The Tigers interviewed Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol for their managerial opening, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. The 50-year-old made a strong impression on Detroit higher-ups and has put himself in “the top tier of candidates,” Morosi adds.
Grifol has come up as a possibility in various managerial searches in recent seasons, including last year, when he was a finalist for the Giants’ job that eventually went to Gabe Kapler. He was also reportedly in consideration to replace Ned Yost as the Royals’ manager. The Royals eventually turned to Mike Matheny but promoted Grifol from catching/quality control coach to bench coach.
Tigers GM Al Avila has known Grifol since the late 1980’s and considered him during Detroit’s previous managerial search that eventually resulted in the hiring of Ron Gardenhire, Morosi notes. Avila is on the record as preferring a candidate with coaching or managerial experience, and Grifol fits that bill. The longtime coach has four seasons of minor-league managerial experience under his belt and has been on the Royals’ big league staff since 2013.
Grifol joins Dodgers first base coach George Lombard and Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames as candidates known to have interviewed for the Detroit vacancy.
Uh, ….
Insightful comment.
He is at a loss for words…..
Enough about the Tigers. Who’s going to be the yankees third string catcher next year? Now there’s a story.
They’re interested in teaching Refsnyder how to catch.
Matt Nokes
But seriously folks, Hensley Mullens deserves a shot to manage somewhere. Smart, affable, speaks all those languages, a minority hire; what’s not to like?
Why is it important that Meulens speaks many languages? Besides English, Spanish might be helpful (although most international players have played in the US for years as well), but every organisation has coaches who could translate. Which other language will be necessary?
Gruß,
BSHH
Might help a player who speaks Papiamento…..
Besides that, he’s just a smart guy. And I’m sure he can deal with small market media, after SF and NY. And he seems to have some cred with players. And he’s not scared by analytics.
Papiamento? Like the Tigers will go for Andrelton Simmons or Xander Bogaert?
Being able to speak Spanish in particular gives you more credibility with those players. It IS definitely a positive… should it mean you get the job? Of course not, but it’s a positive.
Agreed, very well said!
I mean it’s definitely not a negative skill to have. And despite foreign players having mostly learned English… it still seems like there might be situations where a younger kid still learning the language could definitely benefit from having a coach that speaks theirs!! At the least… it certainly doesn’t hurt. And could even potentially give them an edge in recruiting international prospects!
During Meulens years as Giants hitting coach, they won on pitching and defense, with timely hitting.
You can’t coach timely hitting and he didn’t.
Cheap up and coming manager gets the job. No reason to spend big on rebuilding team short of talent
I would much prefer someone of stronger reputation. Dodgers bench coach, Yankees bench coach, someone with experience in with a constant contender. Tampa Bay or Oakland would include experience working with a less than maximum payroll.
Someone from within the Tigers minor league system, even. KC is one of the poorest franchises in MLB when it comes to winning reputations. You need someone who the players will respect from day one, not someone who will have to earn that respect.
So even though Thames and Lombard have less experience than Grifol you want them just because they’ve worked for larger organizations?… lol even if Grifol’s the better candidate just because the other two work for Big market teams that makes them better? lol — who knows any of the 3 could be a great fit, or a bust. But it seems weird to prefer guys just based on their previous employer as opposed to what they actually bring to the table skillset wise.
Not Larger, but with a better winning tradition. Sure its an assumption, but all things being equal, experience in a winning environment is better than experience in a losing organization. I believe the skills they pick up in previous jobs is part of the skillset that they bring to the table.
Kevin Cash’s experience as a player resulted in hanging around on several teams.. and never really having “that moment”.. He officially retired while still on the interstate to become a scout.. That spot lasted less than a year before he became a bullpen coach for Terry Francona of the Indians.. Francona and Mills-ey liked him in Boston which was one of his previous stops (I think there were six during his brief and otherwise forgettable playing career).. It was while with the Indians that Cash’s true abilities revealed themselves: He could be a ML manager.. Tampa interviewed him.. had their socks knocked off and hired him.. The Rays are now in the world series.. at least partly due to Kevin Cash’s leadership and innovative thinking on baseball.. Nice story..
Royals are a losing organization???Pretty sure Grifol has a World Series Ring and AL Championship ring from being on Royals staff. Why hire a Bench Coach from a organization that has the highest payrolls in the game? Learning to do more with less is what this job is all about.
Other than a couple years, yes, the KC organization is a losing organization. How many of the last 20 seasons have had better than .500 records?
Royals have more rings in the last decade than any of those winning teams you just listed.
Donnie Kelly, please.
Where’s the unlike button on this thing?
Even though I would like the Tigers to give Mike Rabelo a shot, we should give the Tigers’ Ownership and Management credit here. They are conducting an actual managerial search and legitimate interviews. Under the previous owner, it seemed that Managers were predetermined by the owner and somewhat influenced by local sports media. The Tiger organization simply conducted faux Managerial interviews.
My hope is that the half-wit, self-centered Detroit Metro sports media has NO say. They simply have no knowledge or insight (only feigned interest) about the MLB workings.