Phillies Would Be Making a Colossal Mistake if They Hire Dusty Baker as Manager

There is a difference between being old-school and being outdated. Old-school is a guy like Bruce Bochy or AJ Hinch, who've managed to interweave traditional tactics with newer philosophies to win games over the past decade. Outdated is someone who is unwilling or unable to change, and can no longer be effective.

Longtime MLB manager Dusty Baker, who is being interviewed for the Philadelphia Phillies managerial vacancy, is firmly in that latter category.

Baker was a manager for 22 years with the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and, most recently, the Washington Nationals. In those years, he has made the World Series one time, as Barry Bonds carried him to a pennant in 2002. Baker only made the playoffs in seven of his 22 seasons as a manager, and won just 41 of his playoff games.

While the Phillies struck out going for the new-age analytics guy in Gabe Kapler, going for the painfully old-school guy in Kapler is the wrong move.

In plain terms, Baker hastened the ruination of the careers of Robb Nen, Kerry Wood, and Mark Prior due to overuse. He plays veterans over prospects on eliminated teams to "preserve the integrity of the playoff race." He stated that getting men on base is "unimportant" and qualifies as "clogging up the bases." This is the guy you want managing Bryce Harper...again?

Baker has been a league-average manager for 22 seasons, and he's not the kind of guy that can win you a championship. Hopefully Matt Klentak realizes this before he does something drastic.