The hiring of A.J. Hinch by the Diamondbacks does not seem to be sitting well with the press and maybe the players. I too, was expecting this:

You can convince me that this team needed a new voice, a new leader. Many fans in the Valley are extremely disgusted with this group and envisioned a new manager who would flip tables, throw coolers and light a fire under listless players struggling to hit their own weights. They would have gladly embraced a Mark Grace, a Kirk Gibson, and maybe even the volatile Chip Hale.

With Hinch, they may get a manger who is more on the side of the front office than the players:

Inside the clubhouse, many players are scratching their heads. They know Hinch is Byrnes’ right-hand man. They are free to wonder whether the new manager expedited the departure of their ex-manager. They might wonder what the new manager is telling the general manager on a daily basis, realizing now that no secrets are safe.

They also know that Melvin’s daily lineup was beginning to have Byrnes’ fingerprints all over it, a fact that Byrnes did not dispute or apologize for before Friday’s game. That dynamic grated on Melvin, but it will assuredly continue under the Hinch reign.

“At game time, the manager is the manager, there’s no question about that,” Byrnes said.

I’m very interested to see what happens here. One thing I do like is that a “Moneyball” team is hiring a manager who understands the concepts, unlike the figureheads they hired in Oakland. We’ll get a chance to find out if it works.