Joe Vavra returns as bench coach

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins officially announced Eddie Guardado and Neil Allen as their new bullpen and pitching coaches, respectively. In a surprise, the Twins announced that Joe Vavra will remain on the big league coaching staff as the bench coach.

 

I'm sure many won't like this, but he is a very smart guy, a baseball lifer, a guy with his head in the numbers... probably an ideal choice for a manager to have at his side.

 

That said, I am surprised. I have tweeted the last few weeks that I would love to see him retained and replace Bill Springman as the minor league hitting coordinator because of his experience and intelligence. This works too for me.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Sweet - I don't have to change my avatar.

 

If they were just going to hire Vavra, why didn't they announce this a long time ago?

[Brandon]

The Twins officially announced Eddie Guardado and Neil Allen as their new bullpen and pitching coaches, respectively. In a surprise, the Twins announced that Joe Vavra will remain on the big league coaching staff as the bench coach.

 

I'm sure many won't like this, but he is a very smart guy, a baseball lifer, a guy with his head in the numbers... probably an ideal choice for a manager to have at his side.

 

That said, I am surprised. I have tweeted the last few weeks that I would love to see him retained and replace Bill Springman as the minor league hitting coordinator because of his experience and intelligence. This works too for me.

This surprises me too.  I liked him as a coach.  I can see him as a 3B coach.  I don't think he failed as the Twins hitting coach either when Brunansky replaced him there, as that was more of a promote Brunansky or potentially loose him.  I was expecting the bench coach to be someone with past managerial experience. 

 

So now we just need to find out who the 3rd base coach will be.

[Brandon]

Sweet - I don't have to change my avatar.

 

If they were just going to hire Vavra, why didn't they announce this a long time ago?

Do you think they tried to bring someone else in first and were turned down?  and had Vavra tabbed for another position.

 

Plus Vavra has 2 kids in the Twins system and I think one is a legitimate prospect. 

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Do you think they tried to bring someone else in first and were turned down? 

or possibly they offered Vavra the job right away and he's been debating it given his injury history from last year.

[Winston Smith]

The big plus is he already knows the Twins secret hand shake. Bad enough they have one outsider coming in.

[h2oface]

Wow.  I find it hard to believe that Molitor is getting any choice at all on who his coaches are.  I could be very wrong, of course, and I don't think even if what I suspect is true, that Molitor would ever confirm it unless things all go to hell and he tells us on the way out.  Just don't let Varva coach third.... please.

[Mike Sixel]

Meh. No one knows if he is any good at this or not.....but it is certainly legit ammo to those that don't think much is changing on a team that loses and loses. One data point is not a trend....but this isn't one data point.

[Seth Stohs]

Do you think they tried to bring someone else in first and were turned down?  and had Vavra tabbed for another position.

 

Plus Vavra has 2 kids in the Twins system and I think one is a legitimate prospect. 

 

I don't think that at all. My guess is they talked to a half-dozen or more possible candidates, maybe some were former managers or not, and they came to the realization that Vavra was perfect for the job. They clearly didn't just hand it to him, or they would have announced that at the same time as Brunansky or Glynn. 

[Squirrel]

 

 

So now we just need to find out who the 3rd base coach will be.

I thought Glynn was the 3rd base coach?  I think all that's left is 1st base coach?  Or do I have that backwards?

 

Anyway, I am a bit surprised by this.  I've always liked Vavra and thought they'd find a way to keep in the organization, but as bench coach?  That surprises me. 

[Seth Stohs]

Wow.  I find it hard to believe that Molitor is getting any choice at all on who his coaches are.  I could be very wrong, of course, and I don't think even if what I suspect is true, that Molitor would ever confirm it unless things all go to hell and he tells us on the way out.  Just don't let Varva coach third.... please.

 

He won't. He's the bench coach. Gene Glynn is the 3B coach. 

[USAFChief]

Well, he's had just about every other job on the Twins staff, why not another?

