Sandy Alomar happy to coach first base for Cleveland Indians: The week in baseball

Cleveland Indians vs. Milwaukee Brewers, September 4, 2020

Sandy Alomar filled in for manager Terry Francona last season, leading the Indians to a 28-18 record.John Kuntz, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A lot of people felt Sandy Alomar should have been named manager Terry Francona’s bench coach for the Indians. Alomar wasn’t one of them.

The Indians named DeMarlo Hale as bench coach on Monday to replace Brad Mills, who will not rejoin the staff after opting out of last season. The rest of the coaching staff was brought back for 2021 in their same roles.

When Francona dealt with a variety of health problems last season, Alomar moved from first base coach to acting manager and led the Indians to a 28-18 record and a spot in the wild-card round of the postseason. When it became clear Mills wouldn’t be returning as bench coach after the season, it seemed Alomar would be a natural fit to replace him.

The bench coach is the manager’s right-hand man, discussing in-game strategy and relaying his message to the rest of the team, coaches and organization. If the manager gets ejected from the game, or otherwise can’t manage, the bench coach usually replaces him. It’s a jumping off point for future managers, on-the-job training, if you will.

The Indians conducted internal and external interviews for the job when MIlls told them he wouldn’t be back. I reported Alomar and third base coach Mike Sarbaugh were internal candidates, which may have overstated the case.

Francona made it clear that Alomar or Sarbaugh, who served as Alomar’s bench coach last season, could have done the job, but but he wanted to keep continuity with the coaching staff.

“I just thought Sandy loves being at first, I value Sarby at third so we can have some continuity with our staff,” said Francona on Monday. “And then DeMarlo knows me. So he takes over for Millsy and we keep everybody where they are and we really don’t have a big turnover with our staff.”

That was fine with Alomar. “I have no problem with that,” he said.

Alomar said if he was the bench coach it would be harder for him to work with the catchers, something he enjoys and is passionate about. Alomar was a six-time All-Star and a Gold Glove-winning catcher with the Indians. Roberto Perez, one of his pupils, won his second straight Gold Glove this past season.

Alomar plays an important part in the Indians’ running game as the first base coach. He times pitchers’ deliveries to the plate and first base as well as catchers’ throwing times to the bases.

As for Alomar missing out on a managerial opportunity because he’s not the bench coach, that’s hard to imagine. Francona was incredulous when Alomar didn’t get serious consideration for a manager’s job this offseason. There were vacancies in Detroit, Boston and the White Sox.

“You know I want to be careful how I say this because I don’t want it to come across as I want Sandy to leave,“ said Francona. “But I was borderline stunned that somebody didn’t try to hire him away from us this winter, because I thought he basically did a 56-game interview process and did it under the most difficult of circumstances and kind of aced it.

“Now, for personal reasons, I’m glad he’s staying. I love having him on our staff. I love the fact that his ego is so little that he loves being the first-base coach and he understands the impact he can have on our team over there. And I guarantee you Sandy has as much or more responsibility than any first-base coach in baseball, and there’s a reason, and that’s because he’s really good.”

Alomar understands why Hale was hired.

“DeMarlo is a good choice,” said Alomar. “He has a relationship with Tito and is a great coach. He was one of my coaches in Texas in 2005.”

Hale was Francona’s bench coach in Boston after Mills left to manage the Houston Astros in 2010. Will Alomar get a chance to manage? Maybe. Does he deserve it? Definitely. Will it matter if he’s coaching first base or from the dugout as the bench coach? It shouldn’t.

Let us not forget: Some players to remember with connections to the Indians.

* Toronto reportedly is showing interest in closer Brad Hand, who went 16-for-16 last season for the Indians.

* Former Indians shortstop Felix “El Gato” Fermin is back managing Aguilas in the Dominican Republic after managing several years in Mexico.

* Sandy Leon, who caught for the Indians last season, is playing for Licey in the Dominican.

* Jake Elmore, who had some good moments as a utility man for the Indians in Spring Training II, is playing for Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican.

* Outfielder Will Benson is rated by mlb.com as the Indians’ top unprotected player for the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 10. Two fellow minor leaguers -- outfielder Oscar Gonzalez and right-hander Luis Oviedo -- are in the same boat. Gonzalez and Oviedo just started playing winter ball in the Dominican and Venezuela, respectively.

* Indians right-hander Emmanuel Clase is pitching for Estrellas in the Dominican. Former Indians catcher Francisco Mejia is on the roster.

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