The Cleveland Indians at the major league level will likely come back mostly unchanged from the 2016 group that made it to the 10th inning of Game 7 of the World Series, but down below in the minor leagues there are a few changes and positions to fill among the coaching staffs.
The biggest news to anyone who follows the Indians minor leagues closely is that Dave Wallace, who has managed the AA Akron RubberDucks the last three seasons, will be transitioning into some new internal role that won’t be managing or day-to-day coaching. That role has yet to be determined, but the 37 year old husband and father of two young kids would like to be able to see his family more often than the duties of managing in the bus leagues allow. It’s very hard to blame him, as Wallace went from playing, to retiring at the age of 28 in 2008 to being a minor league manager in 2011 at Mahoning Valley before being promoted to Akron.
There are many who cover the Indians minor leagues on a day-to-day basis, myself included, as well as other baseball writers who believe Wallace is destined to be a big league manager some day. Wallace is as bright as they come, uses his youth to his benefit to connect with players and is very much like current Indians Manager Terry Francona in that he is a great communicator and is a players’-manager who knows his people extremely well. Whatever role Wallace winds up filling, he should be excel there. He will consider this a stepping stone to help be a more well rounded baseball mind and will continue to be one of the better coaches and people in the organization.
In addition to the need to fill Wallace’s shoes at Akron, last year’s RubberDucks hitting coach, former Indian Tim Laker, left for Arizona to the Diamondbacks hitting coach with new Manager Torey Lovullo and GM Mike Hazen. Both Lovullo and Hazen, surprisingly, spent time in the Indians organization.
At Low-A Lake County, Steve McCatty, who was the pitching coach for Washington in 2015 under Matt Williams, served the same role for the Captains in 2016. He left the Indians organization after one season to join the White Sox organization to be the pitching coach for the AAA Charlotte Knights whose manager, Mark Grudzielanek, is a former Indian.
The Indians have yet to announce their minor league field staffs or what replacements they need to make. As for Akron, the Indians could move Mark Budzinski from Lynchburg there and find a new manager for both Lake County and Lynchburg. Budzinski is well liked but might prefer the Virginia area at this time. Travis Fryman, who serves as one of the Indians minor league infield coordinators, is likely still not an option as he hasn’t wanted to manage for quite some time due to time commitments and not wanting to be away from his family.
John McDonald is also serving as a minor league infield coordinator. His ability to roam as an instructor might be too valuable to stick him at one level, but he might be a popular option to replace any managerial position in the organization. Steve Karsay is well liked by players and the organization. He could finally get a shot to manage at Akron if he wants it.
Almost everyone in the Indians organization knows that Scott Atchison is a pitching coach in waiting. While he has played an instrumental role with the big league pitching staff, he could fill a pitching coach void in the minors, maybe Lake County.
Justin Toole is probably a good bet to gain a managerial role in the minors soon, if not this year. Lake County might be the ideal role for him if Tony Mansolino and Budzinski both move up or on from their roles as manager. Toole is a bit like Wallace where he is smart, young, well liked by both the players and the organization.
A couple other names to throw out there that might be unlikely are Travis Hafner, if he wanted to move into a managerial or structured hitting coach role. Matt Blake, who has his own pitching performance business, is in a roving pitching instructional role that focuses on development and philosophy, could be a candidate for a pitching coach role. However, he seems to like the traveling freedom of his role now. He’s another coaching hidden gem in the Indians organization that they hope to hold onto.
Stay tuned to see some interesting movements, if you’re a nerd like me.
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