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COVID Notes: 7/31/21

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The latest on coronavirus situations from around baseball…

  • Marlins manager Don Mattingly has tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced (MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola was among those to report the news).  Mattingly is experiencing some mild symptoms but has been vaccinated against the coronavirus.  Bench coach James Rowson will serve as acting manager while Mattingly is absent for the mandatory quarantine period.  Tests of other Marlins personnel revealed no other positive cases.
  • Brewers right-handers Hunter Strickland and Jake Cousins both tested positive for COVID-19, manager Craig Counsell told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt (Twitter links) and other reporters.  Righty Jandel Gustave is also not available due to contact tracing.  No official moves have been made in regards to the COVID-related injured list or roster replacements, though newly-acquired relievers John Curtiss and Daniel Norris are both on hand and could be activated for tonight’s game.  Counsell said that Strickland and Cousins both reported mild symptoms, and both relievers have been vaccinated.

Managerial/Coaching Notes: Cora, Rowson, Fuld

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Alex Cora’s return as the Red Sox manager was widely predicted and even expected by some pundits, though the club’s managerial search “wasn’t a dog-and-pony show,” a source tells The Athletic’s Chad Jennings (subscription required).  Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom spoke to a wide range of candidates, and as Jennings writes, “the feeling within the organization was, if Bloom wanted someone else, ownership would support that choice.”  There was even some sentiment that Cora was initially only included in the search as “a courtesy interview,” though Bloom increasingly became convinced that Cora was the best choice to lead the club going forward.

More coaching-related notes from around baseball…

  • Marlins bench coach James Rowson was the third finalist for Boston’s managerial job, Jennings writes.  It was already reported that Cora and Phillies director of integrative baseball performance Sam Fuld were the other two finalists (and perhaps the top two choices) for the position, though it wasn’t known whether Rowson or Pirates bench coach Don Kelly was the other candidate to make the final cut.
  • Rowson’s future still looks bright, however, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes that Marlins “officials are intrigued” by their bench coach as a potential manager of the future.  Miami hired Rowson as their bench coach and something of an organizational hitting coordinator a year ago, following Rowson’s past stints as a hitting coach for the Twins and Cubs and multiple years working as a hitting instructor in the Yankees’ farm system.  Of course, the Marlins already have a manager in Don Mattingly, though Mattingly’s contract is only guaranteed through the 2021 season (with a club option for 2022).  It certainly doesn’t seem like Mattingly is in danger of being replaced any time soon, both due to Miami’s success last season and, as Rosenthal puts it, “it’s difficult to imagine them making a move with Mattingly and paying two managers at once.”  However, Mattingly is one of the few holdovers remaining from Jeffrey Loria’s ownership, so Derek Jeter could want a hand-picked manager in charge if he feels the Marlins have fully turned the corner on their rebuild.
  • Fuld may not have been the choice as Red Sox manager, but Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe wonders if the team’s interest in Fuld could make him a candidate to be the team’s next bench coach.  Fuld has never worked as a coach or manager at either the MLB or minor league levels, as his post-playing career has been spent in his current role with the Phillies.  If not Fuld as bench coach, the Sox could promote from within their current coaching staff, with Abraham suggesting Ramon Vazquez or Carlos Febles as potential candidates.

Red Sox Down To Three Managerial Candidates

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The Red Sox are beginning to narrow the list of managerial candidates they’re considering, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter). While five finalists have been previously reported — former manager Alex Cora, Phillies director of integrative baseball performance Sam Fuld, Pirates bench coach Don Kelly, Marlins bench coach James Rowson and Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza — Heyman characterizes Cora and Fuld as the favorites.

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe also suggests that the search is nearing a conclusion, reporting that Mendoza and one other finalist have been informed they’re no longer in the running. Cora and Fuld are indeed among the three remaining finalists, per Speier, who adds that a decision is expected to be made “soon.” While the widespread expectation has been that the Red Sox will simply re-hire Cora, Heyman notes that Fuld is seen as having a “very real” chance at winning the gig.

