What's the temperature like on Dusty's seat?

[KoryMac5]

We are almost two years into Dusty's tenure with the Reds. He sits with a record of 118-137 with a .463 winning percentage. He has a little less than 1.5 years left on a contract that pays him around 3.5 million per season.

My overall opinion of Dusty has been mixed, he has definitely had his ups and downs with the Reds and I would give him a C for his overall handling of the Reds. He was definitely a guy who Cast wanted and he seems to have a pretty good relationship with Walt. That being said I don't think it is too early to start discussing Dusty's future with this club.

My question is this when does Dusty start to feel some heat from the front office? Will it be the end of the season? Next season? Will things heat up if he doesn't receive an extension? What are your thoughts?

[Unassisted]

Not even warm, IMO. It would have been warm without the Phillips benching. Next year could be a different story, unless Dusty gets an extension in October.

[acredsfan]

We have a front office that actually realizes that it isn't Dusty's fault for losing. They know they have fielded a subpar team, but as long as Dusty doesn't lose the clubhouse he isn't in immediate danger. If Walt or BCast feel like he's lost the team then it would be time to make a move. He'll be managing for an extension for the remainder of the year, then if he fails will be managing for his job the beginning of next year.

[savafan]

A smart person has to look at Dusty's handling of the lineup and in game decisions. It may not be Dusty's fault that the Reds have fielded a sub par team during his tenure, but I do believe his moves have lost more games than they've won, and that does fall on his ability as being a manager. Being a player's manager doesn't mean a hill of beans, wins and losses do. In my opinion, Dusty should be feeling the heat already.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

-Apathetic fan base.

-Sleepy GM.

-Clueless/confused/cheap owner.



Dusty will not be going anywhere. His seat should be roughly 98.6 degrees.....unless Walt's butt is sitting in it. In that case, I'd assume it would be much lower than 98.6.

[WMR]

-Apathetic fan base.

-Sleepy GM.

-Clueless/confused/cheap owner.



Dusty will not be going anywhere. His seat should be roughly 98.6 degrees.....unless Walt's butt is sitting in it. In that case, I'd assume it would be much lower than 98.6.

:laugh: Someone stick a mirror under his nose.

[Mario-Rijo]

Probably not hot enough. He has and will continue to point out publicly that it's not him it's the GM, it's the players and I suspect the coaches better start watching their tales afterall they weren't his choices he just kept them around for the continuity. Dusty is brilliant at one thing and that's keeping Dusty employed, no small feat in itself.

[acredsfan]

A smart person has to look at Dusty's handling of the lineup and in game decisions. It may not be Dusty's fault that the Reds have fielded a sub par team during his tenure, but I do believe his moves have lost more games than they've won, and that does fall on his ability as being a manager. Being a player's manager doesn't mean a hill of beans, wins and losses do. In my opinion, Dusty should be feeling the heat already.That would hold some water if he had cost the team a chance at winning this division, but he didn't throw countless pitches down the heart of the plate over the last week. He could have done this or that, but the fact is the Reds haven't been beaten by a small margin, they have lost games by 4+ runs so many times that it's hard to make a right decision. He's managed winning teams, and let's face it, if LaRussa ran this team, the board would explode every time he batted a pitcher 8th. All this means is the manager doesn't play the game for his team. At most I believe a manager could only make ~5 games difference over the course of a year. Firing the manager isn't going to help, it will just give fans a new person to get mad at.

Let's take tonight for example. Yeah, he could have left Arroyo in, but he brought in Masset who has been very solid this year. Arroyo has only recently been pitching well, but he did load the bases and seemed to have lost his control. Masset throws a ball right over the middle of the plate to one of the best hitters in the game. Dusty's fault? Nope. Did Dusty make a wrong decision? When you see the results, you say yeah, it's the wrong decision. That doesn't make it a bad decision. The decision was at worst debatable.

[savafan]

Let's take tonight for example. Yeah, he could have left Arroyo in, but he brought in Masset who has been very solid this year. Arroyo has only recently been pitching well, but he did load the bases and seemed to have lost his control. Masset throws a ball right over the middle of the plate to one of the best hitters in the game. Dusty's fault? Nope. Did Dusty make a wrong decision? When you see the results, you say yeah, it's the wrong decision. That doesn't make it a bad decision. The decision was at worst debatable.

