The Biggest Storyline in Baseball for 2011

By Jay Kaplan, OTSL Analyst

As Grapefruit and Cactus League games get underway this weekend, it's time we take a look at what I feel will be the biggest storyline in baseball this season. For me, it will be how a trio of new managers fare stepping into some pretty big shoes left by their predecessors. The men in question are Fredi Gonzalez in Atlanta, Don Mattingly in Los Angeles and Mike Quade in Chicago. The shoes they are stepping into belonged to Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Lou Piniella. Three of the most successful managers of this generation, World Series champions all.

Gonzalez is the only one with Major League level managerial experience, going 276-279 in 3 plus years with the Florida Marlins. Like Joe Girardi before him, there were issues with owner Jeffre Loria that led to his dismissal. The fact that he managed one of baseball’s lowest payrolls to a near .500 record working for as mercurial an owner as Loria is impressive. Being a Cox disciple (he was Atlanta’s 3rd Base Coach from 2003-2006 and a manager in their farm system before that) who is familiar with “The Braves Way” should make for an easy adjustment by the team. A healthy Chipper Jones will go a long way towards that as well.

Donnie Ballgame has never managed at any level. The Dodgers are no doubt hoping Torre’s long time apprentice (he has been both Hittiing Coach and Bench Coach for Torre) has soaked up everything required to finally sit in the Big Chair. Considering all that is going on with the Dodgers off the field, Mattingly will be under the radar unless the Dodgers get off to a horrific start. If that happens, even the McCourts very contentious and public divorce and fight over ownership of the team won’t shield Mattingly for very long.

That brings us to Mike Quade, who finally gets his shot at running an MLB team full time (he finished out the final 37 games of 2010 after Piniella stepped down). In the dictionary next to “Baseball Lifer” there is picture of Quade. He never played a single game at the Major League level but has managed over 2500 games in the minors over 27 years for five different organizations. Quade breaks a Cubs trend of hiring big name managers in this century – Don Baylor, Dusty Baker and Piniella come to mind – but of the three new guys in question, Quade may be on the shortest leash. Everyone knows the Cubs history: over a century since their last title and over 65 years since they last appeared in the Fall Classic (12 years before Quade was even born). It’s why almost everyone was expecting Cubbie legend Ryne Sandberg to get the nod. Quade’s 24-13 finish last year won him the chance to lead one of baseball’s most prestigious franchises, but he needs Carlos Zambrano and Matt Garza to anchor the rotation and Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez to drive in runs day in and day out for the Cubs to remain competitive and for him to be more than just a one-shot deal.

A storyline worth watching this season.