While not the biggest piece of White Sox-related news today, the club’s more immediate piece of short-term business is finding a new manager. James Fegan and Josh Nelson of Sox Machine report that Tigers bench coach George Lombard and Padres special assistant A.J. Ellis are two of the candidates being considered in a still-evolving search.
This isn’t the first time that the 49-year-old Lombard has been linked to a managerial opening, as he previously interviewed with the Pirates in 2019 (before Derek Shelton was hired) and for the Tigers in 2020. Though Detroit ended up going with A.J. Hinch as its new skipper, the Tigers were impressed enough by Lombard to bring him aboard as the bench coach soon after Hinch was hired, and Lombard has subsequently spent the last four seasons in the role.
Lombard’s playing career saw him appear in parts of six seasons from 1998-2006, and he hung up his cleats following a 2009 season spent in the minors and in independent ball. He then worked in the Red Sox farm system for the next six seasons as a coach, roving coordinator, and manager — a two-season stint with the Red Sox rookie league affiliate in 2011-12 represents Lombard’s only experience as a manager. After a few months working with the Braves as a minor league coordinator in 2015, Lombard quickly moved onto a new job as the Dodgers’ first base coach, and spent the 2016-20 seasons as part of the L.A. coaching staff.
In a coincidental overlap, Ellis was still playing for the Dodgers in 2016 during Lombard’s first season. Ellis spent nine of his 11 MLB seasons with the Dodgers, and then after retiring following the 2018 season, stayed in the NL West by taking on an assistant role within the Padres’ baseball operations department. The special assistant title is a nebulous one that tends to vary greatly in responsibilities based on the individual’s specialties and the club’s needs, but Fegan writes that Ellis has done “plenty of roving player development work” over his six years in San Diego.
Moving into a regular job in the dugout would therefore represent an entirely new frontier for the 43-year-old Ellis, who has no formal managerial or coaching experience. Of course, Ellis’ long career as a catcher shouldn’t be discounted, given the long line of ex-catchers moving into managerial roles. As Fegan notes, Ellis had a reputation as a leader on the field during his playing days, and the White Sox could be interested in seeing if Ellis can make as a smooth a transition from catching to managing as Stephen Vogt did for the division rival Guardians.
Neither Lombard or Ellis have ever crossed paths with Chicago GM Chris Getz as a teammate or co-worker, nor were Lombard or Ellis ever former members of the White Sox organization. This fits with Getz’s prior statement that the White Sox were looking to bring in a new voice as the club’s next manager, though interim manager Grady Sizemore would receive some consideration.
Beyond these names, former Angels manager Phil Nevin, Rangers associate manager Will Venable, and Cardinals bench coach Daniel Descalso are known to be on Chicago’s list of candidates. While the Sox still want to talk to some coaches on teams currently playing in the postseason, some preliminary culling has already started to take place, as Fegan writes that the White Sox have already eliminated some candidates from consideration. A source tells Fegan that former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker is “still alive” in the search, which is no surprise given that Schumaker has long been viewed as a preferred choice for the job.
rotofool
Sergio Santos or bust!
Dumpster Divin Theo
You like the cut of his jib doya
Steinbrenner2728
Ned Yost on line 1!
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
Ned’s done he is one of those guys that retires for good
IronBallsMcGinty
No previous managerial experience = affordable.
The last manager without any managerial experience had two consecutive 100+ loss seasons.
nrd1138
Yep, that and any self respecting manager would want some autonomy to make baseball decisions (like who is playing and who is not and feedback as to who to bring in) and not want the GM or owner meddling. That’s is not going to happen on Jerry-atric’s watch.
CarverAndrews
And yet it is therefore quite strange that the vast majority of commenters on here with zero experience managing and probably almost no experience with the game above a Little League level are so dead certain that they know how to manage ever so much better than even Hall of Fame track major league managers and GM’s.
Samuel
CarverAndrews;
Perhaps.
But consider this…..
Most don’t buy tickets to watch games; don’t sit through them on a media device as they prefer to watch the highlights; and can look up WAR – so if a team just replaces a guy that has X WAR with a guy that has X+ WAR – the team will win the division….but the owner’s too cheap.
Think I’m exaggerating / off-base? I read posts every day – including today – that demean managers that took their teams to the playoffs and WS recently.
LOL
CarverAndrews
I believe, Samuel, that I not only considered but was strongly implying the same…
Dumpster Divin Theo
Samuel’s gonna Samuel
CKinSTL
Should they bring back Tony LaRusa? He’s got a lot of experience, haha
steven st croix
Austin Peay legend, AJ Ellis
em650r
AJ Ellis the guy who spread false rumors about Puig
HiredGun23
…Though Detroit ended up going with A.J. Hinch as its new skipper, the Tigers were impressed enough by Hinch to bring him aboard as the bench coach soon after Hinch was hired…
Did he get 2 checks?
avenger65
A brief summary of the Sox for you, Lombard and Ellis: a roster of has-beens and low level prospects who are as good as they’re gonna get; a cut in an already low payroll; a GM that won’t get you the players you need because he doesn’t know what a good player is; and a future that, for the time being, will be run by the bane of baseball, tlr. Run, don’t walk, away from this train wreck of an organization.
mlb1225
I mean hey, at least they get the benefit of having next to no expectations. Only possible one I can think of is not be historically bad again.
Dumpster Divin Theo
“Impressed by Hinch enough to bring him aboard as bench coach soon after Hinch was hired”. So he gets paid as both ?
NYCityRiddler
A. Hinch manages, J Hinch is the bench coach. Everybody wants a piece of Hinch these days. Ahahaha!
Chicken In Philly?
Does Jason Varitek’s name ever come up in organizations besides the Red Sox? He’s been with the Red Sox for over 25 years, but he’s clearly being groomed to be a manager.
Dumpster Divin Theo
He comes up in Arod face
Unclemike1525
I’m sure the Sox are interested in lots of guys. But is it mutual? Or do they wait to see who it is on the answering machine before they pick up and then don’t call back.?
Jean-Claude
Wrong AJ. Pierzynski would be an excellent choice.
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
If aj was a manager there would be brawls in every single game, mlb would become WWE which would boost ticket sales
Why do people hate aj again?
Samuel
Jean-Claude;
He’d be better for the Pirates.
A decent amount of young talent (not enough though) that needs to be shaken up some to play baseball the right way.
thickiedon
Wow, HINCH used three times in one sentence.
warnbeeb
As a Tiger fan I’d hate to see Lombard running the White Sox. They will be better with him. OTOH, he deserves a manager gig. He’s earned it…even if it is the White Sox.