FanPost

Can anyone tell us more about Ken Oberkfell?

There seems to be a significant AA contingent advocating Ken Oberkfell as the next manager. It makes a certain amount of sense, especially if the new GM wants to promote from within and install a "middle management"-type manager who implements the organizational philosophy determined from on high. He would also be cheap - in both respects, he is the un-Bobby V.

Joe Janish does not like Oberkfell because his win/loss record managing in the minors is not great:

http://www.metstoday.com/5080/opinion-and-analysis/the-argument-for-ken-oberkfell/

The main counterargument seems to be that the talent on those Mets minor league teams was generally bad compared to the leagues they were playing in. Is there a chance those teams would have done even worse with a league-average manager? I'm intrigued by Oberkfell's success managing Leones de Escogido last year. Any chance there was more balance on the talent in that league? I'm very interested to know if anyone has more thoughts/info on this. Is there anyway to adjust a minor league manager's win/loss record for the rest of the team's talent?

The other counterargument seems to be that a minor league manager's win/loss record takes a hit because in the minors player development takes precedence over winning. I'm not persuaded by this, because all the other teams in the minors will have similar priorities, so on balance this effect should come out in the wash, particularly when the sample size is so large. Even if winning is only your number 2 priority, then you should have a good win/loss record over time if you know what you are doing and you have talent on the team to work with.

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any vetting or approval process.