I know I said I'd address that somewhere else, and I probably will, but it just grates me that now the assumption is that Mills should have developed his players. There's some development to take place in the majors, sure, but it's not the kind that should've already taken place in the minor leagues. The majors are where you work on adjustment, small changes, maintenance and the things you need to sustain longevity. This team is fundamentally unsound as we've seen every night.
Mills had his team out there doing extra work on fundamentals every day, instead of the things that grown-up major leaguers work on, because they are still minor leaguers or fringe guys. That's not his fault. Developing players to the extent that they should be at as major-league regulars shouldn't have been his job either. I think it's unreasonable to expect that he could be some sort of 'extended minor league training' while they're facing major league talent daily. Then when you throw in the churning cast he was given, what you end up with is an unwinnable situation.
I'm not here to praise Mills or his management. I think he was a better manager when he had better players. In previous seasons he was more aggressive with runners and hitters. That fell to complete conservatism and following the book because his players couldn't even execute the fundamentals on a daily basis. I can't judge his competence on something like the situation he's had to deal with, other than he was steady and didn't freak out in public or throw his guys under the bus in public. He was able somehow to keep a pretty positive face on every day. Based on that he's just another guy in the job, no miracle worker and no loose cannon.
Managers are hired to be fired. How it happened and when it happened really shouldn't be that much of a surprise. I thought he wouldn't make it this long but it seems that the situation in OKC played a part in this and that does surprise me.
