The Diamondbacks are promoting farm director Shaun Larkin to the major league staff as the third base coach, per Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. He will replace Tony Perezchica, who departed last month to take the third base job with the Astros.
Larkin, 45, played for Cleveland in the minors from 2002 to 2007, topping out at Triple-A without getting the call to the majors. Torey Lovullo coached and managed in the minor league system of that club during that time, later winding his way to managing the Diamondbacks. Larkin eventually pivoted to the non-playing portion of his career, spending eight years working with the Dodgers as a coach and coordinator in the minor leagues.
The Snakes plucked him away a year ago, hiring him as director of player development and reuniting him with Lovullo. It seems he and the organization have a good relationship, based on today’s news. “He’s always told us he wanted to get on the field,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen says, per Piecoro. “This has always been sort of the long-term plan. When T.P. left, this seemed like the right time, the right fit, to match everything up.”
Piecoro adds that Larkin was a candidate for a job in the Cardinals front office last month, prior to Perezchica’s departure, but Larkin ended up staying with the Diamondbacks and will now get to join a big league coaching staff.
Larkin’s previous job will be taken by Chris Slivka, who was his assistant this past year. “He’s got really good leadership skills and he’s got great relationships in the clubhouse,” Hazen says of Slivka. “This was always the long-term plan to have Chris be in a position to take over for Lark. It came a little quicker than we thought, but he’s ready for it. He’ll be great.” Piecoro notes that the 31-year-old Slivka started with the D’Backs as an intern nine years ago, moving to scouting and analyst roles in the years since.
“Farm Director” to “3rd Base Coach” kinda feels like a demotion, right?
MLB farm director usually pays much less than MLB base coach. Directors of actually crop farms make 5x what a baseball farm director makes.
Maybe he just wants to put on a uniform again. Maybe he has aspirations of managing. Maybe he just wants to be on a MLB field and in/around a clubhouse.. Who knows? Personal preference and I wish the guy the best.
It seems to me that “farm director” carries far more responsibility and headache than MLB 3rd base coach. And MLB 3b coach has far more money and glamor.
A bad hire at farm director can really set a franchise back, right? Sure a 3b coach can screw up, but how many times per season will such a pivotal decision arise?
Me again.
Farm Director seems like a year-round job.
How exactly should he prepare for his job as MLB 3b coach? It seems to me that he could probably do absolutely nothing until a week before spring training starts.
Then he could read books and articles and watch videos on 3b coaching. And learn whatever he can about all of his players and the various outfield arms around the league. He probably has some defensive coaching responsibility, but he probably already has knowledge and experience on that.
“It seems to me” is maybe more of an insight into your own work ethic.
The higher an executive is, the less work they actually do and the more they are just a face.
How much money does either one make?
More than you think and bad decisions can cost games. The Yankees made the right move firing Phil Nevins when he was their 3B coach and too aggressive sending runners.
Farm Director and 3rd Base Coach seem like very different skillsets. Maybe he has both but seems like an incorrect promotion path from a skills perspective. More like Farm Director to Assistant GM / front office?
Welcome to the show! Nice to see a non-player get a chance at 3B.
He was a player. The article mentions his playing time.
Sounds as simple as he just wanted to get back on the ball field. Maybe he likes wearing the uniform, too.
Here is a helpful qualifier to place in front of many of the comments on this thread:
“I’m totally clueless, but I think…”