In the hours since the Los Angeles Dodgers and manager Don Mattingly announced they were parting ways, five names have emerged as potential replacements.
The Los Angeles Times‘ Bill Shaikin lists Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez and former Padres skipper Bud Black, along with three who are currently in the Dodgers organization. Bench coach Tim Wallach and third base coach Ron Roenicke were on Mattingly’s staff, and Gabe Kapler is the team’s minor league director.
To those asking about Mike Scioscia: Not a fit under current Dodgers management.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) October 22, 2015
Roenicke would be a solid choice, and the Dodgers thought enough of him to add him to the coaching staff during the season, installing him as the third base coach in place of Lorenzo Bundy. He has major league managerial experience, which could be viewed as important for a largely veteran team expected to perennially contend for a World Series championship. During his five-season tenure as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers (well, four seasons and 25 games of a fifth season, if you want to get technical), his team finished over .500 three times, once winning 96 games and an NL Central title.
Wallach has regularly interviewed for openings around MLB — most recently with the Tigers, Mariners and Nationals — and it’s somewhat surprising that he hasn’t landed a manager job yet. He does have experience in that role, having led the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque in 2009 and being named Pacific Coast League manager of the year. He knows the players, who all reportedly love him because he’s a good teacher and communicator, and the organization. That might go a long way with veterans like Clayton Kershaw, Adrian Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Zack Greinke (if he returns), who don’t want a manager to play mind games and just let them know where they stand when they get to the ballpark.
But neither team president Andrew Friedman nor general manager Farhan Zaidi had a say in Wallach or Roenicke being on the coaching staff. Wallach was already one of Mattingly’s coaches when the new front office took over, and while Roenicke was on a list of coaching candidates assembled by Friedman, Mattingly chose him to join the staff.
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 28: Chase Utley #26 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits an RBI is greeted by third base coach Ron Roenicke after hitting an RBI triple in the third inning against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium on August 28, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
This is obviously general speculation, but executives usually want their hires in place, people they’re familiar and comfortable with. And given that the front office just let Mattingly go with a year left on his contract, the reasonable guess is that Friedman and Zaidi want a new face they hired themselves with a new coaching staff (even if that staff retains some of Mattingly’s coaches). Maybe the players could make a push for Wallach, but sentiment likely won’t sway upper management.
Nor will previous managerial experience. Obviously, that’s something in Roenicke’s favor. And it appears to be the most appealing part of Black’s résumé, with nine seasons in San Diego on his record and familiarity with the NL West. But the Padres only finished over .500 twice during his tenure. Supporters might point out that the front office and ownership didn’t always give Black strong rosters to work with, and perhaps “doing more with less” is his best selling point as a manager.
However, the payroll and talent base increased significantly under new owner Ron Fowler and GM A.J. Preller, and Black couldn’t turn that support into a winning product on the field. Issue could certainly be taken with the roster Preller assembled, trading for power bats with no regard for defensive ability or positional fit and leaving Black to figure out how those disparate pieces into a cohesive lineup. There have also been some questions as to how well Black works with young players, and considering that Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson and Corey Seager are much the future of this Dodgers team, that could be a very real concern.
Execs hire those they have comfort with: Friedman had Kapler as player and exec with #Rays, exec with #Dodgers. Well-regarded in both places — Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) October 22, 2015
Player development would certainly be a strength for Kapler, who’s currently in charge of that very thing for the Dodgers. Friedman is familiar with him, having hired Kapler to that position shortly after taking over as team president. The two have now worked together for nearly a year, but there’s also a previous relationship going back to the Tampa Bay Rays when Friedman was there and twice signed Kapler to one-year contracts.
Lack of managerial experience would appear to be a red flag, but Kapler does have one year in the dugout on his résumé, having skippered the Red Sox’s Single-A affiliate. And if there’s major concern about how the players might deal with a first-time manager, Friedman and Zaidi could put veteran coaches on the staff to offset Kapler learning on the job. Above all, if you followed Kapler on Twitter before he took his gig with the Dodgers or recall his work as an analyst for Fox Sports, you know he has a mind for analytics and likely wouldn’t have any problem with the front office feeding him lineups, defensive alignments and other such data to implement in a game.
But Martinez might be the best combination of young, progressive mindset, experience in dealing with a major league dugout and clubhouse, and tenure with one of the most acclaimed managers in MLB, who Friedman happened to hire while he was GM in Tampa Bay. One big question with Martinez is why he hasn’t already been hired as a manager, despite eight years as Joe Maddon’s bench coach and right-hand man with the Rays and Cubs. That includes being passed over in Tampa Bay when Maddon left for Chicago, though several players advocated for him.
Martinez has all the coaching experience — working with young and veteran players for teams that were building, rather than established — anyone could want, with 16 years as a player to carry respect among major leaguers (and by speaking Spanish, he’ll be able to communicate with some players better than other managers may have previously), and close association with a manager who developed teams into playoff contenders largely by working against conventional wisdom and applying innovation to a position still handcuffed by old-school philosophies.
Ultimately, Martinez is the opposite of Mattingly, which should be a refreshing change for a team that’s gotten stale during his five-year tenure. Yet he’s not such an extreme swing in the other direction as to seem like the sort of reactionary decision that so many teams in every major sport so often make. Martinez is an excellent fit with the culture that Friedman and Zaidi have created in Chavez Ravine, and it’s long overdue for him to get a chance at managing a team. That this club figures to be a good one should be the reward for his years of waiting.