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Latest On Angels’ Managerial Search

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Three teams landed new managers on Monday, but there’s still plenty more to be done on that front around baseball. The Angels continue to search for a new dugout leader after declining an option on Phil Nevin at the start of the offseason.

It seems that search could be nearing its conclusion. Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweeted this morning the Halos could finalize a new hire by the end of the week. Jon Heyman of the New York Post listed a handful of candidates for the position (on X): Buck Showalter, Ron Washington, Gary DiSarcina, Benji Gil and Ray Montgomery. That isn’t necessarily an exhaustive list, as Heyman leaves open the possibility for another candidate to emerge.

Whether all five of those people have already interviewed with Halos brass is unclear. Showalter has been perhaps the most frequently mentioned candidate for the job. Gil and Montgomery make for natural candidates since they’re already on staff — the former as infield coach, the latter as bench coach.

DiSarcina also has myriad ties to the organization. He played for the Halos for the entirety of his 12-year playing career, earning an All-Star selection in 1995. He spent time in the front office at the beginning of the 2010s and logged three seasons on Mike Scioscia’s coaching staff. DiSarcina spent the last two seasons on Dave Martinez’s staff in Washington as third base coach. The Nationals announced last month that he would not return.

Ron Washington has spent seven seasons with the Braves as third base coach. The former Ranger skipper has come up in various managerial searches in recent years but hasn’t gotten a job since resigning from Texas at the end of the 2014 season. Washington led Texas to consecutive pennants in 2010-11 amidst a nearly eight-year run in Arlington.

Recent reports have named former Angels players Darin Erstad and Torii Hunter as potential options. Heyman confirms the Angels have spoken with Hunter but casts doubt on the fit, noting that owner Arte Moreno appears to prefer someone with prior MLB managerial experience. That could give the upper hand to Showalter or Washington, although it’s tough to pinpoint a specific favorite.

Padres Considering David Ross For Managerial Opening

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With the shocking news that long-time Brewers manager Craig Counsell signed a five-year, $40MM contract with the Cubs, a new managerial free agent entered the fray: David Ross. The freshly fired former Cubs manager should be an intriguing candidate for those teams still in need of a skipper, and indeed, at least one club is already interested. Per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres are “considering adding Ross to their candidate pool” for the position left vacant by Bob Melvin, who recently traveled north for a job with the Giants.

Before the game of managerial musical chairs began on Monday, the Padres and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller had reportedly narrowed down their search to four finalists: senior advisor to player development and major leagues Mike Shildt, bench coach and offensive coordinator Ryan Flaherty, Angels infield coach Benji Gil, and Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza. According to Acee, the team wasn’t planning to interview any further candidates; their next manager would be one of Shildt, Flaherty, Gil, or Mendoza.

However, with Ross now available, along with the news that the Mets have hired Mendoza to be their next manager, the Padres could be inclined to reconsider their options. After all, Preller has a well-documented history of changing his mind. Acee mentions several surprise hires the executive made during his tenure with the Padres, including former managers Andy Green and Jayce Tingler.

Of Shildt, Flaherty, and Gil, only Shildt has genuine managerial experience; he took over from Mike Matheny as the Cardinals manager in 2018, steering the team for the next four years. St Louis had a winning record in all four of his seasons at the helm, making the playoffs in the final three. Shildt was fired due to “philosophical differences” with president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, but he seems to be on the same page with the front office in San Diego. He has spent the past two years working in the organization, and evidently, they are happy with the work he has done. 

Still, if the Padres are looking for a seasoned manager to replace Melvin, one of the most experienced skippers in the game, Ross presents an intriguing alternative. He has spent the past four years with the Cubs, leading the team through a mini-rebuild and out the other side. By all indications, the Cubs were largely happy with his performance. At his end-of-season presser, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer praised his then-manager for the clubhouse culture he fostered. Indeed, if it weren’t for Counsell hitting the open market, the Cubs would almost certainly have stuck with Ross in 2024.

Padres Considering Phil Nevin, Benji Gil As Managerial Candidates

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Former Angels manager Phil Nevin and Angels infield coordinator Benji Gil are on the Padres’ radar for interviews as the club continues its managerial search, according to The Athletic’s Dennis Lin and Britt Ghiroli (both links to X).  Nevin might interview this week while Gil “is in preliminary discussions” about a potential interview.

Nevin has plenty of Padres ties, as he lives just outside San Diego and played seven (1999-2005) of his 12 Major League seasons in a Padres uniform.  Since retiring from playing, Nevin has had a lengthy career as a coach and manager in the majors and minors, culminating in his first MLB managerial gig with the Angels over the last two seasons.  Taking over as Los Angeles’ interim skipper when Joe Maddon was fired in June 2022, Nevin was properly made the manager following the season, though given only a one-year contract.  Nevin posted an 119-149 overall record as the Angels’ manager, and he wasn’t given a new deal following the 2023 campaign as the Halos chose to instead look for a new dugout boss.

Gil has never managed at the Major League level, and has been on the Angels’ coaching staff for only the last two seasons.  Still, the 51-year-old Gil has the past experience of an eight-year playing career in the bigs, as well as some managerial experience outside of the affiliated minors.  Gil has worked as a manager in Mexican baseball, most notably helming Mexico’s national teams during the 2020 Summer Olympics and during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.  The Angels reportedly had interest in Gil as a possible candidate for their own managerial vacancy, though it isn’t yet known if the former infielder has sat down for a former interview with the Angels’ upper management.

In a sense, the two candidates represent the four (non-interim managers) who have run the Padres’ dugout during A.J. Preller’s tenure as the club’s president of baseball operations.  Nevin is a veteran baseball man with past managerial experience, like Bud Black (who Preller inherited Bud Black as his first skipper) and Bob Melvin (who managed the Padres over the last two seasons).  In between those hires, Preller went with Andy Green and Jayce Tingler, both first-time managers with relatively little coaching experience on a Major League staff.

