| By Jason A. Churchill |  | By 11-06-2008 |
Seattle Mariners new GM Jack Zduriencik has begun his search for a new field manager and reportedly plans on interviewing as many as nine candidates.
Those nine are expected to be, in no particular order; Chicago White Sox bench coach Joey Cora, former Mets and Rangers skipper Bobby Valentine, former Milwaukee manager Ned Yost, former Mets manager Willie Randolph, one-time Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon, former M's interim man Jim Riggleman, and three unnamed candidates.
There is speculation that Boston's Brad Mills and/or LA Angels' Ron Roenicke may be among the three unnamed candidates.
My question about all of this is, does it matter? Is there much of a chance that the next Mariners manager is the guy at the helm when the team is contending again in 2011?
managerial-search
Comments
The following 34 comment(s) for this article are shown below:
| 1. By: starbuckdog on 11-06-2008 12:50:06 Yes, it does matter, and I think Joe Maddon is an example of why it matters. Not that the Mariners cabinet is stocked like the Rays team that Maddon inherited, but he is clearly an example of hiring the right guy for the right situation. Maddon came in and defined Rays baseball. If you can find the guy who can do that in Seattle, he will be here in 2021, let alone 2011. |
| 2. By: Jason A. Churchill on 11-06-2008 12:51:18 If it seemed even remotely possible that the M's put together such a team by 2011, I'd agree. But there really isn't, so I'm not sure it matters to that level. Certainly it matter who you bring in, though. |
| 3. By: starbuckdog on 11-06-2008 13:14:52 No doubt that the odds are against the M's to put a contending club on the field by 2011. But the odds were also squarely against the Rays. The Angels were a mess before Scioscia. Much can change in two years, but there are so many unknown variables with this club right now. The S.S. Mariner has run aground with no Skipper and no map. Hopefully Jackie Z can reclaim the wreckage, point the ship back out to sea in the right direction and hire a Skipper with a strong but patient personality and an ability to teach young players how to play the game properly. Will this happen? Who knows. That's why this is fun, and maddening at the same time. |
| 4. By: VanillaGorilla on 11-06-2008 13:15:45 Great to have PI back, I've really missed it the last few months. thanks jason |
| 5. By: Jason A. Churchill on 11-06-2008 13:21:26 Let's not compare the 2007 Rays to the 2009 Mariners -- there is no comparison. The ONLY surprise with Tampa is that the team came together a year or so sooner than most thought it would. Seattle still had to gather the talent. When Maddon was hired, most of that talent was already there. Re: Gorilla No, thank you! Seriously. I do this for two reason; 1. I love it, but I love it because... 2. Others enjoy it, too. |
| 6. By: jp1717 on 11-06-2008 14:37:08 Of the known candidates do you have a preference? |
| 7. By: Blowgun7 on 11-06-2008 14:37:12 What do you know about these candidates Jason? Valentine doesnt seem like a logical choice for a team that will need a couple yrs to rebuild. Yost would make me upset. Brewers fans hated this guy even when they were winning. McClendon and Riggleman are both good guys, but retreads. Randolph lost his team in NY and isnt player friendly.. yet the players didnt respect his authority at all.. |
| 8. By: Blowgun7 on 11-06-2008 14:44:42 Jason, you said in the rosterization section, that you got ideas for trading Ichiro.. what are they? And what are you hearing about that? Any chance he requests a trade? Furthermore, you hearing anything about trades for Beltre, Putz, or others? |
