Three teams are currently on the hunt for new managers, and this post will keep track of the many names reported and rumored to be part of these searches. The latest…
Red Sox
Hired
- Alex Cora: former Red Sox manager (currently suspended until conclusion of the World Series)
Interviewed
- Mike Bell: Twins bench coach
- Sam Fuld: Phillies director of integrative baseball performance
- Don Kelly: Pirates bench coach
- Carlos Mendoza: Yankees bench coach
- James Rowson: Marlins bench coach
- Skip Schumaker: Padres associate manager
- Luis Urueta: Diamondbacks bench coach
- Will Venable: Cubs third base coach
Reportedly Under Consideration
- George Lombard: Dodgers first base coach
*****
Tigers
Hired
- A.J. Hinch: former Diamondbacks/Astros manager
Interviewed
- Dave Clark: Tigers first base coach
- Sal Fasano: Braves catching instructor
- Pedro Grifol: Royals bench coach
- Don Kelly: Pirates bench coach
- Mark Kotsay: Athletics quality control coach
- George Lombard: Dodgers first base coach
- Lloyd McClendon: current Tigers interim manager, former Pirates/Mariners manager
- Carlos Mendoza: Yankees bench coach
- Phil Nevin: Yankees third base coach
- Matt Quatraro: Rays bench coach
- Marcus Thames: Yankees hitting coach
- Will Venable: Cubs third base coach
Reportedly Under Consideration
- Alex Cora: former Red Sox manager (currently suspended until conclusion of the World Series)
- Fredi Gonzalez: Orioles bench coach, former Braves/Marlins manager
- Mike Redmond: Rockies bench coach
- Vance Wilson: Royals third base coach
*****
White Sox
Hired
- Tony La Russa: Hall-of-Famer, former Cardinals/Athletics/White Sox manager
Interviewed
- Willie Harris: Reds baserunning and outfield coordinator
Reportedly Drew Consideration
- A.J. Hinch: former Astros/Diamondbacks manager (currently suspended until conclusion of the World Series)
I predict the White Sox sign AJ Hinch 2 or 3 days after the World Series
@Trooper344
I agree. I think if LaRussa is truly the favorite, the Sox would’ve signed him already. I think the Sox sign LaRussa if they can’t for whatever reason sign Hinch.
I still say the sign stealing scandal was way overblown, but I know there will be serious outrage from the public over his signing (whoever he signs with).
It is only serious because people think their team isn’t doing it. It’s no different than the PED stuff. Everyone called out players like Bonds or McGwire while refusing to accept their team had people juicing up.
@jjdoo2
I agree. Every team has attempted sign stealing. Before these elaborate schemes, stealing signs in the past was like counting cards in Vegas–you know it’s being done, but how do you prove it?
I equate stealing signs to corked bats and throwing greased and scuffed balls. There’s a reason Don Sutton had the “Black & Decker” nickname and Gaylord Perry was arguably one of the biggest cheaters to ever play. And they are both in the HOF.
With PEDs, you still have to hit the ball–PEDs don’t improve eyesight. Just like a bang of the trash can doesn’t tell the hitter the location or exact speed of the pitch.
83Sox exactly. As much as I don’t condone the cheating, I don’t think it was why the Astros won the World Series. They had a great team with hitters who hit great on the road too. I am sure it helped them at times but even if you know what pitch is coming, hitting it is not the easiest thing and no guarantee… it just increases the probability of success slightly. It’s not like they had guys who were hitting .450 at home.
Again not condoning it, for the people who cherish attacking people as if I’m saying I support cheating. Only saying that it gave them a slight advantage at most, and probably nothing compared to having a guy like McGwire or Sosa on your team back in the day. Hinch smashed a couple of monitors and tried to stop the cheating even if he did not do enough… he had some responsibility but was hardly the Darth Vader of the whole scheme. Which is why I hope the Sox hire him.
If it’s was not the reason the why do it?
No but the bang of the can lets the hitters know if it’s a FB or anything offspeed! That is MAJOR to a major league hitter!
@balkmove69
Because knowing it’s going to be a fastball makes it a piece of cake hitting a 100mph heater or knowing it’s an offspeed pitch makes it easier to hit a filthy curveball.
Yes, there is an advantage to knowing in general what’s coming, but you still have to hit it. Easier said than done.
I agree with the point that all the teams have done it in some form or another but it does make a huge difference. It’s almost like working the pitcher into a fastball count and sitting on the fastball. MLB hitters pick a part of the plate to cover especially gains guys with elite velocity. The most glaring contrast: look at the at bats that sent the Yankees home the last two years. This year Brosseau legitimately worked Chapman to a fastball count and sat middle in. Altuve on the other hand was buzzed that he was getting a changeup or slider Or whatever the offspeed pitch was.
