Coaching Notes: McLeod, Dozier, Hillman, Rodriguez

Cubs senior vice president of player personnel Jason McLeod is departing the organization, according to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Mooney says that McLeod, whose contract is up at the end of the month, “declined an offer to remain with the Cubs.” McLeod may not be a household name, but he’s been an instrumental part of baseball’s recent history. Theo Epstein was hired to be the Cubs’ president of baseball operations in October 2011, with McLeod and Jed Hoyer coming along two weeks later. The trio, who had all previously worked together in Boston, helped build the recent Cubs dynasty that broke the century-old curse with their 2016 World Series championship. The triumvirate was broken up with Epstein’s resignation a year ago. Hoyer was then promoted from general manager to take Epstein’s place as president. Although Hoyer delayed naming a replacement GM because of the pandemic, it was recently announced that it would be Carter Hawkins, who had previously been with Cleveland. In past years, McLeod has been frequently connected to other general manager positions in rumors but had stayed in his senior VP role with the Cubs until now.

Other coaching notes from around the league…

• It was less than a year ago that Brian Dozier announced his retirement from playing, and now he wants to get right back into a dugout as a manager. In a conversation with Robert Murray of FanSided, Dozier discusses his ambitions and says, “Even though I don’t want to play anymore, I feel as if I have a lot more to give in the sense of managing. For me, I’ve always taken a lot of pride in being a leader on and off the field and learning from managers that I’ve had on things to do and not to do. I’ve always had a desire to manage.” Dozier goes on to discuss various topics related to managing, such as analytics and communication. He says that he has not yet talked to any teams about managing but wanted to put his intentions out in the open. Dozier is 34 years old, turning 35 in May, and would easily be the youngest manager in the league, if hired. (Rocco Baldelli and Luis Rojas were the youngest this year at 39.) However, there’s at least some recent precedent for a manager getting hired in his mid-30s. Baldelli was 37 when he was first hired. Kevin Cash was hired just before his 37th birthday. A.J. Hinch and Eric Wedge were both approaching their respective 35th birthdays when their hirings were first announced, Hinch with Arizona in 2009 and Wedge with Cleveland in 2002.
• The Marlins are losing a couple members of their coaching staff, per Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. Third base coach Trey Hillman and assistant hitting coach Robert Rodriguez are both leaving to pursue other opportunities. This concludes a three-year term in the organization for Hillman, who was hired before the 2019 campaign. He has some managerial experience, having been the bench boss for the Royals, as well as the NPB’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the SK Wyverns of the KBO. Rodriguez previously managed the Gulf Coast League Marlins and was promoted to the big league club prior to the 2020 season.