| 9. By: Jason A. Churchill on 11-06-2008 14:46:44 Apparently, both Mills and Farrell (each of the Red Sox) is supposedly a candidate. Mills I know very little about, except that he's very much like Francona, and I'm not sure if that is good or bad. I asked Keith Law today about the effect of a manager on a rebuilding team and his response was that it's about putting the pitchers in the right spots/roles in game situations. I don't think that means a pitching guy is the right choice for manager, but someone who can handle a staff well. Maddon is not good at that, but he leaned on his coaches enough and had enough talent elsewhere to win sooner than the general consensus expected. I don't know about Valentine's time in Japan, but judging by his time in MLB, I'm not sure he's any good with young players or pitchers, either. Cora is intriguing, but I have been told lately that he's not the cat he appeared to be back when Seattle's female fan base fell in love with the cry baby. Some of his teammates have told me he was quite difficult at times. McClendon and Roenicke I know nothing about. Yost wore out his welcome in Milwaukee, and isn't good handling pitchers. Randolph is horrible. It's tough to have a preference when I know so little about these guys, but of that group I'd lean Riggleman or Cora. |
| 10. By: Jason A. Churchill on 11-06-2008 15:10:52 I'll have a trade post coming up in the next few weeks, including Beltre, Putz, Washburn, Batista, Ichiro, even some of the younger players. |
| 11. By: baseballman on 11-06-2008 16:15:04 JAC, Im so happy to see the site up and running again! It looks great! Good work |
| 12. By: Stoiz on 11-06-2008 16:34:56 Holy crap!!! Clicking on my PI bookmark and having it take me to a real website just made my day. Things look awesome Jason. |
| 13. By: jonbbt on 11-06-2008 17:22:53 So glad to see this site up and running. One of my favorite stops in the Mariner blogosphere. Can't say I'm very impressed by the candidates listed so far. I would agree with some that someone who can manage the pitchers would be the best bet until a contender is put on the field. |
| 14. By: Slack on 11-06-2008 18:37:34 Jason, Great job with the site. It's good to see PI back again. As far as the manager list is concerned, I would like to see a guy who is good with younger players because rebuilding is the way to go in my book and the new GM hire makes me think thats where the M's are headed. Besides that, its not a big deal to me. |
| 15. By: bedir on 11-06-2008 19:36:53 Joey Cora made me cry ;) This might be the rare time when a AAA manager makes more sense then usual, just due to their greater ability at developing talent. |
| 16. By: Plaws on 11-06-2008 21:45:48 Farrell seems like an interesting possibility based on things I've read. Valentine has one thing that I like which is his eye for talent. That ability could be very helpful in rooting out the present roster and finding replacements, but it could be he's out of touch with American players and wouldn't have as much insight since he hasn't seen as many play lately. It might be one too many cooks in the kitchen anyway. His in-game decisions from his time here before would have driven me nuts if it'd been with the M's. If they can find the right Manager for both now and the future then it matters, but it'd make for an easier search now to find someone right for the next 2-4 years and worry about a playoff type Manager when the team is good enough to attract one. I totally agree with that. The Manager decision isn't as crucial right now as a few dozen other decisions beyond finding someone who can help the development of the young players already on the roster and ones that come up. Infrequently using starting fielders/hitters when they come up and putting young guys in position to fail in general shouldn't fly anymore. If the new coaching staff can help a few of Clement, Wlad, Lopez, Reed, Felix, Morrow, Tui, Valbuena, etc. to smooth the edges and become more valuable to the team then it seems to me they're worth Millions a year regardless of overall wins and losses. I guess most everyone here knows this anyway...I'm hoping for more of a scout/instructor type of Manager who understands splits and matchups and is willing to adjust a lineup daily if those stats support the changes. |
| 17. By: Slack on 11-06-2008 21:53:19 Is Ned Yost a possibility given the Milwaukee connection to Zduriencik? |
| 18. By: Mariner Melee on 11-06-2008 23:55:20 Glad to have you back on the blog-o-sphere Mr. Churchill. |
| 19. By: marinerdan on 11-07-2008 01:23:23 Jason, do you have any idea if the new GM can convince the current management that they need to rebuild? Also they had a payroll of $118 million, thats going to go down, we don't have that many Silva's on the team and Sexon is gone, maybe we can give away washburn, but what type of investments should the team make now on the FA market for the future, if the future is 3 years away? P.S. great to have you back giving us insight. |
