Last week, I mentioned that Davey Johnson was hired by the team. I guess it was a little premature, as he wasn’t officially hired until yesterday. He is now a senior adviser to the GM, Mike Rizzo. Everyone knows Johnson was a great manager. He won the World Series with the Mets in 1986, and won 2 division titles. He also won 2 division titles with the Red and took them eds to the NLCS in 1995. He took the Orioles to a division title and to the ALCS in 1997. In 14 seasons, he finished in first place in the division 5 times, in second place 7 times, and finished 3rd or below… you guessed it, just twice.
I think he is a great manager that can win with any type of team (crazies on the ’86 Mets, rough and tumble types on the 91 Reds, stars on the late 90s Orioles), so there is of course speculation that he’ll come back and manage after the team is ready to compete. But I’m not convinced he wants to do that anymore. Rather, I expect him to be a positive force around the team and the clubhouse. I don’t think his influence should be oversold. He will not be managing day to day, and probably won’t be speaking to the media nearly as much as Riggleman or Rizzo. But a guy like that being intimately involved in the team probably isn’t a bad idea.
Additionally, even at 66, he may be the best second baseman on the roster.