John Smoltz has explained this zoning practice that hitters used really well during the playoffs and WS. Hitters gamble on one part of the plate or a particular pitch type.
Well it sure helps knowing what pitch is coming
All 100% accurate.
I’ve got a sick feeling that they hire both LaRussa and Dave Duncan.
Dave Duncan has been a member of the White Sox front office for the past 2-1/2 seasons. He was hired as pitching consultant and remains in that role as we post (mlb.com/whitesox/press-release/white-sox-name-dave…).
If Tony La Russa becomes the White Sox new manager it’s possible that Duncan could reunite with him as their new pitching coach. The two were together as a manager/pitching coach tandem from 1983 until 2011. Duncan joined La Russa’s White Sox staff in 1983, just in time for the team to make its first postseason appearance since their World Series loss to the Dodgers back in 1959.
As the White Sox organizational pitching consultant Duncan should have some familiarity with all the arms in their system. It would be somewhat surprising for both La Russa and Duncan to endure the grind of a full 162 game season as well as an expected appearance in the 2021 playoffs. Of course, it would also make for a compelling story with both La Russa and Duncan out of an MLB dugout since the Cardinals won the World Series in 2011 in their final run together as manager and pitching coach.
The only reason I’d want Larussa is if it meant Duncan was my pitching coach. His track record of turning careers around with the Cardinals was awesome
Me too and then I become a D-backs fan. Hiring Larussa is nuts with this young new-school baseball team.
If Hinch or Cora get hired it will be an awful look for the game.
Why? The will have served their suspension. No different than a player that gets suspended for PED’s and rejoins the team to play. Right?
A manager is supposed to be a role model for a team. Hiring a convicted cheater as your leader certainly sends the wrong message.
Your company wants to hire an ex-con? That’s great, glad they’re giving people second chances! Your company wants to hire an ex-con who committed financial crimes as the new CEO? Time to jump ship.
Role Model?? To grown men?? GMAFB!!
If everyone in baseball who has cheated, was to not be given a second chance, baseball would be no more.
I get your point, but these MLB teams hire managers to manage the game. They are paid to win. If you think Cora and Hinch are the only two managers that have condoned cheating then you haven’t been around the game long. They got caught. Every player in the game relays signs “cheats” every chance they get. Managers know it.
A convicted cheater? Ex con? Hyperbole much?
Gosodpoodles … I agree 100%. I doubt that there are very few players/managers who haven’t cheated one way or another … they just happened to get caught. Once their suspension is over … they should be able to pursue another job in MLB. In my book, the only person who doesn’t deserve a 2nd chance is that player or manager who bets on the outcome of games …
Gotta love the holier than thou internet mob. Burn anyone at the stake who has ever made a mistake. You see it all the time on twitter. This is the MLB version of it
Exactly. People who live in glass houses…
Why would you want to hire either? There are plenty of good options who won’t bring the baggage or constant media attention and distraction of either Hinch or Cora. Hinch has the added issue of losing control and respect of the clubhouse. He was basically fed info and lineups from the front office, which likely why the players ignored him. That’s the guy you want? It’s not like either can claim a legitimate title.
if they are let back in the game,then Pete Rose should have been let in.
Not even close to comparable. One bet on his own team! The golden rule of sports. Pete Rose deserves nothing.
Why every team does it
Why? The longer you keep punishing these people the closer your team gets to being called out for the same stuff.
I think the one year ban is weak but when the suspension is over its over
Has there been any word on whether or not Bochy is willing to be interviewed?
Haven’t heard but that would be interesting as long as he is healthy. He’s had some heart issues
I believe that the Tigers will go with Hinch….. White Sox with LaRussa and the Red Sox with Cora.
So an out-of-touch, grumpy, near octogenarian, and two convicted cheaters. Those are the three to get the open manager positions. MLB 2021.
I hear that the managers should be held accountable for cheating. If we apply the same standards to players then the entire city of Houston needs a 1 year vacation and not be brought back.
Why not all of baseball since it was pretty much an open secret? I mean players change teams and you don’t think that went with them?
I am okay with seeing Hinch manage again. His biggest fault in Houston was not having control of his clubhouse. According to him, he told the team to stop once but they continued to cheat. Hopefully he has grown a pair and can lay down the law if he gets hired.