Fuld’s name was only linked to the Boston job less than a week ago, though the 38-year-old has past ties to Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom since both were members of the Rays organization (Fuld as a player, Bloom in the baseball operations department) from 2011-13. Multiple teams have expressed interest in Fuld for managerial positions in the past but he has declined interviews, so the fact that he has been speaking with the Red Sox is perhaps itself notable. Fuld was hired to his current position by former Phillies GM Matt Klentak, though since Klentak is no longer running Philadelphia’s front office, this could hint at why Fuld may now be open to exploring job opportunities on other teams.

Fuld has never worked as a coach or manager at any level, making him an interesting contrast to a World Series-winning manager like Cora. The unknown candidate, whether it’s Rowson or Kelly, would also be a first-time manager.  Rowson has worked as Miami’s bench coach for a season and over a decade of experience as a Major League hitting coach and minor league hitting instructor.  Since retiring from playing after the 2016 season, Kelly spent two season as a scout for the Tigers before moving onto coaching roles with the Astros and Pirates.

Report: Five Likely Finalists In Red Sox Managerial Search

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Of the many names interviewed for the Red Sox managerial vacancy, the field seems to have been narrowed to five.  MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports that the likely list of finalists includes Red Sox manager Alex Cora, Marlins bench coach James Rowson, Pirates bench coach Don Kelly, Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza, and a new candidate to the race — former big league outfielder Sam Fuld, currently the Phillies’ director of integrative baseball performance.

Fuld has spent the last three years in Philadelphia’s front office, and he has often been mentioned as a future manager.  Heyman’s report would suggest that Fuld has interviewed for the Boston job, which seems like an obvious step except for the fact that Fuld has declined multiple opportunities to interview for managerial positions in the past.  Just last winter, for instance, Fuld passed on talking with the Pirates, Cubs, and Mets.

With baseball’s trend towards hiring younger managers who are only recently retired from their playing days, Fuld checks both boxes — he turns 39 later this month and officially retired in 2017.  He doesn’t have any official coaching or managing experience, but Fuld does have something of a unique skillset in his role as a bridge between the Phils’ analytics department.  Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom also has a past relationship with Fuld, as Bloom was working in the Rays’ front office when Fuld played with Tampa Bay from 2011-13.

Reports from Saturday indicated that the Red Sox had interviewed both Kelly and Mendoza a second time, and of course there has been speculation over Cora’s potential return basically since the moment he was fired in January.  Cora’s one-year suspension for his role in the Astros sign-stealing scandal was officially up after the World Series, and the Sox wasted little time in getting in touch with their former skipper.

Latest On Red Sox Managerial Search

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The Red Sox won’t be interviewing Red Sox bench coach Matt Quatraro for their managerial vacancy. Per Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal, Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom cannot hire anyone from the Rays for a period of two years. The condition was put into Bloom’s contract when the Rays allowed him to be hired away by Boston, which certainly makes sense, given the number of Rays executives who have been poached by other organizations the past couple of years.

Expanding the agreement to include uniformed personnel also makes sense, given that the Rays and Red Sox are divisional rivals. One might imagine the Rays being more amenable to letting someone like Quatraro take a promotion with, say, the Pirates, a league away. They proved once again to be rather prescient in putting this agreement in place before letting Bloom join Boston.

Bloom has no shortage of candidates, however. James Rowson of the Marlins, Will Venable of the Cubs, Mike Bell of the Twins, Skip Schumaker of the Padres, Luis Urueta of the Diamondbacks, and Don Kelly of the Pirates are all rumored to be in the mix. And while none of those names carry the public weight of, say, Alex Cora, the rumored favorite for the position, the process is sincere, per Rob Bradford of WEEI. Bradford is quick to point out that Kevin Cash was an unknown of a similar ilk when Bloom and the Rays chose him to be their manager.

Alex Cora remains the favorite until we hear otherwise, but these other candidates have time to make an impression. Boston cannot speak with Cora until after the World Series when his suspension will be lifted.

Red Sox Interview Luis Urueta, Don Kelly, Skip Schumaker, James Rowson

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6:15pm: The Red Sox have also interviewed Marlins bench coach James Rowson, Speier tweets.

5:46pm: The Red Sox have asked the Twins for permission to interview their bench coach, Mike Bell, according to Speier.

3:33pm: Boston has also interviewed Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker, Kevin Acee of the San Diego-Union Tribune tweets.

