NewsContract or not, Leyland focused on winning
Manager's pragmactic approach has Detroit thriving
By Jason Beck / MLB.com
06/15/09 3:08 PM ET
PITTSBURGH -- For the fourth straight year, Jim Leyland will put questions about his friendship with Tony La Russa on hold and renew their rivalry in Interleague Play, this time in St. Louis. The quirks of the Interleague schedule have somehow made this an annual event for two managers whose relationship goes back more than a quarter century.Nothing is guaranteed for the next year -- neither with the schedule nor with the managers. The more announcements emerge on contract extensions for skippers around the big leagues, the more exclusive Leyland's group becomes -- the group of managers not under contract for next season. Many are tied to this year's fortunes. So far, Leyland's fortunes have been good.
The Rays extended Joe Maddon's contract last month. The Rangers and Astros have picked up the option years on their respective skippers, Ron Washington and Cecil Cooper. With that, Leyland became one of eight managers whose contract isn't guaranteed past 2009.
One of them, Colorado's Jim Tracy, is an interim hire for now, having replaced Clint Hurdle. Washington's Manny Acta and Baltimore's Dave Trembley both have options for 2010. Bobby Cox has been going year-to-year on his contracts for a while. La Russa has more than once signed contract extensions at the end of deals rather than during them, including the current deal which he signed after the 2007 season. That leaves Leyland, San Diego's Bud Black and San Francisco's Bruce Bochy with neither contracts nor options.
For someone who came into the season knowing the challenges of winning, the immediacy of it is obvious. It hasn't been an easy season, but the Tigers are winning.
If Leyland is tied to his club, the players are tying themselves to him.
"By far, he's the best manager I've ever played for," said third baseman Brandon Inge, currently the longest-tenured Tiger.
Both Tigers officials and Leyland have chosen not to discuss his contract situation. Leyland hasn't talked about it since the end of last year's last-place campaign, when he did not get an extension. The longer the Tigers remain in first place in the American League Central, the more likely an extension seems.
The irony is the unexpected ways in which Leyland's Tigers have had to try to win this season compared with past years, and the issues still facing a team that has led its division since May 10. The offensive juggernaut that was expected last year has given way, at times, to a more manufactured offense, one that hasn't been as consistent as it has been pragmatic. A manager that admittedly hasn't liked the squeeze bunt has used it several times, including twice in an April series at Seattle. Just two players, Placido Polanco and Miguel Cabrera, have hit in the same spot in the order in more than two-thirds of the games.
It reflects an attitude on the club: However it happens, it's about winning. And regardless of contract, players have supported Leyland and seemingly embraced his philosophy.
"By far, he's exceeded my expectations," said shortstop Adam Everett said. "I grew up in Atlanta, so I got to see him manage with the Marlins and the Pirates. I always wanted that opportunity to play for a guy like that, because you know he's old school. We're here to win ballgames, and it's whatever it takes. But he understands that this is a grind, that this is a hard game. He understands that, so he makes the season that much better.
"He's one of the main reasons why I'm here. He's the best manager I've ever played for. He's a big reason why we are where we are today."
Everett played for years in Houston under Jimy Williams and Phil Garner before spending last year under Ron Gardenhire in Minnesota. He signed with the Tigers last winter to handle the regular shortstop duties, but has ceded a share of the job to Ramon Santiago.
Likewise, Curtis Granderson went from Detroit's everyday leadoff hitter to spending 12 of his last 18 starts in the fifth spot.
"Everybody knows their role and falls into place," Granderson said. "In the situation with Santiago and Everett, it would be easy for those two guys to be mad at each other or mad at him. But when you know you're going to play today, you're going to play tomorrow, and that's how it's going to go, that's one reason why there's so much production between those two guys.
"That honesty up front is probably one of the most important things, and probably the best characteristic I've seen from all the professional managers I've had in terms of letting you know your role."
Granderson has played under Leyland for almost his entire Major League career; his first full season was Leyland's first year in Detroit in 2006. Though the strategies might be different, he sees the same basic demands at the heart of Leyland.
"I think everybody on this team, hands down, would back him as their guy," Granderson said of Leyland.
Eventually, especially if the Tigers keep winning, the club seems likely to do the same.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