Why are we all so damned insistent on punishing people AFTER they paid the price? Instead of letting people move on we have to make sure this follows them all the way to the grave and even still we want the epitaph to read “CHEATER”.That is an absurd standard to hold. Imagine if that way of thinking was applied to all of us in the work place? Would anyone have a job or even be hireable?
If Cora or Hinch land jobs at the major league level, it’s fine by me.
I think Luhnow should have a job, but not Cora or Hinch. Both are weak leaders if they didn’t stop the cheating.
Hinch didn’t have a balls to stop it. He didn’t have control of the clubhouse. Cora played a key role in the cheating.
Cora was the ring leader. Hinch should have controlled it.
Is Beltrán just screwed forever? He deserves it I suppose it’s just wild.
These guys were punished. Whether an owner and franchise wants that distraction is up to them. as a mets fan and watching them go through it with beltran in the winter, I personally don’t think it is worth it, but to each their own. Kind of like a franchise keeping or acquiring a domestic disturbance/abuser. Weigh the distractions and fallout with the potential reward. Some feel it’s worth the risk and the punishment has been served, others don’t think its worth it or don’t want to be connected with that baggage.
Kind of jarring thing I’ve searched about the WS: Ever since 2015, the winner of game 5 in the WS has won it all. Last year was the exception when the Astros won in game 5. I do think the Dodgers finally do it.
So your dataset is only five World Series games, with the most recent—2019–not even supporting the claim? I don’t think that’s jarring!
I do think it’s the Dodgers year. The series should have ended already if not for the double-bobble ending in game four.
As a White Sox fan, please don’t turn back the clock and (re) hire LaRussa. He is a great manager and innovator, and should be regarded are the grandfather of analytics in baseball. But…. the game has progressed at light speed in the years he has been away.
The stint in Arizona’s front office was a dumpster fire! His style of management clashes with the culture of the modern, player focused clubhouses.
I hated when Hawk fired La Russa, and I respect his innovations and HOF career, but I am a White Sox fan first. The young precocious talent developed during a painful but necessary rebuild, does need better in game management, but not this way.
I dont think larussa will manage. He wont want all that travel and having to babysit young players… he has moved on.
Cora to red sox
McClendon to tigers
Hinch to white sox
“Leave ’em Loaded LLoyd” was a poor enough batting coach. As manager, noooooo!!!
@Jtwcaw91
I’m not a fan of LaRussa getting signed at this point, but I have a feeling if the Sox don’t get Hinch, they will sign LaRussa. The age wouldn’t be a big deal except he hasn’t been in the dugout in almost a decade. Seems like an enormous risk to take when the Sox are on the cusp of something great (how great depends on what they do this Winter).
“grandfather of analytics?” How? He created the non-analytic, inefficient ninth-inning-only closer role. I’m not sure what other “innovations” are attributable to him.
Before he was GM, Hawk was the broadcaster and LaRussa was the manager. I clearly remember Hawk constantly making fun of LaRussa for looking at computer printouts in the dugout. LaRussa was one of the first to use analytics, (not withstanding what he did later on).
That being said, I’m still against his hire.
LaRussa was manager from the last half of 1979 thru 1985, which Computer Software was created back then that he was looking over? Windows 3.1 was released in 1992, Windows 95 was released in 1995, Windows NT 4.0 was released in 1996.
From google, “The introduction of VisiCalc came in 1979. Lotus 1-2-3’s original release date was 32 years ago today, on January 26, 1983. Another spreadsheet you may have heard of, Microsoft’s Excel, appeared two years later”
From google: “Personal computer history doesn’t begin with IBM or Microsoft, although Microsoft was an early participant in the fledgling PC industry. The first personal computers, introduced in 1975, came as kits: The MITS Altair 8800, followed by the IMSAI 8080, an Altair clone.Apr 26, 2014”
Also “In the early part of the 1980s, the dominant microprocessors used in home computers were the 8-bit MOS Technology 6502 (Apple, Commodore, Atari, BBC Micro) and Zilog Z80 (TRS-80, ZX81, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 128, Amstrad CPC).””
I did do some work with Lotus 1-2-3 back in the mid 1980’s but that was Dos & if I remember I had to do all the calculations separate & put them into the spreadsheets, they did not auto calculate for you back then. But we are talking 35 years ago & I can’t remember with accuracy.
