Managerial Candidates

[Baseball fandom]

11 hours ago, ChuckS said:

There will not be any major coaching changes. This is going to be a 90-win playoff team that lost four of its top six SP. 

Maybe the hitting coach goes if they finish the season singing the same note they are right now.  But Hyde isn’t going anywhere and probably not the rest of his staff. 

You think they are winning 90 I don't.  I predicted 88 at  the beginning the year and that is what it's looking like. 

[Baseball fandom]

7 minutes ago, Roll Tide said:

Supplementing the retirement checks. I have no interest a 70 year old MLB manager and I doubt Elias does either.

AJ Pierzynski is a hot name around the league and ex catchers usually do pretty well as managers.

I heard good things about AJ but does he even have any managerial experience? Last I heard he was doing podcasts 

[Warehouse]

I don’t think Hyde will be fired or should be fired.  If we go 0-5 vs Tigers and 3-6 vs Giants/Yankees/Twins to miss playoffs, then that probably changes.  

That being said, I’ll engage the OP on the basis of the hypothetical.

I don’t think a managerial search would focus on a “name” or someone that would “excite” the fans.  That doesn’t fit the trend in the game where quality orgs hire relative unknowns like Kevin Cash, Carlos Mendoza, Stephen Vogt, and Matt Quartraro.

Instead, it would be an in-depth and structured search. It would start with a very broad list. Based on conversations around the league, it would be whittled to a list of finalists for in-depth interviews.

Candidates would be evaluated across a range of criteria:

- Background: managing/coaching experience, pedigree (e.g., worked under good manager), FO experience, playing experience, and age

- Leadership and clubhouse management: Ability to win trust and respect of players, ability to motivate, can connect with players on personal level, ability to manage clubhouse personalities, ability to reduce vet playing time or send rookies back to AAA while keeping players motivated and bought into to team concept, feel for when a smart short term tactic may have detrimental clubhouse impacts that may outweigh benefit, feel for when disciplinary actions are helpful, feel for having players backs with umps, defend in public and criticize in private, good at giving feedback, character/reputation, Spanish language skills are a plus

 - Communications and media relations: Clear, confident, and savvy communicator with media; ability to clearly communicate concepts and philosophies throughout org

 - Managerial competencies: ability to build and lead a coaching staff, willingness to delegate, work ethic and depth of prep, ability to coordinate with minor league staff, advance scouting/analytics, others in org, evidence-based and open to new ideas, takes feedback well

- Depth of knowledge of baseball fundamentals

- Player development chops (dev doesn’t end in minors anymore)

- Fluency in analytics: understanding of concepts, ability to communicate and filter info to players, depth of understanding and feel for game to understand when to “overrule” analytics, growth mindset and constant learning

 - Ability and willingness to work closely with FO

 - Tactics: bullpen management, lineup construction and load management, pinch-hitting and defensive replacements, small ball tactics (base stealing, bunts, hit and runs), defensive positioning, knowledge of rule book

Gaps in tactical experience can be offset with the right bench coach.

 

[Warehouse]

Just now, Warehouse said:

I don’t think Hyde will be fired or should be fired.  If we go 0-5 vs Tigers and 3-6 vs Giants/Yankees/Twins to miss playoffs, then that probably changes.  

That being said, I’ll engage the OP on the basis of the hypothetical.

I don’t think a managerial search would focus on a “name” or someone that would “excite” the fans.  That doesn’t fit the trend in the game where quality orgs hire relative unknowns like Kevin Cash, Carlos Mendoza, Stephen Vogt, and Matt Quartraro.

Instead, it would be an in-depth and structured search. It would start with a very broad list. Based on conversations around the league, it would be whittled to a list of finalists for in-depth interviews.

Candidates would be evaluated across a range of criteria:

- Background: managing/coaching experience, pedigree (e.g., worked under good manager), FO experience, playing experience, and age

- Leadership and clubhouse management: Ability to win trust and respect of players, ability to motivate, can connect with players on personal level, ability to manage clubhouse personalities, ability to reduce vet playing time or send rookies back to AAA while keeping players motivated and bought into to team concept, feel for when a smart short term tactic may have detrimental clubhouse impacts that may outweigh benefit, feel for when disciplinary actions are helpful, feel for having players backs with umps, defend in public and criticize in private, good at giving feedback, character/reputation, Spanish language skills are a plus

 - Communications and media relations: Clear, confident, and savvy communicator with media; ability to clearly communicate concepts and philosophies throughout org

 - Managerial competencies: ability to build and lead a coaching staff, willingness to delegate, work ethic and depth of prep, ability to coordinate with minor league staff, advance scouting/analytics, others in org, evidence-based and open to new ideas, takes feedback well

- Depth of knowledge of baseball fundamentals

- Player development chops (dev doesn’t end in minors anymore)

- Fluency in analytics: understanding of concepts, ability to communicate and filter info to players, depth of understanding and feel for game to understand when to “overrule” analytics, growth mindset and constant learning

 - Ability and willingness to work closely with FO

 - Tactics: bullpen management, lineup construction and load management, pinch-hitting and defensive replacements, small ball tactics (base stealing, bunts, hit and runs), defensive positioning, knowledge of rule book

Gaps in tactical experience can be offset with the right bench coach.

