On Saturday, Detroit Tigers GM Al Avila dropped a bomb by announcing that manager Ron Gardenhire had made the decision to retire, effective immediately.
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Gardenhire explained that though he had originally planned to stick it out for the rest of the season, health problems caused him to reevaluate that decision and he eventually decided that he had to do what was best for him and his family.
Avila announced that bench coach Lloyd McClendon would be the interim manager for the rest of the season, but the question is, who will the Tigers hire to be their manager of the future?
According to Ryan Ford of the Detroit Free Press, the 3 ‘cheaters’ are candidates for the Tigers vacant managerial position.
Those three are A.J. Hinch, Alex Cora, and Carlos Beltran.
Here is what Ford had to say about each of those potential candidates.
A.J. Hinch
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Hinch knows the franchise — he played 27 games on the 2003 squad that lost an AL-record 119 games. He also knows how to take a young team to the top; he led the Astros to the 2015 playoffs in his first season in Houston — after the franchise lost 416 games over the four previous seasons — and then the 2017 World Series title and a seven-game loss in the 2019 Series. But he comes with baggage; Hinch was fired by Houston — and is serving a one-year suspension — after the Astros’ sign-stealing and trash can-banging campaign came to light in the offseason.
Alex Cora
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Cora, too, has championship credentials; he was Hinch’s bench coach in 2017, then won the World Series as manager of the Red Sox in 2018. Then again, he also has the cheating credentials, as he was implicated in the Astros’ scandal, then further investigated in Boston’s cheating scandal. Cora and the Red Sox parted ways when the Astros allegations arose, and while he was technically cleared in the subsequent investigation in Boston, he was suspended for 2020 for his actions in Houston.
Carlos Beltran
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Beltran was the third manager to lose his job after his implication in the Astros scandal. (The only player punished, Beltran was painted as the mastermind of the scheme.) He never actually managed a game, though, as he was hired by the Mets in November 2019, and parted ways in January 2020. He was considered a respected leader in the clubhouse during his 20-year, seven-franchise MLB career — and interviewed for the Yankees job that eventually went to Aaron Boone before the Mets hired him a year later. Despite that extended playing career, Beltran is still young; he’ll be 43 on Opening Day next season.
Nation, do you think Tigers GM Al Avila should hire one of these three ‘candidates’ to be the Tigers’ next manager? Or, do you think they should be scratched off the list because of their history with cheating?