I actually was using Lotus before it had a version number! I don’t remember how it worked either, but LaRussa clearly could have had reports with him. (DOS prepared or spreadsheets. I remember him have green bar)
I was a cook & I did all the ordering back then. I wanted to build a spreadsheet to track the prices of food to see if I could find ups & downs in pricing at certain times of the year every year. I wound up giving up because I had to give the computer back to the owners other Motel in the spring when they opened. I did not work with computers again until 1998. I still have Dos 6.22, Windows 3.1 Windows 95 Windows NT 4.0 Windows 98 Windows 2000 & Server 2000 Windows XP Server 2003 Windows 8 & Windows 10 Operating Systems. This last summer I finally thru out all my old Desk Tops, Motherboards & other cards CPU’s & RAM sticks. I have not kept up with the new technology, I don’t make spreadsheets or back up data anymre. I don’t have anything I can’t afford to loose.
I’ve said this elsewhere but I’m really surprised Bruce Bochy’s name hasn’t come up for the White Sox position. He seems to fit exactly what they claim to be looking for.
How in the world does David bell still have a job ?? He set the mlb record for most ejections in a season his rookie campaign and underachieved in 2020 while several excellent hitters put up career low numbers. Guy is an idiot!
It’s great how everyone knows exactly what happened with the Astros. Judge much? We planted an @ss clown in the most important job in the world, so what if Cora or Hinch get jobs? Really, who cares? I don’t.
Go home
He is home, in his mom’s basement, just like his idol.
It seems you do.
He is the Lord’s choice.
Teams knew about the trash can… they should have changed the signs.
I’m not the only Tiger fan who wants to see AA Erie Seawolves Manager, Mike Rabelo interviewed. He knows many of the the players and his teams have been successful with those players.
The Tigers rebuild was different than other teams. They had a complicated demolition and had NO players to build around. The demolition is at a point they can focus on building a new team. On the surface, Mike Rabelo make the most sense.
I would like to see the Tigers interview Omar Vizquel, he has managed for 2 years, 2 different teams & leagues in the White Sox Minor League System.
I think he would be the man to lead the Tigers next contender myself.
Rabelo left the Tigers and became an MLB coach for the Pirates after the Tigers fired Mankiewicz (Toledo mgr.) and hired Tom Prince from the Pirates to manage the Hens rather than move Rabelo up. While I would love to see Rabelo be considered for the job because he knows the young Tiger players and was successful in A and AA, I think that bridge may have been burned.
“If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying” “If you aren’t first, you are last”
“Second place” means you are the first-place loser!
Before he was GM, Hawk was the broadcaster and LaRussa was the manager. I clearly remember Hawk constantly making fun of LaRussa for looking at computer printouts in the dugout. LaRussa was one of the first to use analytics, (not withstanding what he did later on).
That being said, I’m still against his hire.
I fail to see how Hinch is offered any managerial positions in the majors:
Org: What are your qualifications?
Hinch: I ‘helped’ a bunch of cheaters win a World Series.
All of his ‘success’ came with a garbage can.
The punishment should have been far more severe than what any of these guys got. Unless the Sox need to know when to hit a trash can, they can find a better manager..
Nerd,
He managed the 2015 Astros, who defeated the Yankees in the WC game and took the Royals to game five in the DS.
He managed the 2017 Astros, the 2018 ALCS Astros, and the World Series 2019 Astros.
That’s four postseason appearances in five seasons, and frankly it’s more difficult to produce a team capable of deep postseason runs four out of five years than it is to manage a team to a WS for one year.
He didn’t “help” the scheme. There’s no evidence that he did. His downfall was letting the situation get out of control, and letting the bench coach and senior player on the team have too much leverage. Once that transition of leverage occurred, and the vast majority of position players started to participate in the scheme, Hinch’s own leverage deteriorated.
Reinsdorf has been an advocate for minority hiring and I don’t see that changing when you have a team that is predominately made up of young latin players. I think you’ll see a pretty good list minority candidates interviewed.
I agree. There is no reason a guy like Sandy Alomar Jr shouldn’t be interviewed.
White Sox made a bold move firing Renteria. He might be a finalist for Manager of the Year. LaRussa would be an interesting hire that should be considered if Chicago believes they can win in 2021. Other than being old, why not LaRussa? Dave Duncan is one of the greatest pitching coaches ever. Look at all the careers that were turned around under his watch.
Cora being linked to two different teams and two different scandals hurts his candidacy more than Hinch’s.
I’m a Boston fan, and I would welcome Alex Cora back with open arms, it would be fun to see them include some past Red Sox players who might be good managers like Mike Lowell as Bench Coach and Jason V as pitching coach, 2021 is likely a lost season for the Red Sox so why not break in some new field management
I wonder if Bochy will sign with a team. He’s I’m sure considering a comeback
Red Sox need to sign Cora again.