Francona's Replacement

 OK, others are doing it so I thought I would jump in.   Who should be Francona's replacement?  

To answer this question we have to begin with what we need:

• Someone who is good at developing major league players
• Someone with enough common sense not to burn out young pitchers (or pitchers at all)
• Someone who is able to manage a team to the playoffs NOW.
• Someone who is versed in modern technology (e.g., run an effective challenge system)
• Someone who is innovative, findng ways to utilize all his players effectively
• Someone who will be able to retain most of the current staff and not make wholesale coaching changes

There is one obvious answer to who that should be: NOBODY IN THE WORLD WHO IS AVAILABLE

Kevin Cash is the obvious choice but no way would he leave Tampa to manage the Guardians.  Same type of organization and he is successful where he is and they are happy with him.  

I also don't think we should use a retread manager as guys who have been fired for poor performance of their teams have already shown their inability to manage unless they go to the Yankees (e.g., Joe Torre) or another big money team.  Maybe a fired manager who was not fired for performance of his team but for an inability to mesh with that team's FO (see below).

So let's look at the candidates who I thnk might come close to fitting what we need:

INTERNAL

1. Sandy Alomar - He has been around for a long time and would offer some consistency of staffing.  If he gets the job I don't know if he would want Demarlo Hale back as his bench coach.  And I don't know if Hale is the beste choice for a bench coach.  The big thing about Sandy is I am not sure if he fits ANY of the criteria above because we just don't know.  He is the big question mark.  We would either hit a HR with him or it would be a total disaster.   Catchers, I think, have a better chance to be good managers in their first shot.  I mean, look at Mke Matheny.  He had never even coached or managed in the minors and, to a point, he did a GREAT job in St. Louis and I think Alomar would be at least as good as Matheny in managing a ML team but without the type of shenanigans that I think went on during Matheny's time in St. Louis.  One thing for sure, I would rather have Alomar than some old grizzled veteran who has to do it his way and has failed several times before.  

2. DeMarlo Hale - In his cameo when Francona was out in 2021 he failed miserably.  He just doesn't seem to exude the qualities we need as a manager and I think it would be a fool's bet to pick Hale but who knows.  Hale is the 'safe' choice but I don't think he is the right choice.

3. Mike Sarbaugh - Mike is a former minor league manager of the year with the Clippers and is very familiar with all the players on the ML team.  He is the 3rd candidate from the ML team and I don't see us dipping into our minor league managers with 3 top candidates like this.

EXTERNAL

1. Mike Schildt - Schildt showed in St. Louis that he is the right mix of winning now and working with young players.  He was let go by the Cardinals in a weird situation that appeared to revolve around his disdain for analytics as it appeared he wanted to manage by the seat of his pants.  Still, look at what he did coming in on the heels of the bad Matheny ending in St. Louis and look how badly Ollie Marmol has done coming in on the heels of the Schildt firing.  Not embracing analytics would be an issue in Cleveland but he yeould at least be worth an interview.

2. AAA manager - AAA managers come to mind as they are used to managing older players and star prospects.  There might also be less fear at replacing the best manager in Cleveland history.  Whether they can do in the majors what they did at AAA is a dicey thing but at least it is a place to start.  Certainly it would be easier to convince to keep the same or most of the same coaching staff in place, if that is what the FO wants for consistency in the transition from Francona to the new guy.  While it is not obvious that they would immediately have the respect of established major league players or be able to successfully run a major league coaching staff, let alone be able to win at the major league level, it is something worth considering as a way to start fresh with a younger, energetic guy.  So, who would you select?  Here are some thoughts:

• Gil Velazquez - He is 43 years old. Currently serving as Arizona's defensive coordinator - He was the 2022 Baseball America minor league manager of the year while filling in when their AAA manager left to go to a different organization. His roster had both veterans and young players and he did a great job managing them.  He had previously managed in 2016 and had been an infield coordinator in the Arizona system.  As a former infield coordinator he would have a leg up sorting through the Guardians various middle infielder options.
• Travis Barbary - He is 51 years old and is currently the LA Dodgers AAA manager.  He obviously has experience managing top prospects.
• Ramon Vazquez - Boston's bench coach.  He is 47 years old and has experience as a liasion between the team and the club's analytics people.
• Rick Sweet - He is 52 years old and is currently the manager of Milwaukee's AAA team. As a former catcher he has, in my opinion, at least a leg up positionally for a position that makes great managers.  Understand, I wouldn't even necessarily consider Sweet based on my understanding I am not a fan.
• Joe Espada - He is Houston's bench coach and has coached a lot in the majors.
• Will Venable - He is Texas' bench coach and he apparently has ties to Mike Chernoff, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer article.

I have heard mention of batting coaches and pitching coaches from other teams.  I have also heard mention of former players like Charlie Nagy and Travis Fryman and that is not to say that wouldn't work.  I mean, look at Mike Matheny who managed the Cardinals to the playoffs without ever having been even a coach in the minors or majors.  

The key thing here is hiring the right person.  Everyone knew in 2013 Francona was the correct choice and so they pulled out all the stops.  At that point they had to convince Francona that Cleveland was the right place for him.   Now the story has changed.  All the good managers are already seated and will remain so in the game of managerial musical chairs.  The key will be for the FO to pick someone who will be good and hit the ground running and be able to be around for a long time, manage a game and relate to players and the club's analytics staff.  The FO will have to identify the right needle in the stack of needles they will sort through.  They have gotten so much wrong over the past year they can't afford to get this wrong, too.  This is where the FO has to stop screwing up and start earning their money.  If they don't, we are all screwed for years to come as Guardians' fans.