After the retirement of Ron Gardenhire the Detroit Tigers are now in search of their next Sparky Anderson. The Tigers got it wrong with Brad Ausmus, then right with Ron. Now, the Detroit Tigers find themselves in rebuild mode and need the right man for the job.
There are two names that keep popping up for the Detroit Tigers vacant manager position. Alex Cora and A.J. Hinch. Obviously, both these guys come with some baggage but both are great coaches. Al Avila doesn’t seem to mind the trouble with the MLB and these Managers.
“Obviously, the cheating scandal is not a good thing. They’re serving their suspensions.” Avila said, “And once their suspensions are over, they’ll be free to pursue their careers. We have not eliminated anybody from our list at this point.”
To me, that reads as “I don’t care they cheated, we need a good coach” Which is fair. I spend a lot of time arguing about hiring “good guys” on sports teams. I don’t care if they are saints, I want winners. In fact, a lot of great athletes weren’t great people. But we pay them to play game and WIN. That’s all I want out of my employees.
Alex Cora and AJ Hinch both come with baggage. They were both part of cheating teams. Although, it is reported that the cheating was “player driven”. Whether that is true or not doesn’t matter. Hinch and Cora were the leaders of those teams and are responsible for their actions.
AJ Hinch
I do find it hard to believe that Hinch sat in that dugout every day and couldn’t put 2 and 2 together. If that is the case, do we really want someone so oblivious coaching the Tigers? How can a manager be so out of touch with his club house culture?
For that reason alone I do not even want to come close to Hinch. Which may seem contradictory to the not caring about “Good Guys” but let me explain.
This isn’t about him being a good guy or bad guy. Its about him not being in touch with his players. That makes you a bad manager. That is what I care about. Plus, we don’t really know if he is a good manager or not. His teams had to cheat to win.
Alex Cora
Now, Alex is a guy that participated in the cheating. Actually some think he was the mastermind! I’m ok with that. To me, it shows this guy is hungry to win. He will scheme ways to make his team better. Stealing signs is a part of baseball and Cora knew what his team was doing.
“Cora was involved in developing both the banging scheme and utilizing the replay review room to decode and transmit signs,” Manfred wrote “Cora participated in both schemes, and through his active participation, implicitly condoned the players’ conduct.”
Alex Corea being well aware of the cheating and knowing what his players are doing is different than Hinch. I want a leader, even if its questionable tactics. I don’t want someone oblivious to what their team is doing.
So if we are picking between the two Ill take Cora all day. But why don’t we just be smart and find a great coach that can build this team and who doesn’t cheat? Shouldn’t be too hard to find, right?
