Will Dusty Baker Let the Kids Play?

Something called The Hardball Times previewed the 2008 Reds by answering five important questions surrounding my favorite baseball team. Most of it was boring, and they neglected to mention Volquez's gem against the Yankees, so I can't necessarily suggest the entire column. But the first answer was interesting.

See for yourself:

1. Will Dusty Baker let the kids play?

The Reds enter the season with five of Baseball America's top 100 prospects in their organization, four of whom (Homer Bailey, Jay Bruce, Johnny Cueto and Joey Votto) seem likely to make significant contributions to the big league club at some point this season. The next two seasons promise to be exciting times as these players work their way onto the team. Given this youth movement, however, some have questioned the rationale behind selecting Baker as the Reds manager.

Baker has a reputation as a manager who favors veterans, extremely so. From what I've gathered, much of this reputation stems from his tendency to play an aging Eric Karros over Hee-Seop Choi on the 2003 Chicago Cubs. But was this part of a larger pattern?

A look back at Baker's teams over the years shows that he did give a great deal of playing time to young talent. All the following players got significant opportunities as early 20-somethings during Baker's watch: Rich Aurilia, Rod Beck, Marvin Bernard, Royce Clayton, Shawn Estes, Ryan Jensen, Darren Lewis, Matt Murton, Russ Ortiz, Mark Prior, Corey Patterson, Kirk Reuter, William Van Lindingham, Allen Watson and Carlos Zambrano. So it's not like it's unprecedented for Baker to let a kid play. Even in the case of Choi vs. Karros, Hee-Seop Choi still got the bulk of the playing time until he was injured in a collision with Kerry Wood on June 8 of that season.

I'm not saying that there's nothing to the idea that Baker favors veterans. Managers often seem to behave with the goal of not looking bad, and thus often favor established players over prospects. But based on his record, I don't see evidence that Baker is particularly extreme in this respect. The proof will be in the pudding, of course, but my guess is that if the young guys perform, they'll play.


That's all for now. Go listen to part two of my five part series of podcasts about Craig's encounters with professional athletes. Up next: Keyshawn Johnson.

-Brad Spieser (Brad@TwinKilling.com)
3/12/08