…and I’ve been a supporter of his and have given him the benefit of the doubt up to this point, but I’m starting to rethink my position now.

I have serious doubts about him now.

When the players perform, it’s hard for a manager to screw up, but when the team is struggling every little thing becomes much more magnitized. I think the way he has handled things — line-ups, playing Davis, Powell at 1B, CROSBY at 1B, instead of Buck, and the killing/overmanaging of his bullpen (do we really need a situational lefty when we’re down 3 in the 6th?) make the A’s incredibly hard to watch.

I’m also afraid his rope will be way too long. If the A’s don’t turn it around soon, and Geren keeps making irrational decisions, I think something will need to be done. Either get a different hitting coach or replace Geren (no idea with who). I think he needs to be given until mid-May, and if it’s still bad by then, Beane needs to look into doing something. Bad starts are understandable, but a bad month and a half, full of bad decisions and unexplainably bad hitting, would be too much to take, especially in a winnable AL West.

What’s more disturbing is that Billy Beane seems off his game. After all, none of these personnel decisions are actually Bob Geren’s. I’m not sure Beane cares very much anymore.

… who should he be replaced with? Do we have anybody in the organization right now as a good option?

This team seems lifeless. I highly doubt Bob will go anywhere as he seems to be given a little extra rope due to his personal friendship with Billy.

But something needs to be done. Not quite sure, maybe they cut Crosby, make a trade, sign a veteran starter.

Geren looks a little chuncky to me

Geren doesn’t have his corner infielders. Garciaparra can’t play, chavez has had his problems and Giambi can’t play first everyday.

How do you manage that? he has HAD to play Powell and Crosby at positions they aren’t used to. I don’t see how this is Gerens fault. The front office should have made a move a week ago.

and the Gallagher thing, it’s not difficult to see why Geren lost trust in him, and again the front office should have made the move a week ago…

I’m not a big fan of Geren, but so far this season it’s been all “worst case scenario”.

To be fair, I have to admit I’ve never been fond of Geren as the A’s manager, but I always thought he’d do at least a competent job and wasn’t completely down on him either. I had initial bias because his hiring stunk of nepotism, and because I really thought Ron Washington would’ve been great for the job and should’ve been Macha’s successor.

In the past couple seasons, there hasn’t been overly much to fault about Geren’s management of the team. Ok, there were plenty of questionable game-management decisions, but that would be the case with any manager.

The thing that has concerned me the most about Geren is the less obvious stuff, like how we works with his coaches and with the players- does the team have a cohesive feel to it? Are the players motivated and does everybody seem to be on the same page? Are personality issues handled well enough that we never hear much about them as fans?

It takes time for patterns to emerge, just like it takes time for a manager to establish himself and create a clubhouse culture and all that; we’re now at the point where it’s fair to look at Geren’s tenure and make some judgments.

I don’t like what I’m seeing.

There’s a definite pattern of marginalization of players that he can’t connect with or get to follow his lead emerging; I firmly believe that’s why Carlos Gonzalez was traded away (there were incidents at the end of last season that became pretty telling) and I suspect that’s why Buck has been riding the pine and why Gallagher was left to rust in the ‘pen pretty much since the season’s start as well. Those are just some most glaring examples- I suspect there is much more little stuff along these lines going on behind the scenes with other players, too.

Aside from that, there’s the fact that players and even coaches are fully aware that Beane and Geren are best buddies, and I doubt there is any trust between the players and manager because of this. You can’t talk to the manager openly if he’s going to report everything to the GM and part-owner of the team, can you? Coaches can’t question Bob’s decisions even if they think it would be constructive, because it could mean their jobs.

Then there’s the managerial disposition and personality issue. Geren likes to come across as a relentlessly positive, sunny guy- but this is diametrically opposed to what he actually projects with his body language and general demeanor, so it rings false. What he actually projects is a very controlling and taciturn, and at times short-tempered and gloomy, disposition. This has nothing to do with whether or not he’s a good guy in general, and is no reflection of him personally- but the temperament displayed by a manager has an impact on the team, and if it doesn’t ring true… well, it’s hard to be a convincing leader and build a cohesive team if nobody buys into what you’re selling.

I don’t think Geren is in a good position with this team, which seems terribly ironic- you would think it couldn’t get any better than being on great terms with the GM if you’re a manager, yet the converse could actually be more correct because if you’re too close with the front office then it’s hard to genuinely connect with the coaches and players.

Or maybe I’m saying I don’t think this team is in a good position with Geren.

Either way, he’s not going anywhere anytime soon, but that might cost the A’s a chance at contending in a wide-open A.L. West this year and farther down the road it may also cost them the chance to build a young, cohesive team that can compete for championships for several years in a row like they’ve seemingly been aiming to do through their rebuilding efforts.

declaring Chavez done after two weeks is premature, we all knew going into this season that it was going to take time for him to be back to normal. If he’s still playing like this in June, fine, we can start talking about him being done but come on, it’s too early for that now.

I know everyone is frustrated with that last road trip, but that was what, 6 lefties in a row? we got a righty tonight and we beat him.

And do you really think Billie Beane would hesitate to fire Geren if it was the best thing for the team? Really? then you and I have totally different perceptions of him…

Still Bill – great posts above. If there is a claim against Geren aside from the strange lineups, it’s how he interacts as a leader with his players, coaches and superiors.

That said, the division is there for the taking this year. The Angels are dealing with big injury problems and a depleted pitching staff. The Rangers absolutely can’t pitch, although they can definitely hit. The M’s are probably playing above their heads at the moment (I’m pretty sure Russell Branyan will not hit .350 in 2009), and actually come close to mirroring the A’s futility in some offensive categories.

There are a few glaring problems with this team. One is the youth/ability/injuries of the pitching staff. So, far the starters have not been that good while the bullpen has been very sharp. But how long can a bullpen go on pitching 4+ innings every day? Given the fact that the ERA is under 4 and the A’s are above average on the mound, I would give Geren a PLUS for the performance of the staff. I think he’s done well with what he’s had to work with.

The offense has been atrocious, to say the least. The A’s rank near the bottom in just about every major offensive category. The slugging percentage of .311 is just horrifying, and doesn’t even approach the next-worst Mariners at .361. Building a team that doesn’t shape up well against lefties doesn’t bode well for winning 85+ games, as teams will always make sure they throw their southpaws against you. I don’t think the manager has a big enough impact to keep stars like Holliday, Giambi, etc. from hitting dingers. This is just a duplication of last year’s offense (except worse) so far, and that’s more of a reflection on Beane than anyone else.

I was against the Holliday trade when it was made, because this team should be very competitive 2 years from now. I figured Holliday’s stats would drop significantly in Oakland, thus diminishing what he could bring in a trade later this year. Plus, if he gets injured in June/July, we are screwed. I would have loved to see those 3 guys (Street, Smith, CarGon) dealt for a good young player whom we would have controlled for the next few years.

My big complaint is, I think the starting staff is not ready to contend (even with healthy Duke) and the lineup is proving very weak. I would have preferred the A’s to concentrate on building for 2011 rather than putting this mediocre #!&$# on the field, and trying to win this year. I know it’s still very possible, but I think this would have been an even better team down the road if we were in total rebuilding mode now. And that falls on Beane, not Geren.

Also, (and it’s been said before) Geren led this team to a good record in the 1st half last year with minimal talent before the rug was pulled out from under him. I’m not saying the decision to fold in ‘08 was wrong, but I think he’s shown that he is capable of producing with less-than-stellar talent.