Little late on this, but worthy of mention. The Sox bench coach, Brad Mills, has departed to Houston for two years plus a club option. All the platitudes out of Sox camp you expected to hear were said.
Houston owner Drayton McLane said that — and Francona verified — Mills was given a lot more responsibility than your average bench coach. He ran spring training and handled most of the player communication. That’s great, and it makes Mills doubly qualified to be a big league manager.
But it worries me from Francona’s perspective. All along, we’ve heard that he’s a player’s manager and players love him. How do they know that if it’s Mills doing most of the talking all season? And if it’s Mills doing the bonding monotonous exercises in spring training? Has Mills been the man responsible for what Tito supposedly excels at? Is Tito more the game manager, and Mills the player’s manager? If true, maybe you start hearing about how Tito’s become more stern over the years.
All conjecture, but it crossed my mind.
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Perhaps Varitek can step into that bench role….hmmmmm.
Interesting. Maybe briliant. I first considered the natural progression of coaches (i.e. Johnson or Hale), but this real merit. I had thought of Tek as a "catcher development coach" to work with Brown, Wagner, Expo, Fedex AND the ptiching coaches and pitchers. But he has attributes of a bench coach. Despite arguments against this move, but here are some in favor.
He is highly organized so could probably run ST. The players respect him and, as "Ass't" manager, wouldn't have Girardi's baggage Girardi of going from player to manager. . He has historic linkage to '04 and '07, plus a personal history of GG,, All Star, Captain so, in the Sox system in 10 – 20 years he would carry that gravitas. He could work with the bullpen coach, and have excellent input for Tito about utilizing pitchers. It's a big enough job to assuage ego issues, and fast-track him into management circles, perhaps replacing Tito.down the road. Part of his job description could be "catcher development". IMO, it's a great idea .
I replied from work, but I think it got kicked out, so here it is again. You may have a brilliant idea here, so out of the box it has potential to really work. I had thought Johnson or Hale for Mills, and had suggested Tek should be a highly paid "catcher development coach", working with Brown, Wagner, Expo, Fedex, etc. and minor league pitchers and pitching coaches.
Tek may be a brilliant dark horse candidate to replace Brad Mills. He is highly organized and could run ST, he would have good advice for Theo and John in terms of utilzing and removing pitchers. He gets it. As Theo's "assistant", the respect of players would be useful. Historically, his status as All-Star, GG, Captain and link to 2004 and 2007 would, 10-20 years from now would bridge generations. It's the kind of creative move that would help the Sox in 2010, bolster Tek's ego, neturalize Bora$$, bring us a great young catcher (Montero? Wagner? Expo?), and segue Tek into a high level of coaching with the Sox; Boston's Yogi, where he belongs.
The concerns are understandable, but I don't particularly share them. This is an organization with a purpose, built solidly from top to bottom. Tito and Millsy have been valuable members of a management team. Replacing a key person is no fun, but if the organization is solid, anyone is replaceable.
Put it this way: have the Patriots fallen off the map when Weis, Crennel, Mangini, Pioli, or McDaniels departed? I think the Sox have a similar approach to building and maintaining a quality franchise. Brad Mills will be missed — and frankly, I think he's a little nuts to take the Astros job, what with Drayton McLane's meddlesomeness — but the organization will stay on course.
i'm worried for brad mills! we all know the unreasonable expectations put on managers by most mlb clubs.
it reminds me of the saying "you can't polish a turd." by that i mean if you have a crappy roster no matter who is posting the line-up card it typically doesn't lead to 'extra' wins.
i hope he isn't looking for a job in a year and a half.