Craig Mish Talks ALCS, NLCS, & Marlins Manager Search
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00:00You know him as Craig Mish on Newswire and on SportsGrid and I know him as Scoop Mish.
00:11He's on a whole nother level with us over here on Coast to Coast setting the standard
00:17of baseball reporting around the universe and covering the Marlins as well.
00:23Before I talk about this terrible NLCS, who are you hearing the Marlins want to hire as
00:30their manager?
00:32I think they may end up hiring somebody who has been in the playoffs.
00:36There's a number of names that are out there.
00:39I'm not really sure how deep it's going to go yet, but there's two names in particular
00:45that I think that they have interest in.
00:47One is the bench coach on Cleveland.
00:50His name is Craig Abernaz.
00:52I think that there's a possibility there.
00:54The other is a coach that's on the Philadelphia Phillies, just got eliminated, named Dusty Wathen.
01:00You may be familiar with him.
01:01He's been with them a long time too.
01:03I think they're going to interview probably five, six people.
01:06I don't see this being like they interviewed like 20, 30 people with Skip Schumacher.
01:10I don't think it's going to be that deep.
01:11I think they have an idea in terms of relationships as to who they want, Scott.
01:15So I would imagine immediately after the World Series is over, you'll start to hear things
01:20are getting hot.
01:21But I do think it could end up being somebody who's currently in the postseason right now.
01:25And let's be honest, you never know how things can go.
01:27Yankees get knocked out in four, maybe the Yankees are looking for a new manager.
01:31Dodgers get knocked out in five, maybe the Dodgers are looking for a new manager.
01:34You never know.
01:35Well, Schumacher, I heard, was going to be a hot commodity after he left Miami.
01:41Are you buying that?
01:43Yeah.
01:44I mean, yes, I think he's going to manage again, but it has to be in the right situation.
01:49You hear stuff, Scott, and not a lot of it is true.
01:52I mean, that's just the reality.
01:54There's only 30 of these gigs, and it has to be the right scenario, the right team,
01:59the right GM.
02:00And let's be honest, it has to be the right owner too, because no matter what happens
02:03in baseball, and Scott, I think this is probably the biggest fallacy of all.
02:07People think that it's the general manager that hires the manager.
02:12It is not.
02:13The general manager says, this is who I want to hire, and then they go to the owner, and
02:16then the owner makes that decision, which is what happened in Cincinnati, right?
02:19I mean, how do you think that Terry Francona, all of a sudden, Scott, comes out of nowhere,
02:24and he's the manager?
02:25Did you even hear about any other interviews?
02:26No.
02:27Do you remember when the White Sox hired Tony LaRusso a few years ago?
02:30Did you even hear about any other interviews?
02:32The owners are hiring the manager in the end.
02:35Now, the general manager and the presidents, they make the recommendations, but that's
02:39how it goes down.
02:40So is Skip going to manage again in the big leagues?
02:42Absolutely.
02:43Can I guarantee it's going to be this year?
02:44No.
02:45I have no idea.
02:46Are you surprised that the Pirates kept Sherrington and Shelton?
02:49Because some people got really mad that Tito got that job in Cincinnati, and that they
02:55just stayed with who they had, and they've been so miserable.
03:00Listen, besides Paul Skeens, they're awful.
03:04Well, Brian Reynolds is a good player, you know?
03:07What?
03:08I mean, O'Neal Cruz is a good player, and Jared Jones is a good player.
03:13I think, Scott, the deal is that they feel like they're on the cusp of being competitive,
03:19and I think they felt like they showed enough last year to give them another shot.
03:23But if the Pirates were to finish, let's say, below .500 again next season, I think Shelton
03:27would be looking for another job.
03:29I don't know what Ben Sherrington's relationship is with Bob Nutting, and again, that's how
03:35owners and GMs get hired and fired.
03:38And I would imagine that he's under some restrictions in terms of what he can do financially, and
03:42so I think that has to factor into the equation.
03:45But first comes the manager, then comes the president and the general manager.
03:48So Shelton would be one of those managers going into next season that you would say
03:52has to win more than he loses, or else he'll probably be looking for another job.
03:57So what do you think, Scoop, of this NLCS?
03:599-0 last night, Flaherty was dealing, the Mets couldn't get on base, couldn't get hits,
04:06and then today, Viento's Grand Slam breakfast, and they're up 6-0, both games, 9-0, 6-0,
04:15you can't even make this up.
04:16It's going to be a long series.
04:19I mean, look, that's just the nature of what the Dodgers are at this point.
04:24They're uber-talented on offense, they have no pitching at this point, one or two guys
04:29that can get them five or six innings.
04:32And so, Scott, when you play against an elite team like the Mets, and they may beat the
04:36Mets and get to the World Series, but for the Dodgers, because of this deficiency in
04:40their rotation, no matter how you look at it, and I understand they had 33 score listings
04:44going into it, eventually, they're going to get bombed.
04:47And that's what happened today.
04:48And by the way, it's probably going to happen again in this series.
