Scouting the Hot Stove League: Scouting Potential Giants Managers

While Bruce Bochy was packing his bags in the clubhouse, Farhan Zaidi was the sole face of Giants management at the end-of-year press briefing.  He talked some about the general type of hitters he is interested in pursuing.  He talked about his interest in re-signing current Giants free agents(long story short, don't expect any of them back next season).  He talked about relying on young pitchers.  He also talked about potential managers.  He says is first priority is one who can build relationships with players much like Bruce Bochy did.  He also favors prior managing experience.  He specifically named Giants Bench Coach Hensley Meulens and 3B Coach Ron Wotus as candidates he plans to interview, but added he plans to interview several candidates from outside the organization.  With that in mind, let's break it down a bit more starting with some specific characteristics I think Zaidi will want and maybe ones which might be dealbreakers.

First a few general thoughts:  1.  I don't think Zaidi is looking for a yes-man, but I also don't think he wants to take a chance on someone who might challenge his authority.  He also is not going to want to commit a large amount of financial resources into the manager's job.  That all but eliminates Joe Maddon from the pool which is fine with me.  I am not a Joe Maddon fan.  2.  Although I think he will give Hensley Meulens and Ron Wotus fair consideration, I believe he will ultimately want to make a clean break with the Sabean/Evans/Bochy regime and shake up the culture of the organization.  Much as I would like to see Meulens and Wotus get their shots at managing, I really can't argue with a culture shakeup which seems to be badly needed.  3.  Farhan has already shown a strong tendency to bring in people, both on the field and in management that he has worked with before.  Not that he'll refuse to consider people from outside his solar system, I think the safer bet is on someone he has worked with in the past.

So let's take a look at some of the other names out there:

1.  Eric Chavez:  Chavez was practically the poster-boy for Moneyball era when he played for the A's,  which paralleled Farhan's career in the A's front office.  After he retired from playing baseball, Chavez worked as a commentator on A's TV broadcasts before going to work as a special assistant in the Yankees front office.  He then moved out west with Billy Eppler when Eppler was hired as the Angels GM.  He managed the AAA Salt Lake City Bees for about 6 weeks in 2018 before resuming his Special Assistant role.  He is quoted as saying he would be interested in a MLB field managing job.  His main drawback is lack of experience post-playing career working in a MLB dugout.

2.  Raul Ibanez:  Well known former player.  Ibanez has been a Special Assistant to Dodgers President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman since 2016.  Prior to that he was one of 3 reported finalists to replace Joe Maddon as Manager of the Tampa Bay Rays.  Has a reputation for being a great people person and was once voted second nicest player in baseball after Jim Thome.  Has obvious connections to Farhan Zaidi.  He main drawback again is lack any in-dugout experience post-playing career.

3. Bob Geren:  On paper, Bob Geren is the obvious top candidate here, and Farhan may have dropped a huge hint when he talked about prior managerial experience and learning from past mistakes.  He's worked in the same organization as Farhan not once, but twice.  Previous managerial experience.  Extensive bench coaching experience for WS runner ups the Mets and for the perennial NL West champion Dodgers.  He's worked closely with multiple MLB managers giving him the opportunity to experience different styles and hopefully learn from them.  The one big asset of previous managing experience is also the biggest red flag as his tenure in Oakland ended with a his bullpen in open revolt, although one of the leaders of that revolt, Huston Street, said later he would be happy to work with Geren again.  It's also not necessarily encouraging that one of his subsequent role models was Terry Collins with the Mets, who was not exactly known as a relationship builder.  So, there are big clues that Geren is the guy, but it's also hard to think that and take seriously Farhan's statements about relationship building being the single biggest thing he is looking for.  One more thought.  Geren is widely regarded as being extremely fluent in Sabermetrics.  On the other hand, his signature move as bench coach of the Dodgers is the intentional balk.  It's purpose?  To get the runner on 2B to 3B so he couldn't steal signs!  Now that......well, I'm at a loss for words.  That brings back memories of Roger Craig and how old school is that?!

4.  Brad Ausmus:  Ausmus is either not a good manager or he's had the worst luck.  He managed the Tigers during the collapse of their aging team.  He's now been fired after 1 season of a 3 year contract with the Angels, possibly to make room for Joe Maddon.  His Angels season was impacted by numerous injuries and the death of a player both of which were seemingly out of his control.  He's an Ivy League graduate and has he reputation for being one of the smartest guys in baseball, which does not necessarily work in his favor in a clubhouse.  He does check he box of previous managerial experience but has no history of working with Zaidi.  I could definitely see Ausmus and Farhan hitting it off big time in an interview, though.  An interesting subplot here:  Ausmus is Jewish and observes Yom Kippur while Farhan Zaidi is a practicing Muslim which should not matter and hopefully wouldn't.

5.  Hensley Meulens:  Backtracking to Meulens:  if Farhan is looking for a relationship guy, Meulens has that nailed down, at least on paper.  He's fluent in 4 or 5 languages and seems to be able to relate to players from all ethnic backgrounds.  What we don't know is how that translates into the clubhouse and how he relates to statistics informing his decisions.  As I previously stated, I also suspect Farhan wants to make a complete break with the old regime.

6.  Steven Vogt- Vogt definitely seems to be a relationship kind of guy with an extremely positive attitude.  He has a background with Zaidi.  On the other hand, he may want to keep playing and Zaidi may want to bring him back as a player.  I don't see the player-manager thing working.

7.  Hector Borg- I'll put his name out as a dark horse candidate.  He is young and appears to be a rising star in the Giants organization.  He took over managing the SJ Giants after Billy Hayes abruptly resigned and completely turned their season around.  Could be the ideal manager to bring young top prospects like Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos on board.

8.  Matt Wiliams- There is some sentiment out there for Matt Williams.  He has no past connection to Farhan Zaidi and seemed in way over his head when he managed the Nationals.

9.  Joe Maddon- I don't think it will be Maddon for many reasons.  I really hope it isn't because I really don't like Joe Maddon.  I don't like his scruffy face.  I don't like his I'm the smartest guy in all of baseball attitude.  I don't think he is a good game manager and he built his reputation on gimmicks that I don't think make any significant difference.  So take that!  On the other hand, he has a reputation for cultivating loyalty from players and has a compelling track record.

Any managerial candidates you can think of that I'm missing here?  I'm sure the list is very large and there is a good chance it will end up being someone nobody is talking about.