 

It’s impossible to say who the best candidates would be without going through the full process. It’s not like speculating on who our center fielder should be where we can more directly observe skills and job performance.

The long list would likely include the following:

Terry Francona, former Guardians manager

Buck Britton, Norfolk Tides manager

Skip Schumaker, Marlins manager

Gabe Kapler, Marlins assistant GM

Rodney Linares, Rays bench coach

Ryan Flaherty, Cubs bench coach

George Lombard, Tigers bench coach

DeMarlo Hale, Blue Jays associate manager

Brad Ausmus, Yankees bench coach

Mark DeRosa, MLB Network analyst and former WBC manager

Rickie Weeks Jr., Brewers associate manager 

Caleb Cotham, Phillies pitching coach

Will Venable, Rangers associate manager

Bobby Dickerson, Phillies infield coach

Matt Tuiasosopo, Braves third base coach

Clayton McCullough, Dodgers first base coach

David Ross, former Cubs manager

Don Kelly, Pirates bench coach

Mark Hallberg, Giants third base coach

Craig Albernaz, Guardians bench coach

Kai Correa, Guardians infield coordinator

Mark Budzinski, Blue Jays first baseman coach

Fredi González, Orioles bench coach

Ramón Vázquez, Red Sox bench coach

Mike Napoli, Red Sox first base coach

[ChuckS]

1 hour ago, Baseball fandom said:

You think they are winning 90 I don't.  I predicted 88 at  the beginning the year and that is what it's looking like. 

Roughly.  They could win 92.  They could win 88.  The exact number wasn't my point.

They won't fire Hyde because the team won 88 games instead of 90.  

[Fiver6565]

Another ridiculous thread because Hyde isn’t getting fired. I mean if the literally lose out, maybe I guess. 
 

If Hyde does go, for any reason, they will announce Britton as the new manager the next day. He’s going to get a job somewhere in the next couple years, it might as well be in Baltimore. 

[OriolesMagic83]

12 hours ago, ChuckS said:

There will not be any major coaching changes. This is going to be a 90-win playoff team that lost four of its top six SP. 

Maybe the hitting coach goes if they finish the season singing the same note they are right now.  But Hyde isn’t going anywhere and probably not the rest of his staff. 

"The" hitting coach?  Don't they have 3 hitting coaches?  Maybe they could draw straws and guy w/ the short straw is fired.

[OriolesMagic83]

1 hour ago, Warehouse said:

I don’t think Hyde will be fired or should be fired.  If we go 0-5 vs Tigers and 3-6 vs Giants/Yankees/Twins to miss playoffs, then that probably changes.  

That being said, I’ll engage the OP on the basis of the hypothetical.

I don’t think a managerial search would focus on a “name” or someone that would “excite” the fans.  That doesn’t fit the trend in the game where quality orgs hire relative unknowns like Kevin Cash, Carlos Mendoza, Stephen Vogt, and Matt Quartraro.

Instead, it would be an in-depth and structured search. It would start with a very broad list. Based on conversations around the league, it would be whittled to a list of finalists for in-depth interviews.

Candidates would be evaluated across a range of criteria:

- Background: managing/coaching experience, pedigree (e.g., worked under good manager), FO experience, playing experience, and age

- Leadership and clubhouse management: Ability to win trust and respect of players, ability to motivate, can connect with players on personal level, ability to manage clubhouse personalities, ability to reduce vet playing time or send rookies back to AAA while keeping players motivated and bought into to team concept, feel for when a smart short term tactic may have detrimental clubhouse impacts that may outweigh benefit, feel for when disciplinary actions are helpful, feel for having players backs with umps, defend in public and criticize in private, good at giving feedback, character/reputation, Spanish language skills are a plus

 - Communications and media relations: Clear, confident, and savvy communicator with media; ability to clearly communicate concepts and philosophies throughout org

 - Managerial competencies: ability to build and lead a coaching staff, willingness to delegate, work ethic and depth of prep, ability to coordinate with minor league staff, advance scouting/analytics, others in org, evidence-based and open to new ideas, takes feedback well

- Depth of knowledge of baseball fundamentals

- Player development chops (dev doesn’t end in minors anymore)

- Fluency in analytics: understanding of concepts, ability to communicate and filter info to players, depth of understanding and feel for game to understand when to “overrule” analytics, growth mindset and constant learning

 - Ability and willingness to work closely with FO

 - Tactics: bullpen management, lineup construction and load management, pinch-hitting and defensive replacements, small ball tactics (base stealing, bunts, hit and runs), defensive positioning, knowledge of rule book

Gaps in tactical experience can be offset with the right bench coach.

 

It sounds like the new manager can only be one person----Kevin Brown.  Looking forward to the Star Wars references in the post game interview.

