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Cardinals Name Daniel Descalso Bench Coach

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The Cardinals announced Monday that they’ve hired former infielder Daniel Descalso as their new bench coach. Last year’s bench coach Joe McEwing will join the Cardinals’ front office as a special assistant to president of baseball operations John Mozeliak. The Cardinals still expect to make further additions to the coaching staff this winter, the team noted.

Descalso, 37, spent five years in a Cardinals uniform from 2010-14 and appeared in parts of 10 MLB seasons between St. Louis, Colorado, Arizona and Chicago (Cubs). He spent the 2023 season as a special assistant in the Diamondbacks’ baseball operations department. This will be his first professional coaching assignment.

It’s the third time in the past two offseasons the Cardinals have effectively installed one of their former players as manager Oli Marmol’s bench coach. The Cards briefly hired Matt Holliday in that role last November, but Holliday had a change of heart just months after being appointed to the post, citing a desire to spend more time with his family as the primary reason for his resignation. Holliday spent eight years playing for the Cards, of course. McEwing, meanwhile, played for the Cardinals in both 1998 and 1999. As with Descalso, Holliday was slated to be a first-time coach with the Cardinals. McEwing had spent more than a decade on the White Sox’ coaching staff.

In 1079 Major League games, Descalso tallied just shy of 2900 plate appearances and posted a .235/.320/.362 batting line. He played every position on the diamond other than catcher and center field, with the bulk of his time coming at second base, third base and shortstop (in that order).

Matt Holliday Resigns As Cardinals’ Bench Coach; Joe McEwing Hired As Replacement

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The Cardinals announced Thursday that Matt Holliday has resigned from his position as the team’s bench coach. He’ll be replaced by Joe McEwing, who’s spent the past 15 years on the White Sox’ coaching staff. It’s a surprising announcement, given that Holliday was only hired to the post back in early November. Both Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Katie Woo of The Athletic suggest that Holliday’s decision came down to a matter of wanting to spend more time with his family (Twitter links).

Holliday, 43 this weekend, played in the big leagues from 2004 to 2018, donning a Cardinals uniform for much of that time. It thus made for an exciting return to the franchise when it was reported in November that he would take over the bench coach job that was left vacant when Skip Schumaker left to become manager of the Marlins.

However, with Spring Training now just over the horizon, it appears that Holliday has had a change of heart. Instead of returning to the MLB life of constantly being on the move from roughly January/February through October/November, he will choose a less-nomadic path and spend more time with his family. Holliday has four children with the eldest of those four, Jackson Holliday, having just been selected by the Orioles with the first overall pick in the 2022 draft.

As for McEwing, 50, he spent some time with the Cardinals as a player back in 1998 and 1999. He went on to suit up for the Mets, Royals and Astros. He’s since transitioned into coaching, starting in the minor leagues of the White Sox system in 2008. He jumped up to the big league team for the 2012 season, spending time as third base coach and bench coach through 2022.

White Sox To Part Ways With Hitting Coach Frank Menechino

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The White Sox landed on their new manager yesterday, agreeing to a contract with Pedro Grifol. The team hasn’t officially announced the hiring of the now-former Royals bench coach, but Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets they’ll do so tomorrow.

With Grifol replacing Tony La Russa, the Sox are expected to overhaul their coaching staff. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported yesterday that a number of coaches weren’t being asked back, and reports last night indicated that Charlie Montoyo was joining the staff as bench coach. The status of La Russa’s bench coach, Miguel Cairo, remains unclear, but a few other members of the staff are known to be departing the organization.

Hitting coach Frank Menechino and catching instructor Jerry Narron will not return in 2023, reports James Fegan of the Athletic. That’s also true of third base coach Joe McEwing, as first reported by Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Previous reports have suggested that pitching coach Ethan Katz and assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler would be retained. The futures for Cairo, assistant hitting coach Howie Clark and first base coach Daryl Boston haven’t been publicly revealed, but Fegan suggests the departures could go beyond Menchino, McEwing and Narron.

Of the known departures, none figures to be more significant than that of Menechino. The 51-year-old has been the hitting coach on the South Side for the past three seasons. He’d also spent two years as the hitting coach of the Marlins and coached in the Yankees and Chicago farm systems. He’d held the hitting coach position under both Rick Renteria and La Russa.