This same dynamic exists between the other two known candidates for the San Diego job.  Bench coach Ryan Flaherty has never managed at the MLB level but has been on the Padres’ coaching staff for the last four seasons, while senior associate Mike Shildt was the Cardinals’ skipper from 2018-21.  Flaherty and Shildt are considered the favorites to be the next Padres’ manager, though Preller said that the team would be exploring external candidates out of more than due diligence.  “We’re going to make sure we exhaust all the different possibilities to get the right choice….We want to try to get it right,” Preller said.

Ghiroli also notes that Eric Chavez is “no longer expected to be in the mix” after garnering some level of interest from the Padres in their search.  Chavez has long been seen as a possible future manager, and he has worked on the Mets’ staff for the last two seasons, including a bench coach role in 2023.  Since the Mets are themselves looking for a new manager to replace Buck Showalter, Chavez’s future in New York could well be in flux, though it appears he won’t be part of the Padres’ search.

West Notes: Moreno, Sánchez, Angels

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Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno was removed from Game 3 of the NLCS in the fifth inning with a right hand contusion, the team confirmed. The D-backs will hope the injury doesn’t prove to be more serious.

Moreno was hit on the hand with a foul tip bunt, and while he initially remained in the game, he was replaced with a pinch hitter before his next at-bat. This is the second time Moreno has exited a game early this postseason, the first coming when he was hit in the head by Brice Turang’s backswing during the Wild Card round. Fortunately, that incident didn’t lead to a concussion, and the young catcher was back on the field for Arizona’s next game. He has played in all five of the Diamondbacks’ postseason matchups thus far.

The 23-year-old catcher is enjoying a breakout season, proving himself to be a strong defensive player and a capable hitter. He improved at the plate as the year went on, too, batting .313 with an .894 OPS after the All-Star break.

In other news from the West divisions…

  • Gary Sánchez is set to reach free agency after the World Series, but the Padres are reportedly interested in bringing him back, and the interest appears to be mutual, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic. The 30-year-old had a difficult year at the plate in 2022, but he bounced back this season after the Padres claimed him on waivers in May. In 72 games with San Diego, he hit 19 home runs and posted a .792 OPS before a wrist fracture ended his season in early September.
  • Sarah Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Times named Angels infield coach Benji Gil as a potential managerial candidate, reporting that the Angels have expressed interest in him as their next manager. Valenzuela also included Buck Showalter on the list of candidates, although that comes as less of a revelation; the team’s interest in Showalter has already been widely reported. Gil has been a coach in the majors for the past two seasons, and he served as the manager for Team Mexico in the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Coaching Notes: Dodgers, Yankees, Angels, Mets, Reds, Rangers

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  • The Mets were considering Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough for bench coach after he impressed in his managerial interview with New York, but a hiring doesn’t seem likely to come to fruition. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network tweets that New York brass doesn’t believe McCullough would leave Los Angeles for a coaching position elsewhere. Instead, it seems he’s lined up to return for a second season on Dave Roberts’ staff. Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reported yesterday that the Mets were looking into a potential “headline-grabbing hire” for bench coach.
  • The Mets already made a notable coaching move this morning, tabbing longtime big league third baseman Eric Chávez as hitting coach. Chávez had accepted a position as one of two Yankees assistant hitting coaches just a few weeks ago, leaving the Bronx club with an unanticipated vacancy on staff. Lindsey Adler of the Athletic reports (on Twitter) that the Yankees do plan to replace Chávez this offseason. That aligns with general manager Brian Cashman’s stated wish to enter the season with three hitting instructors on staff. Dillon Lawson is slated to be the team’s lead hitting coach, with Casey Dykes lined up for an assistant role.
  • Though the club has confirmed that Ray Montgomery will make the unusual transition from front office to bench coach on Joe Maddon’s staff, the Angels have not yet announced assignments for either former bench coach Mike Gallego (who will remain on the staff) or newcomers Phil Nevin, Benji Gil, and Bill Haselman (per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). This may be due to the club’s pursuit of Adam Eaton for its staff should he choose to retire — which, given that he remains an active member of the MLBPA, cannot be completed during the lockout.
  • The Mets announced their full slate of minor league coaches Thursday, including new managers at all four affiliates: former Cubs farmhand Kevin Boles at Triple-A Syracuse; journeyman infielder Reid Brignac at Double-A Binghamton; former Expos, Red Sox, and (briefly) Mets shortstop Luis Rivera at High-A Brooklyn; and former Mets catching instructor Robbie Robinson at Low-A St. Lucie. A full list of Mets minor league coaches, compiled by SNY contributor Jacob Resnick, can be found here.
  • The Reds have hired sixteen-year big-league veteran Juan Samuel as a minor league hitting instructor, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network, though his precise role has not yet been announced. Since retiring, the three-time All-Star has held a number of positions, including as a major league base coach and, briefly, as interim manager of the Orioles following the 2010 mid-season firing of Dave Trembley. In addition to his long and productive playing career, Samuel is remembered as the Mets’ return in the 1989 deal that sent Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell, cornerstones of the 1986 World Series champs, to the Phillies.
  • The Rangers announced two members of their 2022 big-league coaching staff, including the promotion of former journeyman catcher, advanced scout, and so-called “coordinator of run prevention” Brett Hayes to bullpen coach and the hiring of former Jays farmhand and Dodgers minor league hitting instructor Seth Conner as assistant hitting coach. Both will join Chris Woodward’s staff for a season the Rangers hope will represent a major step forward in the rebuilding process following the club’s recent big-ticket signings of Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Jon Gray.
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