In the interest of full disclosure, I feel I should inform you right off the jump that I’m not Mike Matheny’s biggest fan. And it’s not just because he’s the Cardinals’ manager, either. No, it’s more that he strikes me as sort of an anti-metrics meathead, the kind of guy who actually has baseball’s unwritten rules committed to a notebook that he keeps in his back pocket for easy reference. And there it rests right on top of the “Cardinals 4 Lyfe” tattoo on his left butt cheek.
Okay, I made up the part about the notebook.
Strict observance of The Cardinal Way and questionable ink aside, I can’t imagine any manager of a recently successful team being happy seeing a PECOTA projection of 76-86 record for 2017.