Okay, I ask, who's calling that pitch. Is it Dusty, Hanigan or Pole?

[acredsfan]

Okay, I ask, who's calling that pitch. Is it Dusty, Hanigan or Pole?It would be naive to believe it was Dusty calling for anything right down the heart of the plate to Manny. It also wasn't Dusty asking Micah or Homer to throw multiple pitches down the heart of the plate. Regardless of who calls what, it's up to the pitcher to hit his spots. The pitch was supposed to be a sinker to induce a ground ball.

[Mario-Rijo]

It would be naive to believe it was Dusty calling for anything right down the heart of the plate to Manny. It also wasn't Dusty asking Micah or Homer to throw multiple pitches down the heart of the plate. Regardless of who calls what, it's up to the pitcher to hit his spots. The pitch was supposed to be a sinker to induce a ground ball.

I don't believe Masset throws a sinker. Maybe it was supposed to be a slider.

[acredsfan]

I don't believe Masset throws a sinker. Maybe it was supposed to be a slider.This is from John Fay's Blog (http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=blog07&plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3ae57bcc87-152a-4f72-96fb-cc08b1f396efPost%3a5f5e203d-acf9-4deb-b8aa-01e3f0712668&sid=sitelife.cincinnati.com):

“I had my best double play man,” Baker said. “It was a sinker that didn’t sink. Bronson had just walked two and gave up a rocket. That’s the stuff I’ve seen out of Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron.”


Masset had not faced him either.


It was Ramirez’s first pinch-hit home run. It was the 21st slam of Ramirez's career, second all-time to Lou Gehrig.


His warm-up?


“I didn’t do anything,” he said. “That was first pitch I saw.”

It was basically where Masset wanted it.



“It was area I wanted it in,” he said. “I didn’t sink as much as it normally does. It was middle in. I tried to jam him and get a groundball. I basically went at him with my best stuff and it didn’t work out.”

The Reds are tomorrow. They've lost 12 straight to Dodgers in Dodger Stadium. They are a season-high six games under .500 at 44-50.

[CTA513]

Hanigan was setup on the inside corner and Masset missed over the plate.

[Mario-Rijo]

This is from John Fay's Blog (http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=blog07&plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3ae57bcc87-152a-4f72-96fb-cc08b1f396efPost%3a5f5e203d-acf9-4deb-b8aa-01e3f0712668&sid=sitelife.cincinnati.com):

Touche'. Learn something new everyday.

[Ltlabner]

The only warmth on Dusty's seat is from the after effects of the burrito bar at Little Tijuana Hacienda last night.

[cumberlandreds]

His seat isn't warm at all. Really it doesn't matter who manages the Reds. Until ownership and management decide they want to compete with the rest of MLB you could have the manager in the history of MLB and they would only be marginally better.

[KoryMac5]

At 3.5 million a season did you expect more from Dusty? And could we have gotten the same results cheaper from Mac?

[bucksfan2]

Probably not hot enough. He has and will continue to point out publicly that it's not him it's the GM, it's the players and I suspect the coaches better start watching their tales afterall they weren't his choices he just kept them around for the continuity. Dusty is brilliant at one thing and that's keeping Dusty employed, no small feat in itself.

That was last year. Dusty made a point of it to the media and fans that the 08 version of the Reds wasn't "his team". He also commented this season that this is more in the lines of "his team". I don't think Dusty is in a position to criticize the GM any more. With WK or even the team last year, Dusty had more pull than the GM. Now with Jocketty, Dusty no longer has more pull than the GM. Cast went out and signed Jocketty and has been successful with him.

[Chip R]

Okay, I ask, who's calling that pitch. Is it Dusty, Hanigan or Pole?


Dusty has said he doesn't call pitches from the bench so I'm guessing it's on Hanigan. But I refuse to believe any of those 3 are stupid enough to throw Manny a fastball down the middle.

Manny is only 2 grand slams away from Gehrig's record. That's one that I didn't think would be passed.