The Padres hired Diamondbacks coach Andy Green to manage the team, and he impressed at his news conference:
He spoke of his “heartbeat” and his “passion,” and the assembled cynics didn’t roll their eyes.
When talking about his leadership style, Green said this as if his life were built around the tenet: “It’s all about relationships … Everyone wants to be part of something bigger than themselves.”
If anyone can make that true of Matt Kemp, it might be Green. He might even inspire Andrew Cashner to overcome adversity, James Shields to actually be a leader.
One of the Padres’ goals was to hire a new manager with a little fervor, a guy who could win over and rile up a clubhouse that needs to be shaken (if not as much as it needs better players).
Phil Nevin was my pick. He has not only the experience and knowledge but the fire and the clout to command a major-league clubhouse. He could have done some good here.
But it is easy to sense similar attributes in Green.
Green collected just 265 major league plate appearances, and wasn’t much of a hitter with a .200/.282/265 slash line. His strength was drawing walks, and he didn’t strike out much. From the little information there, I’d say his approach at the plate was good, but he didn’t have the talent to hit in the majors. He did hit well in the minors with a high OBP, walking almost as much as he struck out. Maybe he can teach the Padres offense to be more like the Royals, putting the ball in play in their big park. Padres batters raked third highest in strikeouts in the NL in 2015.