[slakattack]

Ridiculous speculation, Hyde is going nowhere. Just out of curiosity, what's Chris Hoiles all about these days?

[Too Tall]

With all the expertise on this board, seems like there should be some candidates in these there hills?  

[sportsfan8703]

Can they hit?

Ichiro might be a good hire. He can DH too as a player manager. Gotta be better than what we got now. 

[e16bball]

I think it’s pretty wild how much people care about the identity of the manager. And I think it’s patently insane that half the front page is “Hyde sucks” and “Hyde needs to be fired” in various forms. 

Do people really think the manager makes this much difference? Maybe if we take a look around the league, we’ll see how much better managers are changing the game for their teams. 

Who’s got the best record in the AL? Looks like the Yankees, so Aaron Boone must be doing a great job over there. Except…they’re under .500 over the last 3 months, despite a half-billion dollar pitching staff and the two best hitters in baseball. I’m sure he had good reasons for sticking with Clay Holmes in the closer role through 11 blown saves and keeping The Martian down in the minors so he could keep playing Verdugo — folks here wouldn’t have had any opinions on those. 

Okay, so the Yankees are overrated. Who’s the actual best team in the AL right now? Sure looks like it’s the Astros. Household name Joe Espada working his magic, pulling the levers to have them…exactly where Dusty Baker’s had them for the last 7 years, except worse. He’s really managed to whip all those stars on that top 5 payroll into shape.

Stephen Vogt, now there’s a guy who came onto the scene and changed his team from the ground up. Unshackled the Guardians’ offense, freed them from the restrictive old-school dictates imposed by a guy mentioned in the OP of this thread as a great candidate, and gave Steven Kwan license to soar. But wait…they’re also only .500 over the last 3 months. And they’re one of the worst hitting teams in baseball since the ASB (88 wRC+), with Kwan absolutely collapsing to a .620 OPS since July 1. Got momentary power, but lost his ability to hit for average. Oops.

But when it comes to proven managers, Scott Servais has had the Mariners in the mix for years. He’s a steady hand, he’s a strategist, he’s…well, he’s fired. The switch to Dan Wilson gave them a big spark, going from “.500” to “just barely above .500” despite a schedule soft spot. 

Bruce Bochy. Playoff managing genius. One of the greats. All he does is win. I bet his offense would never crater on him. Hope we don’t run into the Rangers in the playoffs.

Kevin Cash. Multi-time manager of the year. Pioneer of clever new strategies. All he does is win. I bet his offense would never crater on him. Hope we don’t run into the Rays in the playoffs.

The Twins and Royals are both likely playoff teams despite reasonable payrolls, so we’ve got to give a huge hat tip to the wonderful work done by…you don’t even know who their managers are, do you? One thing we can say about both of those teams is that they’d definitely still maybe be possible playoff contenders if they didn’t both get the chance to go 12-1 against the White Sox. 

Well, what about the National League then? The Dodgers and the Phillies are at the top of the heap, as they often seem to be. Their managers certainly do a great job — it’s the little things, you know? Like how to properly deploy the half-dozen or more HOFers they have on their rosters, thanks to the 2nd and 4th largest payrolls in the sport. 

I remember there was big manager news in the NL Central this past offseason, though, so let’s check in on that. The Cubs poached rising star Craig Counsell from the rival Brewers. Talk about a game changer! The Cubs gain and the Brewers lose, so it’s a classic double whammy. Quick look at the standings…hmm. The Brewers are leading by a mile and the Cubs are going home. But that’s odd, that’s exactly what happened last year when the Brewers had Counsell and the Cubs didn’t…

The Braves were the best team in baseball in 2023. Brian Snitker absolutely on top of his game, had them clicking on all cylinders. Looks like they’re out of the playoffs as of today. What a disappointment. I wonder if anything happened to make him so bad at his job now.

And just for old time’s sake, probably worth mentioning that the Mets have taken a big step forward by hiring Carlos Mendoza to replace another guy mentioned as a candidate in the OP. Hard to see 81-66 and the fringes of the playoff race as anything but an absolute triumph for baseball’s biggest payroll.

 

Hard to imagine where this Orioles team could be if we had one of those guys. Real managers. The kind of guys that would know exactly how to extract championship caliber contributions from the likes of Burch Smith, Matt Bowman, Cade Povich, Emmanuel Rivera, and Austin Slater. 

[O's84]

17 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Can they hit?

Ichiro might be a good hire. He can DH too as a player manager. Gotta be better than what we got now. 

I know you're joking but I wonder, has there been a player who has retired, waited the 5 years before getting elected to the HOF, then decided to play again? I doubt it but I never really thought about it before.

[Baseball fandom]

Maybe with the injuries it will buy Hyde another year and that's fine but I think he should be made to shake up the coaching staff especially a new hitting coach at minimum 

[Moose Milligan]

The team gets one hit last night with an umpire that had a strike zone the size and shape of Texas and then you get a thread like this. 

It’d be funny if it weren’t so sad.