Wakamatsu was relatively anonymous in his stint as bench coach in Texas. But I think he was way more important than generally observed. To some extent, Wak kept the players from rebelling against some of Showalter’s rigidity. Whether good or bad, it’s clear to me that he gets player confidence. That kind of thing is a two way street – perform, behave, and I got your back.

He also got substantial schooling on park effects within the division, to add onto his A’s experience. I think you’ll like his approach, and hope he gets good players in his tenure so he can succeed. Well, against the A’s and Angels, particularly.

maybe he’ll give it the thumbs up!

will that count towards filling the Kitsap Quota?

as the answer to a BA question

Teams use several area scouts (usually 12-18 per staff) to file initial reports on players all over the country. The most promising players are then evaluated by crosscheckers, who essentially are more experienced and proven scouts. There are regional crosscheckers (usually 2-3 per club), who split up the top prospects into East, Central and West groups, and national crosscheckers (usually 1-2 per team), who will see all of the best players. Some clubs use both regional and national crosscheckers, while others employ one or the other.

The crosscheckers’ recommendations determine which prospects the scouting director will bear down on. Ultimately, it’s the scouting director’s final call as to whom he’ll draft, but he’ll try to build a consensus among his area scouts and crosscheckers.

but there was a gem I found in one of the comments sections following an article announcing Wakamatsu’s hiring that said, paraphrasing, “I have been a Mariners fan since the day I was born and I have never been satisfied with any of their managerial hires and continue to be disappointed”.

Really? Every last one of them?