Potential Managerial Candidates For The Cleveland Guardians.

Candidates for Cleveland Guardians management.

Next year’s season will bring a change to the Cleveland Guardians’ dugout.

After leading the Cleveland franchise for 11 seasons, Terry Francona, 64, announced his retirement.

As a manager, Francona worked for 23 years. He joined the Philadelphia Phillies in 1997 and played for them for four years.

As Boston Red Sox manager for eight years, Francona. His Red Sox captured World Series titles in 2004 and 2007.

The Cleveland Indians appointed Francona as their manager in 2013.

Francona, who is almost certainly going into the Hall of Fame, won the American League Manager of the Year award with Cleveland in 2013, 2016, and 2022.

Start Of The Look For A Successor.

As is the case whenever a managerial position becomes available, there is a lot of discussion about a potential successor.

There appear to be three categories of candidates to this observer.

The first group consists of Cleveland Guardians staff members.

The second group consists of knowledgeable former big league managers.

A list of “managers in waiting” from other major league clubs is in the third group. Those are coaches who will soon have their own dugout.

Personnel from the Guardians:.

The best internal candidates, in this scout’s opinion, are:.

Coach for third base, Mike Sarbaugh.

DeMarlo Hale is the bench coach.

Manager of the Columbus Clippers’ Triple-A team, Andy Tracy.

This author believes that in order to replace Francona, the club will look outside of the organization.

The aforementioned staff members are capable, but the Guardians may want someone with a fresh perspective—someone with new concepts, ideas, and a completely new appearance.

Experienced Managers:.

This author finds two former major league managers intriguing.

The Guardians choosing a seasoned manager, however, seems unlikely.
They may struggle because of their advanced age or low salaries.

Don Mattingly, 62 years old, is the Toronto Blue Jays’ bench coach right now.

Mattingly, a former first baseman for the All Stars, managed the Miami Marlins for seven years before spending five years in charge of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has overseen 1,839 contests.

Mattingly, a student of the game, would flourish in the welcoming front office atmosphere of the Guardians.

According to this author, Terry Francona, who was hired by the Red Sox, and Mattingly are similar people.

For a young team still getting to know the rules of the game, Mattingly’s experience as a manager of a major league team may be priceless.

Joe Maddon, 69 years old, is currently not managing.

The Guardians are a young team, so Joe Maddon might be the best manager for them.

In 1996, Maddon started working as a manager for the California Angels. He worked for Los Angeles for two years before signing a contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2006.
Prior to managing the Chicago Cubs from 2015 to 2019, he spent nine years as manager of the Rays.

In 2020, Maddon rejoined the Angels, where he remained until 2022, when he was fired in the middle of the campaign.

Maddon maintains a fun and relaxed atmosphere in his clubhouse.
Due to his close bond with his players, he is referred to as a “players manager”.

To put it briefly, Mattingly and Maddon might not both fit the Guardians’ ideal candidate.
However, this author believes that both would prosper in Cleveland.

Managers Awaiting:.

The potential baseball players on this scout’s list who are awaiting their opportunity to manage are as follows:.

The Texas Rangers’ bench coach, Will Venable, is 40 years old.

While working with the staffs of both the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers, former player Venable gained extensive managerial knowledge and data.

Venable possesses all the skills the Guardians need to advance their team, including intelligence and the ability to speak clearly.

Venable has most recently supported Bruce Bochy, who serves as a fantastic example for a future big league captain.

-Tony Mansolino, 41, third base coach for the Baltimore Orioles.

Mansolino is well-known to the Guardians and possesses all the qualities of a good manager due to his experience as a coach for Cleveland.

He is now working with a young, constantly improving Baltimore team that is a playoff contender in Major League Baseball.

Baseball fundamentals are a specialty of Mansolino’s.

Cleveland would benefit from having a manager who is familiar with the Guardians’ system and has already achieved what the Guardians are trying to do, given their similarity to the Orioles.

Bench coach for the Houston Astros, Joe Espada, 48.

Joe Espada, the bench coach for Dusty Baker, has long been a candidate for the MLB managerial job.

Espada is qualified to manage his own dugout because of his experience playing the game as a middle infielder.

Espada got a close-up look at one of baseball’s most accomplished managers while watching Dusty Baker oversee the Astros.

-Clayton McCullough, 43 years old, is the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first base coach.

A former minor league catcher for the Cleveland Indians, McCullough.

McCullough did, however, pick up the renowned Cleveland pitching approach and learn how to manage pitchers. He is a highly regarded coach for the incredibly successful Dodgers organization and is well-known to the front office in Cleveland.

48-year-old Detroit Tigers bench coach George Lombard.

A J Hinch, the well-liked Tigers manager, has George Lombard as his top assistant.
Hinch has a long history of learning the game and using metrics to his advantage as a manager.

Lombard meets the criteria for a potential manager who is proficient in using all of baseball’s statistical resources.

Craig Albernez, a 40-year-old bullpen and catching coach for the San Francisco Giants.

The Giants have granted the Guardians permission to speak with Craig Albernez, the team’s catching and bullpen coach.

When he was managing the Tampa Bay Rays’ Class-A Bowling Green team, Albernez won the Midwest Manager of the Year award in 2018.

As potential managers, Albernez and former catcher Stephen Vogt have drawn a lot of attention.

Summary:.

A lengthy list of prospective managers for the Cleveland Guardians’ Terry Francona replacement has probably been compiled.
Probably none of them were mentioned above.

The front office of the Guardians will likely place a lot of value on being comfortable using baseball-related statistical metrics.

Any of the individuals on the aforementioned list, in the opinion of the author, would be respectable additions to a team that values baseball knowledge, intelligence, communication abilities, and integrity within its ranks.

The Cleveland Guardians’ search for a new manager has only just begun, though, at this point.
There will be more conjecture.