Third base coach Mike Sarbaugh, bullpen coach Rigo Beltran, and replay coordinator Mike Barnett won’t be returning to the Guardians’ staff next season, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. These are the first known changes to be made to the composition of Cleveland’s staff now that Terry Francona will no longer be managing the team.
Sarbaugh has been a member of the Guardians’ coaching staff since 2013, mostly as the third base coach but also stepping into the bench coach role in 2020 when Sandy Alomar Jr. stepped in as interim manager while Francona was on medical leave. However, Sarbaugh’s ties in the organization date back to 1990, as he played five seasons in the team’s minor league system before beginning a long stretch of coaching and managing at various affiliates within Cleveland’s farm system.
Barnett is also a longtime member of the staff, having worked as the replay coordinator since the 2015-16 offseason. Barnett may be better known for his multiple stints as a hitting coach with the Blue Jays (2002-05), Royals (2006-8), and Astros (2011-12), and his 40-year career in baseball has also taken him to jobs with the Yankees, Diamondbacks, White Sox, and the University of Tennessee.
Beltran’s run on the big league coaching staff will end after just a single season, though he has been in Cleveland’s organization since 2014. Prior to the bullpen coaching job, Beltran was the pitching coach for Triple-A Columbus for the previous four years.
Odd to let them go prior to the new manager arriving.
I wonder if that shows that there was a rift between Francona and the front office leading to his retirement. It’s normal that a new manager will bring in some of his own coaches but that looks like cleaning house by the front office.
I doubt there’s any rift with Francona. It’s well known that if he wanted to manage in 2025, Cleveland’s FO would have accommodated him.
Now just because the FO felt that way about Francona, doesn’t mean they felt that way about his entire staff.
There’s another interpretation of events. There’s no indication they were fired so they might have simply walked.
Perhaps in the case of the 2 longer tenured guys, they stayed there because they liked working for Terry. They may have stuck around longer then they intended to keep working with him. Once Terry left, there was no reason for them to stay.
I’m not drawing any conclusions. Simply thought it interesting they were selective exits before a new manager arrived. It could be something as simple as contract status. Maybe these three gentlemen have contracts that expired, while the other coaches have contracts that extend past this year. Letting them exit now allows them to seek employment elsewhere.
If it had anything to do with Francona, the bench coach DeMarlo Hale would be gone. He was a Francona recruit and specifically his second in command.
If you had asked me to guess the coaches based on the headline I would have guessed Hale, Willis (pitching coach, who is older and I thought may have wanted to move on since Tito left), and either Sarby or Valaika.
Could be that every candidate they’ve interviewed has indicated they want to replace these guys, or maybe just one candidate, who is soon to be announced. And/or maybe they want to give these guys a headstart on finding a new position.
Great 3B coach and he tried to fight Pedro Grifol after the Ramirez KO of TA. He will be sorely missed in Cleveland
The Guards parted ways with three older coaches….
Sarbaugh 56
Beltram 53
Barnett 64
The staff will get younger.
I didn’t realize Barnett and Beltran were that old. I also would have figured Hale (62) and Willis (63) would have been out for age. I get wanting to go younger, though.
Welcome to today’s Friends of Francona Foundation Meeting!
Agenda
Staffing Update
In today’s staffing update—
You can go
You can go
You, we don’t need
Ok, that’s all.
Nobody left. Goodbye!
It’s unfortunate that Sarbaugh is gone, but I’d imagine this means they’ll announce their new manager in the very near future.
He wasn’t given an interview and the new manager will probably hire a new staff (while probably keeping Alomar and Valaika), so I’m not really surprised though.
He was offered an interview and turned down the opportunity per Hoynsie
Hoynes said the opposite in his report last night
Weird. This might be one of those cases where Hoynes, not always the most clear of writers, worded something vaguely on 10/12 that gave readers and aggregators the wrong impression. Because definitely all of Guards Twitter was under the impression that Sarbaugh just declined an interview like Alomar did.
Except Hoynes has never broken a story in his life
Look at the ages of the coaches in this year’s World Series. Older guys cost more! You are paying for the knowledge and their experience. Baseball is like any other job, a lot of higher management decisions are based on money and which staff members are cheaper. Get what you pay for!!!
Note: these 3 are not going to be on major league staff.
There is a chance that 1 or more might be around in different roles with the organization (just not part of the MLB staff)
For a new head manager for the Guardians I wouldn’t look any further then Demarlo Hale and have Sandy as his assistant
It’s a shame to see Sarby go. He seemed to be very good at knowing when (and when not) to be aggressive at sending runner’s home.
I think the Twins will sign/trade Farmer. He’s a 2 WAR player over a 150 game period (basically as good as valuable as Max Kepler) for $6.6MM. Farmer’s been durable, provides solid defense and a league average bat.
The free agent market for 2B/SS/3B infielders is slim this year. Chapman and Candelario are the only options who are as good (both are obviously better) than Farmer. Both Chapman and Candelario are likely to get 3-4 year deals at $12-15MM AAV. That’s a far, far cry from 1yr and $6.6MM.
I think Tampa Bay might bite on a Farmer trade with Walls going down with hip surgery and Wander Franco’s public relations disaster.
Sarbaugh did something to alienate himself. Perhaps it was because he favored the “Indians “ name and not the Guardians. He wasn’t even given an interview to be the next manager, yet he won at EVERY level he ever managed at in the minor leagues
OIC – silly comment.. Nothing against Sarbaugh but he has been in baseball for decades and has never surfaced as a serious candidate for a managerial position. That includes when Cleveland had vacancies while they were still the Indians and all 29 other clubs.
Pirates need to add and reduce their pitching coaches. I wish they would look at Beltran. His track record isn’t bad and I think he can relate to Contreras, Oviedo, and others
Barnett was Michael Jordan’s hitting coach at Birmingham when Tito managed the team, so longtime connection there.
Does anybody think that the July rooster dump and surrendering any hope of the playoffs not have anything to do Francona’s announced retirement two weeks later?
Tito’s hires now getting the axe doesn’t surprise me at all. Look for years of sub .500 play.