10:45am: The Red Sox interviewed Diamondbacks bench coach Luis Urueta for their vacant managerial post last week, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reports. It’s the second time in the past year that Urueta has interviewed for the position. He was also a candidate after Alex Cora was let go, although the team opted to instead stick with an internal option in Ron Roenicke, who won’t return as skipper in 2021. Meanwhile, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports that the Sox interviewed Pirates bench coach Don Kelly as well.

Urueta, 40 in January, has held his current position in Arizona for three seasons. He’s previously served as Arizona’s minor league field coordinator in addition to managing the Diamondbacks’ Rookie-level affiliate, managing in the Dominican Winter League and managing Team Colombia in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

The 40-year-old Kelly has fast risen as a popular managerial candidate after retiring as a player following the 2016 season. The longtime Tigers utilityman began working in Detroit’s player development part upon retiring and moved to their scouting staff the next year. He was hired as Houston’s first base coach for the 2018 season and hired as the Pirates’ bench coach under rookie skipper Derek Shelton last offseason.

There’s considerable speculation that Cora could return to Boston after his suspension for his role in the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal has been served. That ban runs through the current postseason. However, the Red Sox have also reportedly interviewed Cubs third base coach Will Venable and, per Heyman, could talk to Dodgers first base coach George Lombard.

Marlins To Hire James Rowson To Coaching Staff

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The Marlins are hiring James Rowson as their new bench coach and offensive coordinator, according to a tweet from ESPN’s Jeff Passan (link). His role as “offensive coordinator,” a term typically associated with the NFL, will see him implement hitting philosophies throughout various levels of the organization, per the report.

Rowson most recently served as hitting coach for the “Bomba Squad” Twins, who collected a record 307 home runs in 2019. Before his hire in Minnesota in 2017, Rowson worked with as a minor league hitting coordinator with the Cubs and Yankees, logging a few months of MLB hitting coach experience when he took over for Rudy Jaramillo in Chicago in 2012.

Rowson, a former ninth-round pick of the Mariners in the ’90s, will look to ignite a Miami offense that struggled mightily in 2019. The club’s collective .241/.298/.375 line indicated that the rebuilding Marlins failed to get on base or drive the ball with consistency, as a collection of veterans (Curtis Granderson, Martin Prado) and underperforming youngsters (Lewis Brinson, Isan Diaz) contributed to a cumulative club 79 wRC+. The Bronx-bred Rowson will, however, have above-average performers in Brian Anderson and Garrett Cooper at his disposal, while young players like Jorge Alfaro and rising prospects such as Jazz Chisholm and Jesus Sanchez all offer the potential for breakout.

Twins To Make Changes To Coaching Staff

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Following the hiring of new manager Rocco Baldelli, it seems that the Twins will make further changes to the coaching staff. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that while hitting coaches James Rowson and Rudy Hernandez will return to the organization, pitching coach Garvin Alston won’t be retained for a second season (subscription link). Moreover, bench coach Derek Shelton, the runner-up to Baldelli in the team’s search, will be allowed to interview outside the organization, per Hayes.

Beyond the decision not to retain Alston, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that bullpen coach Eddie Guardado, third base coach Gene Glynn, first base coach Jeff Smith and Major League coach Jeff Pickler won’t return to the staff in 2019. Neal adds that Shelton is interviewing for the Rangers’ managerial vacancy — specifically, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Shelton interviewed today — but the organization is hopeful Shelton will stay if he is not named the manager in Texas. Both chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine were emphatic following the hiring of Baldelli that they hoped Shelton would remain on as the bench coach.

Alston had previously served as the Athletics’ bullpen coach and was hired to work as the pitching coach under former manager Paul Molitor last season. He brought a lengthy background as a minor league pitching rehab coordinator to the Twins, having previously served in that role with both Oakland and San Diego. He had a year remaining on his contract, according to Hayes.

It’s a substantial overhaul for the Twins organization, although this type of turnover isn’t uncommon when a new manager takes over a team. Guardado, remembered fondly by many Twins fans for his time as the team’s closer, had been Minnesota’s bullpen coach since being appointed in 2014. He enjoyed a successful career as a big league reliever and brought plenty of experience and a bilingual presence to the coaching staff.