04:51So it's hard for the Dodgers to just roll without having starting pitching like Kershaw,
04:56like Buehler.
04:57I mean, these things don't exist anymore.
04:58And so it is Flaherty, and then a bullpen, and then Yamamoto, and then a bullpen.
05:03And that's just not sustainable to win a series quickly.
05:07Now, can they win the whole thing?
05:09Absolutely.
05:10I mean, on offense, who's more talented than they are?
05:12So this is not all that surprising to me.
05:14I think the Mets are very much in this.
05:15I think they'll be in it throughout.
05:17It probably goes six or seven games.
05:20Before I ask you about the Mets, Kershaw said today he's coming back next year.
05:25I almost fell over.
05:27Like he's shot.
05:28Yeah, look.
05:30The thing is with a guy like Kershaw, Scott, is that, like Roger Clemens used to do in
05:35the past, you may remember, he'd sit out like April, May, and then try to come back June,
05:40July, August.
05:41We see that now with Verlander, who sits out time, Scherzer, who sits out time.
05:44The same thing will happen with Kershaw.
05:45So Scott, what'll happen is he'll go to spring training.
05:49He'll pitch, pitch on the backfields, make some minor league starts.
05:52You'll see him in like May or June, and then they'll just preserve him for the postseason.
05:56So when he says he's coming back next season, I think it's legit when, you know, if the
06:01FanDuel Sportsbook posted a 14.5 starts on the season for Clayton Kershaw, of course,
06:06I'd bet the under.
06:07But I'd bet the over on like 10.5 from August, September, and in October, because that's
06:13all they really want him for.
06:15So you know, Minaya has blown my mind because you said to me in the break, he's never been
06:21good.
06:22He's always been a mess.
06:24But boy, has he been hot for the last couple of months.
06:27I saw him pitch in person earlier this year, and like he wasn't good at all, and he's been
06:30on several teams in several years.
06:33He's never been able to put it together.
06:35In fact, Scott, I mean, I have to jog my memory here.
06:38Back in March, Minaya pitched in a spring training game.
06:43I think it was against the Marlins.
06:44I don't think it was a regular season game.
06:46He pitched a spring training game.
06:48He got absolutely crushed, and he cut all his hair off.
06:51He cut all his hair.
06:52I mean, he had this huge haircut from a spring training game, and I remember sitting there
06:56with my son.
06:57My son's like, oh, this guy's not going to have a good year, and here we are.
07:00It's so funny what happens in the postseason.
07:02Heroes are made.
07:03You never know what's going to happen, and he is hot and pitching great at the right
07:07time, and that's all that matters.
07:08Now, the question is, can he cash in on some of this?
07:11And my guess is some team will probably take a shot on him.
07:14It reminds me a lot of Jordan Montgomery last year.
07:16Now, Montgomery was a better pitcher over the course of his career than Minaya was,
07:21but look at what Montgomery got paid off, what, essentially two, three good months in
07:25Texas last year, and he didn't have one good start, I don't think, all year this year.
07:30I don't think Montgomery will pitch for them again after the things that owner said.
07:35I really don't.
07:36Let me ask you about the ALCS starting tonight.
07:39I'm scared to death with Rodon going.
07:41He's the one guy that, I got to be honest with you, I don't trust.
07:46Cleveland's got a great shot to win this series.
07:47I would pick them.
07:48I think Cleveland is the better team.
07:50Yeah, I think, look, I'm just being honest.
07:55I mean, I got to keep it real.
07:57Look, the only way the Yankees win this series is if the, you know, Judge and Soto have got
08:04to get hot together and get hot at the right time.
08:06I know that they beat Kansas City.
08:08The games are all really close.
08:11Cleveland is super opportunistic.
08:13You do not beat Cleveland if you're down after six innings, and the Yankees are going to
08:18be down in several of these games, two to one and three to one after six innings.
08:22I don't know what's going on.
08:23I mean, why do players have 60 home run seasons and then not hit in the postseason?
08:28I mean, it's hard to, you know, understand this.
08:31I mean, Shohei Otani, 50-50 during the regular season.
08:35But I will take Cleveland in this series.
08:37I do think Cleveland is, I know no one wants to hear it, but I think they're advancing
08:40to the next level.
08:41All right.
08:42So how about the people saying Class A is better than Mariano Rivera?
08:44That's just not possible.
08:45Nah.
08:46Stop, stop, stop.
08:48That's just not possible.
08:49I couldn't believe Carpenter hits a home run off of him.
08:51I really couldn't believe it.
08:53He's been hittable a little bit in the postseason, but they're also using him like they never
08:57have before for two innings, which is what everybody used to do when we were growing
09:01up.
09:02Listen, and I watched, I said this earlier on the show today, I watched the Bob Prince
09:06interviews from the 1960 Pirates win over the Yankees in the World Series yesterday.
09:11It was fantastic stuff, and it was in color 64 years ago.
09:15It was good stuff.
09:17Thank you, YouTube.
09:18Always a pleasure.
09:19Love having you on.
09:20Enjoy the rest of the championship series.