| 20. By: Plaws on 11-07-2008 04:47:49 I don't like Yost at all either. Reviewing his tactics and player use made pictures of McLaren and Hargrove flash into my head. Been there, left, came back...ran in the other direction...I hope. Holy crap, does Ackley really project as a CF? That bat in CF? If so, why isn't he higher? I'd only read that he looked like a corner IF or OF, but isn't he considered the top bat in the draft with somewhat suspect position and fielding? I'm not trying to correct you just curious if the info I'd read a few places was correct and curious what more you knew? Who do you think the M's should take if #1 goes as expected? I know that some things will change over the season, but who do you think is the best choice if it were next week? I love what you guys have done with the site and want to give special appreciation to your cohort who did most of the work (from what you said). I don't recall his name...I've missed the site and your insight and am very glad that you kept working on articles while it was down so that we could all binge on the great information and thoughts you have to share. It looks and works great on my phone as well as I've been taking Prospect Insider with me on smoke breaks. |
| 21. By: Pumpkin on 11-07-2008 12:09:30 Ackley looks awesome to me too, however currently I am bigger on Green. I have heard that he reminds people of a cross between Longoria and Tulowitski. If that is true, he could solve our problem at short for years and years to come. Also I have heard that Toronto is looking to trade for a leadoff hitter. I know that it is very very unlikely that we trade Ichiro, but under the new GM is it possible? Toronto is stalked with LHP prospects, and we could use a couple of those to mix in with all our RHP prospects. Just wondering what you all thought of that? |
| 22. By: Blowgun7 on 11-07-2008 12:32:06 Of course it would be smart to trade Ichiro, but it's not happening. The Japanese ownership has tied our hands. |
| 23. By: Knuckles on 11-07-2008 12:52:17 McLendon? Seriously? I still have a man-crush on Dan Rohn, and he's the one I'd like to see get the gig. |
| 24. By: Jason A. Churchill on 11-07-2008 13:20:26 I do not think trading Ichiro is out of the question, by the way. |
| 25. By: Pumpkin on 11-07-2008 13:51:48 Just hearing the fact that trading Ichiro is not out of the question, just about made my day. |
| 26. By: skiz30 on 11-07-2008 16:35:04 Rosterization, sounds like a George W Bush word...all kidding aside, great to have Prospect Insider back. Thanks Jason |
| 27. By: Kevin on 11-07-2008 17:21:46 Great to have PI back! Thanks for making it happen Jason. So my vote is for Dan Rohn. I miss that guy :( What's he up to these days anyway? |
| 28. By: Slack on 11-07-2008 19:12:50 I like Green a lot too. But, I do think Strasburg could easily be available. The Nats couldn't sign non- Scott Boras client Aaron Crow. I wouldn't be surprised if Boras scares them off of Strasburg since he is a Boras client. I do understand that a lot can change between now and draft day. |
| 29. By: Jason A. Churchill on 11-07-2008 19:38:26 Rohn managed AAA Fresno last year. skiz, That's where I got that word! I thought "what would Bush call it?" I'm a bigger fan of Green than Ackley. |
| 30. By: jonbbt on 11-08-2008 01:48:52 I like what I've read about Grant Green as well. He looks like an absolute stud. Can't wait for the trade posts. |
| 31. By: yohnhimself on 11-08-2008 13:18:00 Willie Randolph was just hired as the Brewers' bench coach. |
| 32. By: safecochatter on 11-10-2008 15:47:36 seattle times has reported names of all 7 managerial candidates today. "none" of these names have mlb manager experience. not even yost has made the list. sure looks like an overhaul to me.. |
| 33. By: jonbbt on 11-10-2008 17:20:59 ^^ Brad Mills (BOS bench coach) Joey Cora (CHW 3rd base coach) Chip Hale (ARI 3rd base coach) DeMarlo Hale (BOS 3rd base coach) Jose Oquendo (STL 3rd base coach) Randy Ready (SD minor league manager) Don Wakamatsu (OAK bench coach) |
| 34. By: on 11-10-2008 19:10:24 I was told Yost will be interviewed, or has already this week. |
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