations go out to the Nationals and their fans. This was a surprising championship, but a well-earned one. Washington beat both the 106-win Dodgers and the 107-win Astros on its path to the title. You have to respect that performance. 

Astros, Dodgers move on to the next round

Alex Bregman

The Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers are the first two teams to advance to the League Championship Series.

Houston defeated the Boston Red Sox, 5-4, on Monday afternoon to win the ALDS, 3-1. Later Monday, the Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-1, to complete a three-game sweep in the NLDS.

The Houston-Boston game probably was the most interesting of the four playoff games played Monday, because both teams had their respective aces, Justin Verlander and Chris Sale, on the mound by the fifth inning.

Houston starter Charlie Morton lasted 4.1 innings. Boston starter Rick Porcello worked only three innings. I found it interesting that neither manager was desperate enough to start his ace in a Game 4, but both managers were desperate enough to use their ace in a relief role.

I was especially surprised to see Verlander on the hill.  The Astros, after all, led the series 2-1. Had they lost, they had a Game 5 in Houston to fall back on, and I would have liked their chances to win with Verlander starting that game.

But Houston manager A.J. Hinch had other thoughts. He pushed his chips to the center of the table to win Game 4, and win it he did.

I wasn't as surprised to see Sale work in relief because, well, it was do-or-die for the Red Sox. If you're gonna die, die with your best on the mound.

Verlander entered in the fifth inning with his team leading, 2-1, but he lost the lead quickly by giving up a two-run homer to Boston left fielder Andrew Benintendi. That ended up being the only hit Verlander allowed over his 2.2 innings of relief, but for a time, it looked as though he was going to take a 3-2 loss.

Sale was brutal in a Game 1 defeat, but he was dealing in the middle innings Monday. The Astros did not get a single hit off him in the fourth, fifth or sixth innings. Sale fanned six and did not walk a batter over his 4.2 innings of relief.

However, the Astros broke through with a two-run eighth inning. Alex Bregman tied it with a home run off Sale to start the inning. Evan Gattis singled sandwiched in between two outs, and Sale was removed from the game with two outs in the top of the eighth and the score tied at 3.

Boston closer Craig Kimbrel was ineffective. He walked the first hitter he faced, George Springer, then gave up an RBI single to Josh Reddick that put the Astros ahead, 4-3. Houston added another run off Kimbrel in the ninth, which proved to be key. Rafael Devers had an inside-the-park home run for the Red Sox in the bottom of the ninth to make it 5-4, but it was not enough.

Give the Astros credit. I always say you're not going to win championships beating up on chump pitchers. You have to go through people, and Houston went through two All-Stars -- Sale and Kimbrel -- to score three late runs Monday.

As a result, they await the winner of the series between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, which is tied at 2-all. Game 5 is Thursday night.

Joe Girardi signs 4-year extension to remain Yankees manager

I never bought into the idea that Joe Girardi would be managing the Cubs in 2014.

Oh, I wouldn't be surprised if he did indeed express interest in the Cubs through "back channels." I don't doubt that Girardi's "camp" let it be known he would be willing to listen if the Cubs called.

I just think all this chatter was about nothing more than leverage. The Yankees were offering a 3-year extension. Girardi wanted 4 years. He let it be known that he had other options, namely the Cubs, so the Yankees caved and gave him the extra year.

Girardi and the Yankees agreed to terms Wednesday on a four-year, $16 million contract that will make Girardi the second-highest paid manager in the game.

"After talking with my family, we decided that (New York) was where we wanted to come back," Girardi said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday. "It's a special place to manage because of the opportunity that you have every year and the tools that they give you. The history of this organization is unbelievable. There are special things that happen here every year."

The Yankees kept their man. Meanwhile, the Cubs are back to square one in their managerial search. So far, we've heard three names connected to the opening. I assume others will emerge before a hire is made. But here are the names that have been bandied about so far:

Manny Acta: He managed the Washington Nationals from 2007 to 2009 and the Cleveland Indians from 2010 to 2012. His record is 372-518 in 890 career games, a .418 winning percentage.

A.J. Hinch: The current vice president of professional scouting for the San Diego Padres had a rough go as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009 and 2010, going 89-123 for a .420 winning percentage.

Rick Renteria: The San Diego Padres bench coach has never managed before, but is expected to meet with Cubs brass sometime next week.

Obviously, the names of Hinch and Renteria have popped up because of their ties with Cubs GM Jed Hoyer, who was previously the GM in San Diego.

I'm not one of these people who believes teams need to hire a manager with experience. I think a first-time manager is fine if you believe it's the right guy. I'm pretty sure Acta is the wrong guy. Only two managers in Major League Baseball history have managed more games than Acta and had a lower winning percentage than Acta's .418 mark. Given the choice between hiring a managing newbie or recycling Acta, I would opt for giving someone new an opportunity.