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

As long as he's not pinch running

 

Well, he's had just about every other job on the Twins staff, why not another?

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'm surprised by this and a touch disappointed that they didn't go outside the organization.

 

On the other hand, I've always though Vavra got a bit of a raw deal as hitting coach. The offense performed quite well under his tutelage.

[Seth Stohs]

I'm surprised by this and a touch disappointed that they didn't go outside the organization.

 

On the other hand, I've always though Vavra got a bit of a raw deal as hitting coach. The offense performed quite well under his tutelage.

 

Correct, and being the hitting coach when your team had 2 MVPs, a bunch of silver sluggers, etc., is pretty good. He helped Mauer and Morneau through their great years. He helped Cuddyer and Hunter and Kubel become really good players. he wasn't able to fix Delmon. Not sure we should hold that against him, though he did have his best year with him.

[nicksaviking]

Seems to me Glynn would have been the choice for bench coach if Steinbach wasn't retained and they again stayed in-house for a candidate.

 

I have to think there were other options they were considering that for some reason or another didn't pan out, otherwise I'm not sure why Steinbach gets replaced by Vavra.

[Halsey Hall]

I'm surprised and disappointed.  I really wanted some new blood for bench coach.  Guess Molly really likes him.  But I wouldn't be surprised that another choice or choices turned down the job. 

[jokin]

Well, he's had just about every other job on the Twins staff, why not another?

 

But isn't this a "promotion", possibly involving a raise in pay?  Two sons in the program seems to be the best reason thus far proffered for his retention.

[old nurse]

Can anyone claim any of the coaching hires do not know their baseball? At best you could make that claim for Everyday Eddie. Know one really knows the work he has done coaching to say one way or another.

[maxisagod]

Sounds like Molitor wanted him on staff the whole time (acording to Rhett Bollinger). Maybe 1st base,  maybe bench. We may never know. 

 

A bench coach is a resource for the manager. Collects match up info, should have a lot of data on switch hitters, match up history, defensive shifting, calls in for video replay info, helps run Spring training (One of many things Molitor has never done), basically an in game strategist. He would not be my choice, but looking at that criteria, he may not a bad choice. But I'd rather have a data guy then an old school guy, who's "been around the game". Both would be nice...

[Willihammer]

Seems to me Glynn would have been the choice for bench coach if Steinbach wasn't retained and they again stayed in-house for a candidate.

 

I have to think there were other options they were considering that for some reason or another didn't pan out, otherwise I'm not sure why Steinbach gets replaced by Vavra.

Eh, give it a year.

[jokin]

Four consecutive 90+-loss seasons should indicate that the country club full of guys that have been around for 10+ years needed a wholesale change in direction, notwithstanding individual coaching talents, this move is the opposite of that.  I'm surprised that Molitor is going along with this, but if he is, I suppose there's a chance that he knows Vavra well enough to feel they can develop some synergies working together.

[Seth Stohs]

Sounds like Molitor wanted him on staff the whole time (acording to Rhett Bollinger). Maybe 1st base,  maybe bench. We may never know. 

 

A bench coach is a resource for the manager. Collects match up info, should have a lot of data on switch hitters, match up history, defensive shifting, calls in for video replay info, helps run Spring training (One of many things Molitor has never done), basically an in game strategist. He would not be my choice, but looking at that criteria, he may not a bad choice. But I'd rather have a data guy then an old school guy, who's "been around the game". Both would be nice...

 

This is a great definition of a bench coach. Maybe others would add things to it, but it's pretty in line with what I feel the bench coach's duties are. In saying that, Vavra is very good at all of those things. Remember articles written on him when he was hitting coach talking about his use of advanced stats and more video? He gets it.  

 

Are there other guys in baseball who could do that and have done that, like Vavra? Maybe, but none of us knows who they are, do we? Going outside the organization just to go outside the organization makes no sense either.

