The Twins’ decision to hire Rocco Baldelli as their new manager meant also passing over incumbent bench coach Derek Shelton and hitting coach James Rowson for the position, but both chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine were adamant in expressing their hope that Shelton and Rowson will return to the staff in 2019, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic (subscription link). “We thought all three of those men were worthy of being managers,” said Levine of the trio before adding that it’d be a “tremendous competitive advantage” to have all three on the coaching staff. Shelton, who was the runner-up to Baldelli, took the news professionally but with clear disappointment, according to Levine. “The analogy we presented to Derek (on Wednesday) that we truly believe in is, (Falvey) and I are tackling the role of general manager together,” Levine continued. “We are hopeful that he would be open-minded about tackling the leadership in our clubhouse with Rocco Baldelli.”
A few more notes on some coaching situations around the league…
- Former Reds manager Bryan Price is drawing interest around the league as a pitching coach, tweets Jerry Crasnick. Price, who was dismissed by Cincinnati in April, was a well-regarded pitching coach with the Mariners and Diamondbacks before serving in that role for the Reds. He ultimately succeeded Dusty Baker as the skipper, but didn’t find much success (not that anyone else would likely have fared much better). In all, Price has 13 years of experience as a big league pitching coach between the three organizations, so he’d bring plenty of experience to a new club in a return to that role.
- The Rangers’ meandering search for a new manager could suggest some indecisiveness on the team’s part, writes Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram. It originally appeared that the club would choose one of eight initial interviewees, but after three of that group — Joe Girardi, David Bell, and Rocco Baldelli — were eliminated, the Rangers have changed course, expanding the search and interviewing more candidates. With no decision imminent, the hiring process may not conclude until after the World Series. Among the most notable names linked to the job are Eric Chavez, Stubby Clapp, and Astros bench coach Joe Espada.
- Shiraz Rehman, recently hired by the Rangers to be their new assistant GM, has the potential to one day shed the “assistant” from that title, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. In addition to tracing Rehman’s path to this point of his career, Grant covers the reason for his decision to leave the Cubs to join the Texas organization. Although his title will remain unchanged, it appears that Rehman will enjoy an expanded role and take up a loftier spot on the decisionmaking ladder with his new club. He’ll also be looking at ways to squeeze value out of the team’s resources. Among other things, Rehman says he sees “some real low-hanging fruit, especially in player development,” that he hopes to take advantage of.
Bryan Price to Braves? Almost forgot they let Chuck go
Good luck Shiraz! Low hanging fruit!? Hope you’re a former NASA rocket scientist!
Price reminds me of John Farrell, both are fine pitching coaches, but managing is one step too far for each. Price had a freakout early in his tenure, an interaction with the media, that did not bode well for his managerial longevity.
Price has been a respectable pitching coach and would do a nice job for someone if put in that role again. As a manager, no one is “ready” for that role the 1st time. They may be good at it. Bryan wasn’t but a second time around (in a couple of years), as most MLB managers get a few opportunities, could be a much different scenario for him and some other team. Price is a student of the game and he continues to absorb and process information. A pitching coach role in a developing rotation & pen would be great for both parties.
Price never should have been the manager in the first place. I doubt anyone ever has interest in him as a manager again. He was a disaster. He is not getting another shot at manager. He needs to stick to being a pitching coach.
That freakout was not great for him, but it was far from the only issue with Price. As a field manager, he was right up there with Walt Weiss as the worst in MLB this decade. He was not good at setting lineups. He was very bad with challenges. And managing his bullpen, which should have been a strength for a former pitching coach, was horrible. And he seemed to get worse every season, so I don’t really buy the whole “first time manager” defense. I seriously doubt he ever gets another MLB manager job.
And the John Farrell comparison is just not great. Boston fans may not have liked Farrell’s style, but he still won division title in 3 out of 5 years and a World Series title in one of those years. He was a lot better than Price t just about every managerial endeavor.
Wasn’t Walt Weiss tabbed as “GM’s Pet”? He was suppose to do exactly what the FO wanted including the daily lineups and pitching changes.
Did he win a World Series or did Mike Matheny lose it? Even people who had never watched baseball before would not have pitched to Ortiz, but Matheny kept going after him.
Price was a fantastic pitching coach and should be able to find a pitching coach job just about anywhere if he still wants that role.
I agree Redsfan.
Remember that ole saying, well I’m old, lol, so I remember it well…..
IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T
FIX IT!!
Be well!
Derek Shelton is loved by front office stat people.
He was the Indians batting coach for years. The players couldn’t hit. He left. The team started hitting.
He was the Rays batting coach for years. The players couldn’t hit. He left. The team started hitting.
The Twins were hitting for years. The new analytic front office brought in Shelton and forced him on Molitar. The Twins stopped hitting.
Now he’s considered manager material.
My understanding is that Rowson was and is the Twins hitting coach not Shelton .
You’re correct.
The Twins FO made him a bench coach – and the team stopped hitting.
Except that is not factually correct. Obviously it depends on how you define “hitting” but if you go off of runs scored the Twins were right in line last year with where they had been the last few years except for 2017. The Twins ranks from 2014-2017 were 7th (2014), 11th, 15th, and 4th (2017) and their rank last season was 13th which is right in line with those previous seasons. If you want to go the batting average route the ranks from 2014 to 2018 (in that order) are 11th, 26th, 21st, 8th, and 14th, so they were actually maybe even slightly better than they had been averaging.
Also Cleveland was 11th, 6th, and 7th in runs scored Shelton’s last three years with the team. Did you do even rudimentary research before you made this claim?