from Amazon
Friday, March 28, 2008
How much to pay a manager?
I’m linking this mostly because Gassko is cited throughout (in the WSJ!). But, basically, a win is a win is a win. A free agent win is worth 4.4MM, whether that comes directly off the play of the player, or has been “performance enhanced” by his manager. If the average manager gets 2MM, then a manager that can add 1 win should get 6.4MM. Of course, if you have a below average manager, one who gets LESS out of their players than an average manager would, then pay him 1MM.
Regardless of how much fans think a manager can impact his team, management has already spoken: up to 1 win above average. And, one would guess that unless a manager is senile, no further than 1 win below average. As long as management believes that Dusty Baker is one of the 30 best managers in the game, they believe he has limited impact in adding or subtracting wins.