The White Sox were a generally successful offensive team during Menechino’s tenure. Dating back to the start of the 2020 campaign, they rank ninth in run-scoring and park-adjusted hitting (105 wRC+). The 2022 results were more middle-of-the-pack, though, with Chicago finishing 19th in runs. They ranked 18th with a .310 on-base percentage and a .387 slugging mark, and only the Tigers drew fewer walks.

As with any coach, Menechino certainly doesn’t deserve all the credit for the club’s above-average 2020-21 success nor all the blame for their disappointing 2022 numbers. Still, it’s not uncommon for an incoming manager to make some adjustments to the coaching staff, and it seems likely the Sox will hope a new voice can coax a bit more patient offensive approach. Chicago’s roster is built around a number of aggressive hitters, but the team finished with the second-highest rate of chases on pitches outside the strike zone while checking in closer to average at swinging at pitches within the zone.

Turning to the other staff changes, McEwing and Narrow are both longtime big league coaches. McEwing has coached in the Sox organization since 2008 and has been on the MLB staff since 2012. He spent a few years as bench coach between stints coaching third base. Narron has previously been a bench coach in Arizona and Boston. He’d been on Chicago’s staff for the past two seasons.

The Angels’ Managerial Search

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We’re tracking all of the managerial hiring situations around the league with team-specific posts, and it’s time to introduce one for the Angels. Mike Scioscia just wrapped up a 19-year tenure with the organization that included a whopping ten-year, $50MM contract — a managerial pact that’s still without compare.

As of late last week, the Halos were wrapping up their first round of chats with potential candidates, as Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group reported. At least ten candidates were slated for an early look, with the remainder of the process — and the identities of most names under consideration — largely unknown.

There still aren’t a ton of names available, but we learned more about the club’s approach from MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). Beyond reviewing resumes and speaking with candidates, the Angels front office is said to be “administering [a] 2-hour written test to managerial candidates” that poses “questions spanning analytical, interpersonal and game-management aspects of the job.” Needless to say, that’s an interesting process.

Here’s the latest on individual candidates:

Latest Update – 10/20

  • The Angels have interviewed Rays major league field coordinator Rocco Baldelli, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports and Fletcher confirms. Baldelli’s among 10 candidates who interviewed during the first round of the process, per Fletcher, though he reports there are only six confirmed names (Baldelli, Vizquel, Chavez, Ausmus, Espada and Hyde). While it’s unknown which candidates have stood out to the Angels thus far, Fletcher writes that they could name their next manager by Monday.

Earlier Update — 10/18

  • Longtime big league infielder Omar Vizquel interviewed for the position but is no longer in consideration to be hired, per Venezuelan journalist Efrain Zavece on his podcast (Twitter link; hat tip to MLB.com’s Maria Guardado). The 51-year-old Vizquel previously served as the Tigers’ first base coach (under fellow Halos managerial candidate Brad Ausmus) and has spent the past two seasons managing in the White Sox’ minor league ranks.

Previous updates below…

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Latest On Mets’ Managerial Opening

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SUNDAY: Long and McEwing are now out of the running for the job, per Newsday’s Marc Carig, who suggests that Acta and Callaway look like the top candidates at the moment (on Twitter). However, Sherman tweets that Acta is also out of contention, adding that there are “strong indications” the Mets will go with Callaway. They’ll announce their choice Monday, according to Sherman (Twitter links).

FRIDAY: The Mets are aiming to wrap up their managerial search this weekend with the hope of announcing a new hire before the World Series begins next Tuesday, and they’ve identified current Mets hitting coach Kevin Long and Mariners third base coach Manny Acta as the top two candidates, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. Long has been perceived to be the favorite for much of the search, per Sherman, but Acta made a strong impression and is now viewed as a “legitimate possibility” as well.

New York has also interviewed the likes of Astros bench coach Alex Cora, White Sox third base coach Joe McEwing and Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway as part of the team’s ongoing search, though multiple reports have indicated that Cora is the heavy favorite to become the next manager of the Red Sox. Both McEwing and Callaway are still “under consideration,” per Sherman, but he characterizes both Long and Acta as more likely options.

Acta is the only party involved in this search with prior managerial experience at the Major League level. The 48-year-old spent two and a half seasons as the Nationals’ manager from 2007-09 before the team rose to prominence in the National League East and was named manager of the Indians the following offseason. Acta has never guided a club to the playoffs, although in fairness to him, the teams he’s managed were never exactly viewed as strong postseason contenders entering the season.

In addition to his six seasons as a big league manager, Acta has managed in the Dominican Winter League and managed the Dominican Republic’s team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Acta carries nearly a decade of Major League coaching experience as well — two years of which came as the Mets’ third base coach under Willie Randolph. A native of the Dominican Republic, Acta’s fluency in Spanish would be beneficial in communicating with Latin American players on the Mets’ roster.

Long, 50, has never managed in the Majors but has experience doing so at the minor league level. He also brings to the table 11 seasons as a Major League hitting coach (2007-14 with the Yankees, 2015-17 with the Mets). The New York Post’s Mike Puma has previously reported that Long “has earned the confidence of team officials for his communication skills and grasp of analytics,” though by all accounts that report came prior to Acta’s interview. Long’s contract expires on Oct. 31, though Sherman notes that he has been promised a job for the 2018 season, as has assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler.

Notably, Sherman adds that Dusty Baker, who will not return as the Nationals’ manager in 2018, “almost certainly will not become” part of the Mets’ search for a new manager after the Nats announced their decision to move on earlier this morning.

Mets Complete Five First-Round Managerial Interviews

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The Mets formally removed Terry Collins from his post as manager earlier this month, shifting him to a front office role and embarking on a search to replace the longest-tenured manager in franchise history. Since that time, they’ve been connected to a flurry of names, some speculatively and others more definitively. Reportedly, the Mets began interviewing candidates earlier this week.

As we’ve done with the Tigers, Phillies, and Red Sox, we’ll house all of the managerial chatter for the Mets in one place and update accordingly as candidates either further their case or are removed from consideration. Here’s where the Mets’ search stands, at present:

Latest Updates

  • The Mets appear to have wrapped up their first round of interviews, per Marc Carig of Newsday (via Twitter). New York doesn’t have plans to meet with Indians coach Sandy Alomar Jr., though Mike Puma of the New York Post hears Alomar or even other candidates could conceivably still enter the picture.
  • What is clear at this point is that there’s a slate of five candidates to have completed first-round interviews: Joe McEwing, Kevin Long, Alex Cora, Mickey Callaway, and Manny Acta. As Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald writes, though, the expectation remains that Cora will end up getting the Red Sox’ job, which would potentially knock the field back to four. There’s no indication as of yet as to which of these candidates will be brought back for a second meeting, though Puma says that process will begin next week.

Will Interview/Have Interviewed

  • White Sox bench coach Joe McEwing has had his interview, as Mike Puma of the New York Post recently reported (via Twitter).  The former big league utilityman has been in the Chicago organization since 2008, working as a minor league coach and manager before being promoted to the big league coaching staff; McEwing served as the bench coach last season after five years as the Sos third base coach.
  • Mets hitting coach Kevin Long has interviewed for the position, as Mike Puma of the New York Post first reported. Long has minor league managerial experience in addition to 11 seasons as a Major League hitting coach (2007-14 with the Yankees, 2015-17 with the Mets). Long, Puma writes, has earned the trust of the Mets’ front office with his communication skills and grasp of analytics. He’s not currently signed beyond the 2017 season. [Update: Long has had his interview, Newsday’s Marc Carig tweets.]
  • ESPN’s Marly Rivera reports that Astros bench coach Alex Cora is part of the Mets’ first wave of managerial interviews (Twitter link). Cora has experience managing in winter ball in addition to his current role as Houston’s bench coach and is a coveted managerial candidate; he’s also reportedly set for an interview with the Tigers and has been connected to the Red Sox as well.
  • The Mets sat down with Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway on Wednesday, per Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter). Previously, we had learned that the team was “expected to show interest” in Callaway, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted. Callaway is regarded as one of the game’s best in his current role, but he’s beginning to garner managerial interest around the game as well.
  • New York is also interviewing Manny Acta, per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). Acta is currently the Mariners’ third base coach — a position he once held with the Mets — and has previously skippered the Nationals and Indians.

Not in the Mix/No Longer in Consideration

  • While the Mets had “serious interest” in recently dismissed Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, according to Peter Gammons (Twitter link), that was evidently not reciprocal. Ausmus has decided not to pursue the position. Former White Sox skipper Robin Ventura, too, is said not to have much interest in the opportunity. (Ventura tells Puma that he was not specifically rejecting interest from the Mets. Rather, he is “not pursuing any of the [current managerial] openings,” he says.) Likewise, Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren and A’s third base coach Chip Hale aren’t under consideration, per Marc Carig of Newsday. Those potential candidates were among the preliminary names under consideration, as listed by Carig (with FanRag’s Jon Heyman, the New York Post’s Mike Puma, and Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News also reporting).
  • One other previously cited possibility, Indians first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr., is not presently scheduled to meet with the team as it moves to second-round interviews, Carig tweets. But it’s at least theoretically possible still that he or others could yet be considered, Puma writes.
  • Carig reports that the Mets don’t have interest in pursuing recently fired Red Sox skipper John Farrell (Twitter link).
  • Rays third base coach Charlie Montoyo, who had previously been rumored to be in the mix for the job, is not a consideration according to Puma (on Twitter).

The Tigers’ Managerial Search

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The Tigers were the first team to cut ties with their manager at season’s end, announcing with less than a week of the regular season to play that Brad Ausmus would not return as the team’s skipper. Ausmus was allowed to finish out the season at the helm — though Ian Kinsler was allowed to manage the team on the final day — but since the announcement, there have been plenty of names flying around in connection with the new job opening.

In an effort to consolidate the myriad reports on Detroit’s managerial vacancy into one place, we’ll track preliminary candidates, those that have interviewed and those that are no longer in the running all in this post and update accordingly as the search progresses.

Will Interview/Have Interviewed

  • Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez has also interviewed for the Tigers’ opening, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman, who also notes that Detroit’s search is down from an initial list of 50 to 10 candidates. Heyman initially identified Rockies bench coach Mike Redmond as a candidate (as noted below), and he now confirms that Redmond has indeed interviewed for the post.
  • Ron Gardenhire is on the list of the Tigers’ upcoming interviews and is a “strong candidate,” according to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. Fenech notes that the Tigers will face some competition, namely from the Red Sox, however. There are those who feel that Avila will ultimately hire a younger manager to handle a younger team, per Fenech, though Fenech also adds that he polled a number of industry contacts that feel Gardenhire is capable of connecting with a young group regardless of age.
  • ESPN’s Marly Rivera reports that the Tigers will interview Astros bench coach Alex Cora as part of their first wave of external interviews (Twitter link). Cora is an in-demand managerial candidate, as he’s already been linked to the Mets and Red Sox. An interview doesn’t seem likely to take place while Cora’s Astros are still playing in the postseason, one wouldn’t think.
  • MLB.com’s Jason Beck has previously reported that the Tigers will interview Marlins bench coach Fredi Gonzalez and White Sox third base coach Joe McEwing. Gonzalez, of course, has recently served as the Marlins’ manager as well as the manager of the Braves. McEwing doesn’t have big league managerial experience, but he’s come up as a candidate in years past and has been connected to the Mets already as well.
  • Fenech reported early this month that the Tigers have already conducted interviews with a trio of in-house candidates: hitting coach Lloyd McClendon, first base coach Omar Vizquel and third base coach Dave Clark. McClendon has had multiple big league stints as a manager, with the Pirates (2001-05) and the Mariners (2014-15).

Preliminary Candidates (Interview Status Still Unknown)

  • The Tigers are interested in Red Sox first base coach Ruben Amaro Jr., according to FanRag’s Jon Heyman. Amaro is obviously best known as the former GM of the Phillies, but he’s interested in managing and now has two years of experience on a big league staff to go along with an understanding of the day-to-day operations of a front office. As Heyman notes, he’s an outside-the-box candidate, but the Tigers are known to be casting a wide net.
  • Heyman has also previously reported that the Tigers have interest in Rockies bench coach Mike Redmond. The longtime backup catcher for the Marlins and Twins, Redmond is also a former Marlins manager but has yet to get a second opportunity to manage at the big league level.
  • Jon Morosi of MLB.com has previously listed Angels bench coach Dino Ebel and Royals catching instructor Pedro Grifol as managerial possibilities in Detroit. Heyman, meanwhile has previously linked them to Rays third base coach Charlie Montoyo.

Central Notes: Brewers, Tigers, McCutchen, Kluber

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Second base is “a position we’re going to have to take a long look at,” Brewers GM David Stearns said during the team’s end-of-season meeting with reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).  Jonathan Villar’s struggles required the Brew Crew to trade for Neil Walker in August, and now with Walker headed for free agency and Eric Sogard (another free agent) perhaps best suited for utility duty, a decision will need to be made about giving Villar another chance or perhaps looking for another addition.  Starting pitching is another need given the uncertainty surrounding Jimmy Nelson’s return from a labrum procedure, though manager Craig Counsell said it was too early to consider whether Josh Hader could be moved into a rotation role.

