Obsessive New Manager Watch: Leyland/Baker/Mattingly Implications, Maddux, Renteria, Lovullo

dusty baker classyIt’s the hottest story in the Cubs’ world right now, so I suppose it makes sense that there’s a ton to discuss once again today …

  • The most significant development over the past day or so is the opening of the Detroit Tigers’ managerial job on Jim Leyland’s announcement that he was ready to hang ’em up. The question, of course, is what impact will that opening have on the Cubs’ search? Would the Tigers job and the Cubs job really appeal to the same candidates? Indeed, would each respective organization be looking at the same kinds of candidates in the first place? The Tigers are established, competitive, and come with weighty expectations. The Cubs are developing, learning, and come with no expectations (except for the whole 105 years thing). There are rumblings, however, that there could be some overlap with respect to Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, at a minimum. The Cubs are still waiting for a shot to interview Lovullo once the World Series is over. Patrick Mooney has additional thoughts on Lovullo here.
  • The second most significant development, also outside of the Cubs’ direct world, is the closing of the Cincinnati Reds’ managerial job search, with reports that Bryan Price, the team’s pitching coach, would be promoted to take the spot vacated by Dusty Baker. Given that Cincy is still on the hook for Dusty’s significant 2014 salary, it’s unsurprising that they went the internal route for now. They weren’t likely to be in the mix for the same candidates the Cubs were interviewing, but, in any event, it closes out one job without taking one of the Cubs’ options.
  • Speaking of Baker and the Tigers, he’d be interested in that job if they came calling. Baker to a team that, in recent years, is great in the regular season and falls just short in the playoffs? Sounds like a perfect fit.
  • An additional non-Cub wrinkle to watch in all of this: although the Dodgers picked up his option for 2014, Don Mattingly doesn’t sound like he feels too wanted in LA, and there’s a possibility of a split there. If he leaves, there is obviously another high profile job open, and another candidate on the market (though I’d question a Mattingly fit with the Cubs).
  • Patrick Mooney and Gordon Wittenmyer, say that, despite weekend reports to the contrary, Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux is not a candidate for the Cubs job this time around, despite being a favorite back in 2011.
  • Add Dan Bernstein to the list of folks who say Rick Renteria is the favorite for the Cubs job. He adds that Dave Martinez also interviewed well.
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    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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