In all the talk around Mariners managerial candidates, it felt like a lot of the candidates who were being proposed were the obvious ones – Jason Kanzler was the first real dark horse candidate that popped up, and has apparently made it quite far in the process. But if the Mariners are really looking for new voices and ideas, it seems to me that it would be productive to look into some under-the-radar names, people who are more up and coming rather than established names. That inspired me to do some digging
around the league and try to identify at least one candidate from each organization who I think would be an interesting fit in Seattle.
Admittedly, some teams are more scoop-able than others. For this reason I’ve left off most of the AL West, teams undergoing their own coaching changes (again, most of the AL West, plus the Red Sox), some organizations that have recently undergone sweeping coaching changes (the Rockies, the Nationals), and some teams that I just couldn’t come up with a good name for or don’t think have really strong coaching and player development (it’s the Reds. Sorry, Cincinnati).
I am a big proponent of joining professional organizations and ongoing professional development (both attending and presenting). Therefore, in identifying candidates, I first and foremost looked for people who are interested in the art of coaching; I cross-referenced names with members of the ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) and tried to track down articles and quotes to get a sense of their coaching philosophy or managerial style (and in some cases, guest appearances on the ABCA podcast). I also gave some preference to those with geographical ties to the West Coast or the Seattle area in particular, because unfortunately that is a very real thing to have to consider, as we saw with why Rocco Baldelli reportedly dropped out of the race. Finally, I considered how long a candidate has been with a particular organization or how deeply tied they seem to be to their current organization – for example, I really like Ron Wotus with the Giants, but his connections to that organization run so deep it’s hard to imagine him anywhere else.
With the Mariners reportedly seemingly narrowing it down to Joe Espada and Jason Kanzler for a managerial role, this article is less useful than it was when I started doing all this research, but maybe some of these people would be under consideration for a non-managerial role. Actually, since there are a lot of candidates here who are more nontraditional as far as big-league managing experience, this article might be more useful. At least that’s what I’m telling myself after hours of scrolling LinkedIn profiles, social media accounts, and podcast appearances.
In order to avoid publishing The Odyssey-but-make-it-coaching, I’ll be splitting these up by divisions; we’re starting with the AL Central. Let’s see how many I can get done before the Mariners announce a hire.
AL Central:
Patrick Leyland (White Sox)
Current role: Manager, Double-A Birmingham Barons
Age: 35
Bonus points: coaching bloodlines (son of Jim Leland); former Mariner farmhand (2015)
Leyland has been coaching in pro ball since 2018, and has managed at the minor-league level since 2022, all in the White Sox organization; he’s yet to make it to the big-league level. Like dad Jim, Pat has found more success as a coach than as a player, which he says informs how he relates to players.
Relevant quote: “Not that it disqualifies any other coach, because there’s more than one way to do things, but I know I can relate to our players,” he said. “I understand what they’re going through. I tell them that I wasn’t a very good player, and I know how hard this can be. I can be a shoulder to lean on, especially when things aren’t going well. I had to fight and claw and find a way to grind things out.”
Double bonus points: normally a cool customer, was ejected once all season in a home game on the last day of the MiLB season for sticking up for his hitter who got pitched inside and absolutely made a meal of it.
Kevin Howard (Royals)
Current Role: Assistant Director of Player Development
Age: 45
Bonus points: Has a connection to current Mariners farm director Justin Toole; former Mariner farmhand (2008); College World Series champion (Miami, 2001) under Jim Morris, who Howard cites as a mentor.
Following a 12-year playing career (drafted in the 5th round out of Miami in 2002) Howard spent a year coaching high school/small college before being hired by the Guardians as a hitting coordinator. In 2021 he moved to the Mets as Director of Player Development, then was moved to hitting coach; in 2023 went to the Royals in his current role. During his time with the Mets, Howard spoke to his alma mater about desiring an on-field role because he really values building relationships.
Relevant quote: “I was willing to work hard. I wanted to get to the Major Leagues so bad. I was willing to do whatever I could, but some of the stuff that I try to instill in our players is having a growth mindset and I did not have a growth mindset. I had a fixed mindset and I didn’t want to listen. I didn’t want people to tell me anything because I took it personally. If I could go back, that’s definitely something I would change and I think that would have made a major impact on how much I could have improved.”
Billy Boyer (Tigers)
Current role: Third base coach (MLB)
Age: 42
Bonus points: Born in Auburn, WA; attended Enumclaw HS; PNW coaching experience (student manager at UW, coached at Seattle U, coached at Pierce College during the program’s first NWAC Championship in 2012)
Boyer, whose name is probably most recognizable on this list, has a reputation as a strong infield defensive coach – his big-league coaching journey started with the Twins as an infield and baserunning coach before he moved to the Tigers, transitioning from a quality control coach to third base coach this past July after the team and Joey Cora parted ways after the Tigers finished near the bottom of the league in stolen bases despite an organization-wide emphasis on that. The Tigers also reportedly wanted Boyer to work with upcoming superstar Kevin McGonigle, but a report from the Detroit News at the end of September called Boyer’s status “unclear” amidst a bunch of other coaching changes.
Relevant quote: I thought this thread on rhythm, tempo, and timing was a nice encapsulation of Boyer’s approach and an interesting supplement to Perry Hill’s “6 Fs”.
Mark Hallberg (Twins)
Current role: Bench coach (MLB)
Age: 40
Bonus points: Spent first 16 years of his life living in Saudi Arabia with his international-school teacher parents; triple sport athlete in college
Non-bonus points: said he fell in love with baseball because of Kirby Puckett and the Twins
The Twins were a HEADACHE to go through, y’all. Apparently the only thing the Pohlads love more than saving money is hiring franchise legends, nepo babies, and lifelong fans. Hallberg was with the Giants for six years before moving to the Twins, close to his Wisconsin-based family. It’s too bad, because I really like data-minded Hallberg, who was part of implementing an aggressive ABS challenge system with the Twins this spring.
Relevant quote: “When you can switch count leverages in big moments and change base/out states (run expectancy charts), those are all factors, and how many run-scoring opportunities you get,” Hallberg said. “When you’re down in the game and you make their closer (enter) and keep fighting throughout the night, some of those overturns (Wednesday) gave us the opportunity to come back. It stung to lose the game, but our guys fought and our competitive spirit was intact. We made them work. We got their closer up. That impacted the next day, and I hope our team continues to do that throughout the season.”
(Also quoted in that article is someone else I considered while tussling with the Twins’ org chart, Mike Rabelo, who doesn’t have a lifelong love of the Twins sparking his interest in baseball, but is also tragically very east-coast-based)
Alyssa Nakken (Guardians)
Current role: Assistant Director, Player Development
Age: 36
Bonus points: West Coast ties
It’s time that the Mariners reverse-scoop from the Guardians’ staff. Coming back to the West Coast would be an easy landing for Nakken, whose previous big-league experience was with her hometown Giants; she’d also walk into a clubhouse led partially by Josh Naylor, who is an outspoken advocate of women having a place in baseball. This is assuming, of course, Nakken would prefer a role back on the field, as she moved from the Giants to the Guardians to take a more front-office role after the birth of her first child. Look, just let me have this one beautiful dream, okay.
