Baker kept controversies down so his veteran players could be comfortable and focused. It worked well for most of his career, even if it ran into rocky ground in 2023.
The job of a manager is to put the team in the best position to win. It is not to keep veterans happy. If that were the case, pinch hitting and relievers would be irrelevant. What starting pitcher or hitter is going to be happy about being taken out of a game? Yet, it must be done to give the team the best chance to win. There was an ESPN article written. The team had a .534 winning % when Maldonado started, barely a .500 team. They had a .619 winning % when Diaz started as catcher. Maldonado caught 116 games. The Astros being at best a .500 team with Maldonado continued to be true in the playoffs. They barely made the playoffs. They were never going to win with Maldonado this season. And what really proves that veterans were happy that he played? I can't imagine that they were happy when he came up to bat with bases loaded several times in the playoffs. I'm thinking this was demoralizing to the team. I can't imagine that pitchers preferred to sacrifice defense and run support/offense just to play the worst catcher in baseball and to avoid hurting Maldonado's feelings. The overall goal of the organization and the team was to repeat. It wasn't to keep veterans happy, which did not happen anyway given what happened with McCormick and who knows what else happened behind closed doors. Dusty playing Julks over McCormick and Diaz could not have kept veterans happy on the team. Buster Olney reported that the organization was likely going to move on from Maldonado as he was a constant source of contention between Dusty and the FO. Dusty was told by the GM and FO that they wanted Chas to start at CF and Diaz to catch and play more. It was a season long request. Dusty, however, focused on trying to prove the organization wrong and even challenged them by telling fans and the ORGANIZATION that we would thank him later for the way he handled Diaz. And guess what. Dusty lost and it came at the expense of the team. He cared more about doing things his way regardless of team results. No one is thanking Dusty for the way that he handled Diaz. He made careless decisions in the postseason. He could no longer come back to manage in 2024. Neither can Maldonado.
The job of a manager is to put the team in the best position to win. It is not to keep veterans happy. If that were the case, pinch hitting and relievers would be irrelevant. What starting pitcher or hitter is going to be happy about being taken out of a game? Yet, it must be done to give the team the best chance to win. There was an ESPN article written. The team had a .534 winning % when Maldonado started, barely a .500 team. They had a .619 winning % when Diaz started as catcher. Maldonado caught 116 games. The Astros being at best a .500 team with Maldonado continued to be true in the playoffs. They barely made the playoffs. They were never going to win with Maldonado this season. And what really proves that veterans were happy that he played? I can't imagine that they were happy when he came up to bat with bases loaded several times in the playoffs. I'm thinking this was demoralizing to the team. I can't imagine that pitchers preferred to sacrifice defense and run support/offense just to play the worst catcher in baseball and to avoid hurting Maldonado's feelings. The overall goal of the organization and the team was to repeat. It wasn't to keep veterans happy, which did not happen anyway given what happened with McCormick and who knows what else happened behind closed doors. Dusty playing Julks over McCormick and Diaz could not have kept veterans happy on the team. Buster Olney reported that the organization was likely going to move on from Maldonado as he was a constant source of contention between Dusty and the FO. Dusty was told by the GM and FO that they wanted Chas to start at CF and Diaz to catch and play more. It was a season long request. Dusty, however, focused on trying to prove the organization wrong and even challenged them by telling fans and the ORGANIZATION that we would thank him later for the way he handled Diaz. And guess what. Dusty lost and it came at the expense of the team. He cared more about doing things his way regardless of team results. No one is thanking Dusty for the way that he handled Diaz. He made careless decisions in the postseason. He could no longer come back to manage in 2024. Neither can Maldonado.