Athletics Announce Changes To Player Development Department
The Athletics announced on Thursday that Keith Lieppman will step down from his post as director of player development and transition to a role as a special adviser to the front office. He’ll be succeeded by Ed Sprague, who has been promoted after serving as Lieppman’s assistant director for the last year.
Lieppman, 70, has become something of a legend within the Athletics organization, which he has served for nearly five decades dating to the early 1970s when the team drafted him in the second round. Between his years as a player, minor league manager, and executive, Lieppman has had his hand in decades of great Athletics baseball. He requested to step away from his position in order to spend more time with his family, recommending Sprague to replace him.
Sprague has served in the player development department for the last four seasons, first as an instruction coordinator before earning the title of assistant director for the 2019 season. He has also worked as the organization’s coordinator of on-field analytics, integrating the team’s analytic systems into the player development process. A former Major League All-Star, Sprague also served as the head coach for the University of Pacific prior to joining the Athletics.
Organizational figures like Sprague and Lieppman, who operate largely behind the scenes, often go unnoticed and under-appreciated since it’s awfully hard to quantify their contributions. Still, it seems that the Athletics’ player development department has enjoyed quite a bit of success with Lieppman at the helm. The current roster boasts a wealth of homegrown talent, including stars Matt Olson and Matt Chapman, with A.J. Puk and others on the way. Sean Manaea and Jesus Luzardo, though they were drafted by other clubs, have spent the majority of their careers with Oakland. Of course, that’s only recently: the organization has also drafted and developed stars like Barry Zito, Eric Chavez, Nick Swisher, and more.
AL West Notes: Espada, Rendon, Athletics
Astros bench coach Joe Espada has been linked to another managerial opening, as MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link) that the Giants have asked the Astros for permission to speak to Espada. This will mark the third team who has put Espada on their radar this offseason, as he has already interviewed with the Cubs and received some consideration from the Angels before Los Angeles hired Joe Maddon. At least three more teams (the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Rangers) all considered Espada for managerial vacancies last offseason, as well.
As Heyman notes, San Francisco’s list of known candidates consists of “mostly younger guys” who have never managed at the Major League level before, like the 44-year-old Espada. Gabe Kapler and Mike Matheny (who has to be interviewed for the job) are the only candidates who have been big league skippers, though Kapler is only 44 years old and Matheny is 49. Longtime Giants coach Ron Wotus, at 58, is the oldest of the candidates. It certainly seems as though Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi is looking to follow the league’s recent trend towards younger, more analytically-inclined dugout bosses, though Zaidi said earlier this month that he was going to embark on a rather extensive search, so more candidates could still emerge.
More from around the AL West…
- Anthony Rendon in a Mariners uniform? It isn’t like to happen via free agency this offseason, though it was almost a reality back in 2011 when the M’s heavily scouted Rendon as the second overall pick in the draft, The Athletic’s Corey Brock writes (subscription required). “Going into the draft, [Rendon] was probably the player a lot of people thought we were going to take…and we did, too,” then-general manager Jack Zduriencik said. The Mariners had other players on their radar, however, and as draft day approached, Danny Hultzen eventually emerged as the pick. While selecting the highly-touted Hultzen was a perfectly respectable choice at the time, it ended up being a critical miss for Seattle —- Hultzen battled injuries throughout his career and only made his MLB debut this season, as a reliever for the Cubs. Rendon, of course, has gone onto stardom, as have several other players from what now looks like a stacked draft class. Rendon was the sixth overall pick, and Trevor Bauer (3rd), Francisco Lindor (8th), Javier Baez (9th), and George Springer (11th) also went in the top half of the first round.
- The Athletics have promoted Ed Sprague to director of player development, as per a team press release (Twitter link). Sprague will take over from Keith Lieppman, who has served in the role for the last 28 seasons as part of a 49-year run in the organization. Lieppman will become a special advisor to the player development department. Sprague, perhaps best known as a starting third baseman for the Blue Jays during his 11-year playing career, has worked in Oakland’s front office for the past four years.
Blue Jays’ Managerial Search Enters Second Round
Since announcing the departure of manager John Gibbons, the Blue Jays have begun their search for a new skipper as they look to return to contention for the first time since back-to-back playoff appearances in 2015 and 2016. The search is now well underway, with the Jays narrowing a broad list of candidates to a smaller group that warrants closer consideration.
As of Oct. 18, the Blue Jays were “believed to be down to five candidates,” per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. He cited Astros bench coach Joe Espada, Rays field coordinator Rocco Baldelli, Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde and Giants director of player development David Bell as finalists, though Bell’s name is obviously no longer in play since he’s been hired by the Reds as their new manager. Here’s where things presently stand…
Latest Update – October 23
- Rays bench coach Charlie Montoyo interviewed with the Jays today, per Fancred’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). It’s not clear if it was a second interview and Montoyo had already emerged as one of the reported finalists or if the Jays set up additional interviews after the Reds hired Bell (a reported Jays finalist) away. That brings the Blue Jays to 15 or more candidates interviewed for the managerial vacancy.
Full summation of the Blue Jays’ managerial search below: