Pirates Make Changes To Coaching Staff
The Pirates have fired third base coach Rick Sofield and reassigned first base coach Nick Leyva, per a team announcement. Leyva will take over as a senior advisor for baseball operations.
“It was a difficult decision, but we felt it was the right time to make this change on our Major League staff,” said general manager Neal Huntington (Twitter link via Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
It was only a year ago that Sofield was in serious contention for the Padres’ managerial job, for which he was reportedly the favorite at one point. That position ultimately went to Andy Green, leaving Sofield to return to the Pirates for what proved to be his fourth and final year on manager Clint Hurdle’s staff. The 59-year-old Sofield, who previously managed the Pirates’ Low-A affiliate in 2012, was also Pittsburgh’s baserunning and outfield coach. Under Sofield’s watch this season, Pirates baserunners made the second-most outs in the league at third base and ranked last in taking extra bases on singles and doubles, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review.
Sofield’s dismissal “blindsided” him, he told Biertempfel. “I’m heartbroken … but you’ve got to respect people doing that they think is best,” he added (Twitter link).
Sofield was the Pirates’ first base coach before switching roles with Leyva in advance of the 2015 season. Leyva had been part of Hurdle’s coaching staff since he took the helm as Pittsburgh’s skipper in 2010. Along with serving as the Pirates’ first base coach, Leyva was the club’s infield coach. In his new role, the 63-year-old will work as a minor league advisor, per Biertempfel.
Gardenhire, Sofield Are Finalists In Padres’ Managerial Search
OCT. 29: Scott Miller of Bleacher Report tweets that Sofield is now emerging as the favorite in the Padres’ search.
OCT. 28: Former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and current Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield are the two finalists for the Padres’ managerial vacancy, reports Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Gardenhire is the current favorite, Lin hears, though general manager A.J. Preller hasn’t made a final decision yet. (The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Rob Biertempfel had previously reported that Sofield “appeared to be” a finalist.) An official announcement could come either on Thursday or Monday — both of which are travel days for the two remaining World Series teams. (Major League Baseball strongly discourages clubs from announcing significant news on the days that postseason games are played.)
Gardenhire sat out the 2015 season but reportedly wants to get back into the managerial world. He has also interviewed with the Nationals, though he’s not one of the reported finalists there. Gardenhire has extensive postseason experience from his time with the Twins, having led the club to six AL Central Division titles in 13 seasons and also bringing the team to a Game 163 tiebreaker that was lost to the White Sox in 2008. However, as Lin notes, Gardenhire has a disappointing 6-21 record in the playoffs, having only captured one series victory (against the A’s in 2002).
Sofield, on the other hand, has never managed in the Majors, though he does have six seasons of minor league managerial experience. He’s served on manager Clint Hurdle’s coaching staff in each of the past three seasons for the team’s trips to the postseason. Lin notes that Sofield is known for an “energetic” style.
Whoever is hired will have the ability to bring in his own coaching staff, and Lin writes that pitching coach Darren Balsley and bench coach Dave Roberts would be candidates to join Black were he able to land the managerial gig with the Nationals. Hitting coach Mark Kotsay is a candidate to be retained, he adds.
D-Backs Triple-A manager Phil Nevin also received a second interview in San Diego but no longer appears to be in the running. Also interviewed by the Padres were former big leaguers Alex Cora and Tom Gordon, D-Backs third base coach Andy Green, newly minted Mariners skipper Scott Servais (still an assistant GM with the Angels at the time) and Kotsay. With the exception of Gardenhire and Sofield, each of the interviewees had fairly recent Major League experience as a player. (Both Gardenhire and Sofield played in the Majors as well, though Sofield’s career ended in 1981 and Gardenhire’s ended in 1985.)