Viva el Birdos examines the shift in the type of person being hired as a major league manager:
Two of the three candidates for this year’s NL Manager of the Year award never played in the majors. Brian Snitker played three seasons in the low-minors for the Braves, then spend nearly 40 years in various roles within the organization. Mike Shildt never played professional baseball, but logged around 15 years in various scouting, organizational and coaching roles before ascending to big league manager.
VivaElBirdos.com
This is the trend among successful big league managers, and I think you’re only going to see it continue and accelerate. New Padres Manager Jayce Tingler played four years in the minors, but earned himself that job based on his resume as minor league coordinator and various other organizational roles for the Texas Rangers. Orioles Manager Brandon Hyde logged barely a full-season of plate appearances in his minor league career, but like Tingler and Shildt, his long career on the coaching side includes a stint as a “minor league coordinator.”
The Padres following the trend is probably a bad sign. The post also takes a shot at rival teams the Cubs and the Royals for hiring old-school managers.
My feeling have now watch half a century of baseball is that the manager has to be the right fit for the team. The Orioles are a developing team, so someone with great minor league experience fits. The Cubs are a mature team; they seem young because many of the players are still in their prime, but they may need a “let them play” manager.
I think it’s great that teams are recognizing the qualities that people like Snitker and Shildt bring to the bench. In a couple of more seasons, we’ll see if this is a real trend or just a passing fad.