Captain of the Decade Update

Captain of the Decade Update:

With only two seasons remaining, it is time to visit an important question asked a few years ago. Who is the Captain of the Decade? There is no formula to easily determine who wins the title but any reasonable discussion has to consider both regular season and post-season performance.

A Positive Regular Season Record:

Eliminated from this discussion are Brock because he’s only been captain for one year and Feldman, Carlin, Younger since they are not currently captains and thus won’t have the other requirements that will soon to be discussed. Other short term managers that had a positive record but are eliminated from discussion are: Peragine, Spegel, Mesmer.

Current captains with a .500 winning percentage(Records as of 5/23/18)

1. Goldfarb (.589)
2. Bykofsky (.579)
3. Jacoby (.559)
4. Pollock (.538)
5. Wallman (.530)
6. Marrone (.513)

There would be no debate on COTD if it were solely based on regular season record. Goldfarb would clearly be the winner. However, post-season does matter. To what degree does it matter is up to each individual. A good litmus test is which MLB team do you consider the team of the 90s? Is it the Braves or the Yankees? The Braves had a better overall record while the Yankees won 3 World Series compared to the Braves’ one championship. Let’s first break down the playoff success of the 6 teams listed above and then take a look at some other teams who start entering the conversation for COTD based on playoff performances.

Post-Season Performance

Team	Championships	Finals Appearances	Semi-Finals	First round exits/Seasons as captain
Goldfarb	1	1	3	3/8
Bykofsky	0	1	1	0/5
Jacoby	1	1	1	4/6
Pollock	2	2	3	3/7
Wallman	0	0	2	4/8
Marrone	0	1	2	3/5

How These Results Affect COTD Discussion:

• Goldfarb: Goldfarb’s post-season success does enough to maintain his claim as COTD, but doesn’t do anything to further his case. He has his one championship and has made it past the first round more than 50% of the time. The only negative is his one finals appearance but he’s in the same boat in that category as most other captains. His three semi-finals appearances also puts him in good company.

• Bykofsky: He doesn’t have as many seasons under his belt as other captains in consideration, but it’s still impressive that Bykofsky’s teams have never exited the first round. As consistent as Bykosky’s run has been, it still hurts his chances that he has yet to win a championship. This is when being a captain for fewer years than the others on this list is a big hindrance.

• Jacoby: Despite winning a championship, Jacoby’s chances go down when factoring overall playoff success. Jacoby has exited the playoffs over half his seasons despite having strong teams. Still, every captain goes through bad playoff streaks, so this drawback can diminish with two good post seaons. For now, the overall lack of playoff success is seen as the main argument against Jacoby’s case for CATD.

• Pollock: If any team benefits from factoring playoff success, it’s my brother’s. He’s the only captain to win multiple championships and one of only three current captains to have three or more semi- finals appearances(Goldfarb and Harris are the others). One question I ask for each captain is “What will winning the championship do to that captain’s chances of being CATD?” If Matt wins and has three championships while no one else has more than one, then it would make him the frontrunner.

• Wallman: Wallman’s case for MOTD consideration is hurt by lack of playoff success. He is the only captain with a .500+ winning percentage without a finals appearance this decade. If playoff success matters at all, Wallman has to be out of the running for now. If all that matters is the regular season then there are other captains with higher winning percentages.

• Marrone: Marrone is an interesting case because in five short years, he’s made two trips to the semi-finals including one to championship game. However, all three other seasons ended in first round exits. Still with no championships and other captains with better records, Marrone is out of contention for now.

Special Notes:

Beilis had an impressive post-season decade with three finals appearances. However with a sub .500 record and zero championships, he won’t be in the running.

Harris is the one current captain not represented above who can jump into the discussion with two strong seasons due to his two finals appearances including one championship.

Final Verdict:

Here is how I’d rank the four captains who have the best shot at COTD:

1.    Goldfarb: Goldfarb has been the most consistent captain with only one season this decade where he finished below .500. He also has a championship and three semi-finals appearances. Many believe he has the strongest team this year(and after starting 4-0 it’s hard to disagree), so a championship season could clinch the title for Goldfarb.

2.    Pollock: As said before, the playoff success makes Pollock the only current challenger to Goldfarb. Pollock’s 4th in winning percentage, so while it’s not as high as Goldfarb’s, it’s also not a major blemish either.  

3.   Jacoby: If Jacoby has a better regular season record than Pollock then why isn’t Jacoby also a current challenger to Goldfarb? It’s because if you rank Jacoby over Pollock it means you value regular season performance a lot more heavily than playoff performance. If that’s the case then you’re choosing Goldfarb as COTD anyway. Still, Jacoby has two seasons to make it far in the playoffs and build a solid case for the title.

(Note: Feldman and Younger may not be active captains but are in a similar situation as Jacoby. Even if one of them came back as a captain next year and won it all, their regular season records wouldn’t compete with Goldfarb’s while having similar post-season success. Jacoby has a chance at winning multiple championships this decade, so he still has a shot at COTD.)

4. Bykofsky: He got a late start, but if Bykofsky wins a championship within two years and overtakes Goldfarb for best winning percentage, he will also have a strong case. No captain has won more games in a three year span this decade than Bykofsky 2015-2017.