Here’s more from both the NL and AL Central…

  • The Tigers will interview Marlins third base coach Fredi Gonzalez and White Sox bench coach Joe McEwing this week about the managerial vacancy, MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports.  Angels bench coach Dino Ebel is also on Detroit’s list of candidates, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets.  Several other internal (coaches Lloyd McClendon, Omar Vizquel, Dave Clark) and external (Phil Nevin and Charlie Montoyo) have already been linked to the Tigers’ search, which reportedly began with around 50 names in consideration.
  • Andrew McCutchen is the key figure of this Pirates offseason, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, as the team faces a big decision about trading the long-time star outfielder.  Dealing McCutchen would essentially mark the end of an era for the franchise, though it would free up $14.5MM in payroll for 2018 (Brink rightly figures McCutchen’s club option is sure to be exercised by the Pirates) that could then be used to fill other roster holes.  McCutchen turns 31 next week and is coming off a solid 2017 season that revived his value following a very disappointing 2016 campaign.
  • Corey Kluber was a promising but unheralded young arm in the Padres farm system when he was acquired by the Indians in July 2010, as Cleveland.com’s Bud Shaw revisits the trade that gave the Tribe its ace.  Kluber was acquired as part of a three-team deal that saw the Cardinals send Ryan Ludwick to the Padres, while St. Louis picked up Jake Westbrook from Cleveland and Nick Greenwood from San Diego.  Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti, then the team’s GM, said they received good scouting reports and “great analytical information” on Kluber that caught their interest, but “at the same time, no one sat there and said we were trading for a future Cy Young winner. We had no idea.”

East Notes: O’s, Hellickson, Mets, Cabrera, Phillies

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Although the Orioles need multiple starting pitchers, they’re unlikely to re-sign Jeremy Hellickson, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com relays. Hellickson, whom the O’s acquired from Philadelphia in July, told Kubatko and other reporters that he has “loved” his time in Baltimore. The 30-year-old hasn’t looked like part of the solution since the trade, though, having pitched to an ugly 6.97 ERA with just 31 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings (10 starts). And manager Buck Showalter seems prepared to lose Hellickson, saying: “I’m sure he’s got some things planned for next year as a free agent. I know what he was like in Tampa. Nobody’s the same three or four years later. Everybody changes somewhat. I’m not going to get into some of the challenges that I think he’s faced here and this season. Hopefully, he’ll get them behind him and be a good pitcher for somebody next year.”

More from Baltimore and two other East Coast cities:

  • The Mets are “nearly certain” to pick up infielder Asdrubal Cabrera’s option for 2018, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes. Whether to bring back Cabrera amounts to a $6.5MM decision for the Mets, who must choose between exercising the $8.5MM option or buying him out for $2MM. Cabrera, 32 in November, has posted solid production during his two years as a Met, including his respectable .273/.346/.422 batting line in 530 plate appearances this season. He has also played upward of 30 games this year at second base, shortstop (a position that now belongs to Amed Rosario) and third base.
  • Phillies manager Pete Mackanin continues to lobby for the team’s front office to acquire starting pitching in the offseason. “I think it would behoove us to get a bona fide starting pitcher,” Mackanin said Wednesday, adding that “I think we need a stabilizer at the top” (via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). The Phillies aren’t close enough to contention to vie for the absolute best soon-to-be free agent starters – Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta – notes Zolecki, who suggests that second-tier hurlers such as Alex Cobb, Lance Lynn and Jhoulys Chacin are more realistic possibilities.
  • Adding a left-handed bat will be an offseason priority for the Orioles, especially with outfielder Seth Smith likely to depart via free agency, according to Kubatko. Smith and Chris Davis have been the only lefty-swinging regulars this year for a Baltimore team that has managed a middling .260/.313/.436 line against right-handed pitchers.
  • Former Mets utilityman Joe McEwing has emerged as a potential successor to soon-to-be-ousted manager Terry Collins, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. McEwing, who played with the Mets from 2000-04, has been a coach in the White Sox’s organization since 2008. He served as their third base coach from 2012-16 before earning a promotion to bench coach prior to this season.
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