However, it wasn’t the best look for the Twins’ bullpen coach or pitching coach when in an interview with the Washington Post’s Dave Sheinen, Ryan Pressly attributed his dominance with the Astros to the manner in which the Houston organization presented him with data and the manner in which it could improve what were already solid results. Pressly’s comments and improvements alone surely didn’t lead to the decision to make changes, but they do perhaps shed some light on areas in which the Twins hope to improve their coaching staff.

Glynn, 62, has been with the Twins organization since 2012 when he was hired as the team’s Triple-A manager. He moved up to the big league staff in 2015 and spent four years as the team’s third base coach. Prior to his time in Minnesota, he served as either a third base coach or first base coach with the Rockies, Expos, Cubs and Giants in addition to working as a pro scout with the Rays and spending another couple of seasons as a minor league manager and minor league field coordinator with the Rockies.

Pickler, 42, spent two years on the Twins’ staff as a coach and coordinator of Major League development after previously serving as a player development special assistant with the Dodgers in 2015-16 and, prior to that, a pro scout with the Padres organization. Neal adds that Glynn, Guardado and Pickler were all on expiring contracts.

Smith, meanwhile, had the longest tenure in the organization. A 20th-round pick by Minnesota all the way back in 1995, he joined the Twins’ minor league coaching ranks back in 2005 and managed at three different minor league levels before joining the big league staff as a first base coach in 2017. While he won’t be on the big league staff in 2019, Hayes does report that Smith could end up in a player development role with the organization.

Twins Complete First Round Of Managerial Search

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The Twins have embarked upon a search for a new skipper after the somewhat surprising decision to remove Paul Molitor from the post. He had been a holdover appointee from the prior front office regime. The current hiring process, then, will represent the first opportunity for chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine to install their own preferred voice in the dugout.

As we have done with other openings of this kind, we’ll use this post to track the early developments in the hiring process in Minnesota.

First-Round Interviews

  • The Twins have interviewed Astros bench coach Joe Espada, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. (Fancred’s Jon Heyman had previously noted the Twins’ interest in doing so.) Espada is in his first season as Alex Cora’s successor in that role, and he’s already drawn reported interest from the Angels and the Rangers in their own managerial searches.
  • Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde has interviewed with the Twins, per 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson (Twitter link). The 45-year-old served as the Cubs’ first base coach for three years prior to ascending to bench coach. He has five years of minor league managing under his belt and has been tied to numerous managerial postings around the league.
  • Rays field coordinator Rocco Baldelli has interviewed, too, Wolfson tweets. Still just 37, he’s spent four years on the Rays’ staff since retiring as a player earlier this decade. Baldelli’s role as field coordinator was created in advance of the just-completed campaign and represented an expansion of his duties, seemingly to encompass some more forward-thinking approaches for the famously experimental organization.
  • Giants bench coach Hensley Meulens has interviewed with the Twins, per Wolfson. Meulens has been a popular candidate in previous managerial searches and has 15 years of coaching experience –mostly as a hitting coach. The Curacao native has also managed Team Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.
  • Wolfson adds that current Twins bench coach Derek Shelton has also interviewed. He has ample experience in MLB dugouts, but only just finished his first season in his current role. Hired away from the Blue Jays, where he functioned as a quality control coach, Shelton spent the prior dozen years as a hitting coach with the Rays and Indians.
  • The Twins have already held a meeting with hitting coach James Rowson, per La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. While his coaching background is somewhat specialized in the hitting arena, Rowson has obviously drawn positive attention from the front office. As Neal describes it, he’s an “ebullient” presence in the clubhouse.

Expected To Interview

  • Also per Neal, the Twins would like to host chats with recently retired David Ross. A long-time backstop, Ross played as recently as 2016, wrapping up his playing career with the World Series-champion Cubs.

Other Potential Candidates

  • The Twins at least performed some background work on Brewers bench coach Pat Murphy, Wolfson (via Twitter). Murphy is obviously tied up for the moment assisting manager Craig Counsell in the Milwaukee organization’s postseason run. The former interim Padres manager has held the Brewers bench coach position since the 2016 campaign.
  • Wolfson also tabs Indians bench coach Brad Mills as a name to watch. (Twitter link.) His prior experience with Falvey, who came over from the Cleveland front office, certainly makes Mills an obvious potential candidate. Whether he’ll be asked to interview isn’t yet known. With the Indians’ season just drawing to a close, though, that seems reasonably likely to take place.

