[MWM]

Nice post, RFS. And you're right, the world of managing a MLB team has changed dramatically. The problem as I see it though is too many sitting back and bemoaning about how things have changed rather than changing along with it. This is common in any facet of life when things change. There's a contingent of people who sit back and see an opportunity and those who sit back and talk about how it ain't how it used to be. The former are the ones that find a way to thrive in the new environment, while the latter wind up withering away and becoming irrelevant.

Baseball has changed. So if you still want to be a part of it, then you sure as hell better change too, because it isn't going to return to the good ole' days anytime soon. This is incredibly obvious in watching today's managers manage. As a whole, the current crop of managers are stuck in a bygone era and have not adapted to the current climate of the game. It's clear that the characterisics that made a manager great way back when are not the same that make them great today.

So what makes a great modern day manager? I don't really know. I'm not sure that anyone knows yet because too few organizations have looked for a new world manager. They continune to throw old school managers out there. They need to rethink what a manager's role is and what would make one successful. Maybe they need managers with degrees in Psychology. Maybe they need managers who know little about the game, but know how to handle egos. I really don't know what the answer is, but I know that it's not the crop of mangers out there now who are stuck in the past.

Things change. So what? It's the circle of life. Either evolve or become extinct. I don't feel all that sorry for managers who refuse to see that things have changed and are still trying to manage like it's the 70s or 80s.