[jokin]

This is a great definition of a bench coach. Maybe others would add things to it, but it's pretty in line with what I feel the bench coach's duties are. In saying that, Vavra is very good at all of those things. Remember articles written on him when he was hitting coach talking about his use of advanced stats and more video? He gets it.  

 

Are there other guys in baseball who could do that and have done that, like Vavra? Maybe, but none of us knows who they are, do we? Going outside the organization just to go outside the organization makes no sense either.

 

 

Pretty soon Vavra's going to be borrowing some of those Chuck Norris meme-generators to make his very own:

 

 

 

Mike Berardino @MikeBerardino  ·  1h 1 hour ago

Terry Ryan on Vavra: "Joe's a good baseball man. He'll work with catchers."

 

JOE VAVRA-

 

"Henry Blanco and Terry Steinbach may have been available to coach our catchers, but I bet you didn't know who they looked to to develop their skillsets."

 

Is there anything he can't do?

[Monkeypaws]

What the hell does a "bench coach" do anyway? Take over after the manger gets kicked out?

[Pius Jefferson]

Joe Mauer was the best catcher in baseball for nearly a decade and he never had a former catcher on the coaching staff. I think there's a reason to question the decision , but not because Vavra was chosen over a former catcher.

[Bark's Lounge]

I was caught off guard when I heard the news that Vavra was named bench coach, I certainly did not see that coming. Stohs and others have said a lot of good things about the guy and that he would stay in the org in some kind of capacity. They can't all be wrong, can they?

 

I am going to buy into this move, the Twins must really value his baseball acumen/intelligence and I would have to believe that Molitor did indeed want Vavra on board his staff. I am a Molitor backer so I'm going to be chill with this move.

 

We could all argue the rest of our lives over the last two months of coaching upheavals and hirings. Sort of seems like a waste of time, but then again, that is probably one the important features of this site.

 

Anyways, I hope it turns out for the best.

[jokin]

What the hell does a "bench coach" do anyway? Take over after the manger gets kicked out?

 

Stuart Miller of the NY Times had an excellent article on the evolving role and importance of the bench coach. 

 

Next to the Manager, but a Bit Ahead

 

 

 

Bench coaches have more responsibilities than ever. With managers diverted to pregame and postgame news conferences and other demands, they must delegate more. “Bench coaches run spring training and do things like schedule batting practice and stretching before games,” Pettini said.

 

Baseball’s technological and numbers revolution has also expanded the bench coach’s portfolio to include monitoring scouting reports and statistics. 

 

 (and a major stepping stone job for someone up-and-coming)

 

 “There is just so much more information now,” said Terry Francona, who was a bench coach for two teams between managing stints in Philadelphia and in Boston...                          

Dave Martinez, who had no coaching experience before Joe Maddon made him the bench coach in Tampa Bay, agrees. “Joe liked that I could see things before they happened, but he also wanted someone who was opinionated,” Martinez said. “And I always ask Joe why whenever he makes or doesn’t make a move.”

 

Martinez aspires to follow in his mentor’s footsteps — Maddon was the Los Angeles Angels’ bench coach before becoming the Rays’ manager — and knows that as long he keeps analyzing every situation and offering his insights, it is fine if Maddon does not use every one.

                                                                                                                                                                                            

 

Hopefully, someone, or more than just one someone, sees some/all of these attributes in Vavra, and that's why the hire was made.  All we heard today from Ryan is that Vavra's "been a good baseball man".  And apparently, as a career middle infielder, he has Ryan's confidence that he will be good enough to take over the catcher supervision.  Time will only tell.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

This surprises me too.  I liked him as a coach.  I can see him as a 3B coach.  I don't think he failed as the Twins hitting coach either when Brunansky replaced him there, as that was more of a promote Brunansky or potentially loose him.  I was expecting the bench coach to be someone with past managerial experience. 

 

So now we just need to find out who the 3rd base coach will be.

i predict the third base coach will be Gene Glynn

[ashbury]

i predict the third base coach will be Gene Glynn

I predict Bruce Willis was actually dead the whole last 90 minutes of the film.