Do We Still Need Generals?
Sports teams are no longer sure
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Buster Posey, the San Francisco Giants catcher turned franchise MPP (most powerful person), was discussing the club’s changes this week when he was asked about the possibility of adding an associate manager to the roster once Bob Melvin’s successor is chosen. Posey said the idea is interesting.
I think it’s interesting, too, if only because “associate manager” has quietly become a thing. This is a job title that didn’t exist for almost all of baseball’s history. And although I could say the same for “quality control coach” or “junior full-stack software engineer,” this one feels different.
Major league managers have always had coaching staffs, and they’ve usually had a bench coach — generally, a former manager who’s there to offer experience-based input.
But “associate manager” — that sounds distinctive because it is. This is a job description that presupposes a near equality with the manager in a way that a bench-coach position never did, and it certainly implies immediate successorship in case, you know, somebody gets whacked.
It’s a tacit acknowledgement that the manager isn’t running the show, that he is expected to crowdsource his decisions. That’s new-ish.
Don’t get me wrong: Front offices have been trying to tell managers and head coaches what to do since forever, and more pronouncedly in the time of new-era analytics. “Moneyball” as a movie vastly overstated the true dynamic in Oakland, but it was certainly close to the leading edge in terms of front-office takeovers of game strategy.
Still, it has been broadly agreed through the decades that somebody needs to be in charge once the game starts. That is no longer clear, and even a relatively small job description adjustment, such as associate manager, attests to sports’ era of doubt.
Sure, you’re in charge! But just in case, we’ve got a substitute lined up right over here, who is already nearly your equal and has strong interest in taking your job. He’s your helper.
This is more or less true across the board. NBA teams routinely feature a designated associate head coach — above the other assistant coaches, slightly below the head coach. In the NFL, the head coach, unless he is actively calling plays, is less influential in the outcome of any one game than are his offensive and defensive coordinators.
The agreed-upon explanation for all this is that the games, teams, leagues have become too complicated for one person to control. That is especially true when you consider that said person is also actively trying to incorporate real-time info and analytics communicated by front offices and their data engineers.
It’s a lot, right?
For a century or so, a manager or head coach was where the buck stopped. That is true today mostly in the sense that he/she is going to be the first one shoved out if things head south. In the first week of baseball’s post-season, that happened to Melvin in San Francisco, Rocco Baldelli in Minnesota, Bruce Bochy in Texas, Ron Washington in Anaheim and Brian Snitker in Atlanta.
In November of 2023, Rickie Weeks Jr. was named associate manager to Pat Murphy in Milwaukee, a position that Weeks has held ever since. At the time, the Brewers explained that they wanted a job title that reflected the high regard in which Weeks, a former Brewers player, was held. But it was also clear that Weeks is the next man up, whenever and for whatever reason a change might occur.
That same month, the Blue Jays named DeMarlo Hale associate manager to John Schneider in Toronto. Hale had been Terry Francona’s bench coach in Cleveland, but clearly, “associate manager” implied a job bump. The fact that I had never heard of that job term in sports did not render it invalid.
If Posey decides to go that route in San Francisco, then he will selecting not only the person to run the team from the dugout next season, but also the person who’ll eventually take over for that person. By designating an associate manager, Posey would also be creating a higher-paying non-manager position — one way to attract or keep top coaching talent.
In an era in which there is apparently no limit on the size of a staff, it makes some sense. If you’re the manager, maybe it’s not your favorite new trend, but we’re going to be seeing more of it. A little awkward! But hey — progress.
I remember when Bill Walsh was the team president, head coach, GM, offensive coordinator, and office manager. Times have definitely changed.
Was unaware of this trend in MLB.