Goodbye, Eric Wedge

The Eric Wedge era is over, after seven years. Well, OK, it's not over until Sunday. But it's official now that Wedge is gone at the end of this season, an extremely disappointing 64-92 (so far) year that began with the Indians expecting to contend for a division title. Despite being in baseball's most mediocre division, they never threatened to get into the race.

During Wedge's tenure, the Tribe went to the playoffs exactly once. That was in 2007, when they won the AL Central with a 96-66 record, tying the Red Sox for baseball's best mark, and losing to those same Red Sox in seven games in the ALCS. Had the Indians won that series, they likely would have rolled over the Rockies in the World Series, as the Red Sox did. But as we all know, that didn't happen. The Indians were up 3-1 on Boston, but didn't come close to winning any of the last three games. Was that Wedge's fault? A little, probably.

Wedge's only other plus-.500 season as manager was in 2005, when the Tribe overcame a lousy start (lousy starts were very common during the Wedge era) to finish 93-69 and threaten to overtake the White Sox for the division title, only to lose five of their last six and fall short of the division and the wild card. That was an epic collapse. Was that Wedge's fault? A little, probably.

Their next best season under Wedge was 2008, when they finished 81-81 after another cruddy start. They were expected to contend last year, but they didn't. They were expected to contend in 2006, but they didn't. As mentioned above, they were expected to contend in 2009, but they didn't. Was that Wedge's fault? I think largely so, yes. For whatever reason, he didn't have these guys ready to play.

Eric Wedge seems like a genuinely nice guy, and a pretty smart guy. I wish him well in whatever he does next (unless the Yankees hire him as a coach). But I'm glad someone else will manage this team in 2010.