Not Under Consideration

  • The Twins had reportedly hoped to chat with recently retired big leaguer and current MLB Network analyst Mark DeRosa, per Neal, but “DeRo” is happy in his current role and is not pursuing managerial openings despite interest from multiple clubs, per reports from Morosi and Heyman (Twitter links).

Quick Hits: Mets, Watson, Ng, Twins, Rowson, Cubs

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Few days on the sports calendar are better than the day when all four Division Series have games scheduled, and today was no exception.  We saw a pair of shutouts in both NLDS matchups, as the Brewers took a 2-0 series lead over the Rockies after a 4-0 win, while the Dodgers blanked the Braves on eight innings of two-hit ball from Clayton Kershaw.  (Incredibly, the Braves are still looking for their first run in the series as they head back to Atlanta in a 2-0 hole.)  The Astros began their World Series title defense in strong fashion with a 7-2 rout of the Indians in Game 1, while the Red Sox jumped out to an early lead and then held on to win a 5-4 nail-biter to win the first game of their showdown with the Yankees.

Here’s more from around the baseball world as we look forward to more ALDS action tomorrow…

  • The Mets will interview Nationals special assistant De Jon Watson as part of their GM search on Wednesday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (via Twitter).  Still just 52 years old, Watson has a wealth of front office experience dating back to the early 90’s, working as a scout, scouting director, assistant GM (with the Dodgers) and senior VP of baseball operations (with the Diamondbacks) before spending the last two seasons in Washington’s front office.
  • Watson joins Gary LaRocque and Doug Melvin as known candidates reportedly set for interviews with the Mets in the coming days, and Mike Puma of the New York Post adds that Kim Ng is also expected to be interviewed this week.  Ng, a former assistant GM for the Dodgers and Yankees, was recently mentioned as a potential candidate.
  • While the Mets are lining up interviews, Puma notes that some candidates have declined to be involved due to the twin perceptions that the next GM won’t have full autonomy under the Wilpon family, and that the team isn’t open to embracing analytics.  For instance, Jeff Wilpon has “indicated” the new GM will have the power to replace returning members of the front office braintrust (i.e. Omar Minaya, John Ricco, J.P. Ricciardi), though “there is heavy skepticism throughout the industry” that this would be the case.  As past reports have indicated, Fred Wilpon would prefer hiring a GM from a scouting and player development background, with one source telling Puma that “Fred would go out of his mind” dealing with an analytically-inclined GM.  Though the elder Wilpon will ultimately make the hire, however, he won’t enter the process until the final list of candidates has been determined, as Jeff Wilpon and Ricco will conduct the first round of interviews.
  • The Twins interviewed hitting coach James Rowson for their managerial vacancy today, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.  The team also has interest in Mark DeRosa and David Ross, a pair of former players-turned-TV analysts who have often been mentioned as potential future managers.  DeRosa could be on the Rangers’ radar as well this winter, and he has interviewed with the Mets and Marlins for past managerial openings in recent years.  None of the trio has any previous pro experience as a manager, as Rowson has previously only worked as a hitting coach (with the Twins and Cubs) and minor league hitting coordinator (with the Cubs and Yankees).
  • The Cubs project to be very deep in starting pitching options in 2019, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes, with the obvious caveat that several of those arms will have to rebound from injury-filled or just ineffective seasons.  “We’re not looking to get rid of starting pitchers,” president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said.  “We’re looking to have as much depth as possible so we can withstand multiple injuries.”  As the team is expected to exercise their club option on Cole Hamels, Chicago will have Hamels, Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana, swingman Mike Montgomery, Yu Darvish looking to get healthy, Tyler Chatwood looking to improve on his brutal 2018 numbers, and Drew Smyly in his first full season recovered from Tommy John surgery.  It makes for quite a surplus if all those arms are healthy and productive, though that would be a problem the Cubs would certainly be happy to face if it occurs.
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