Bob Geren

Current Position: Dodgers Bench Coach (2016 – present)

Age: 9/22/61 (58)

Managerial Experience: 2007 – 2011 Oakland Athletics (334-376)

Short of Bruce Bochy and Tony La Russa, two Hall of Fame managers who had the opportunity to dictate when they wanted to retire, managerial tenures typically end badly. Of course, there are degrees to which tenures end badly, but Geren’s tenure with the Athletics is one which certainly stands out as fairly remarkable.

On May 23, 2011, then Athletics reliever Brian Fuentes would complain about Geren saying, “there’s just a lack of communication. I don’t think anybody knows what direction (Geren) is headed.” (John Shea, SF Gate).As bad as that was, Huston Street would say of Geren, “for me personally, he was my least favorite person I have ever encountered in sports from age 6 to 27.” (Sporting News).

This was an indication Geren had lost that clubhouse, and even with Geren having been the best man at Billy Beane‘s wedding, Geren would be out as manager two weeks later.

In a twist of irony, Geren’s next job in baseball would be the following year as Terry Collins‘ bench coach. For his part, Collins had been fired under similar circumstances by the then Anaheim Angels for a lack of communication and a near mutiny in the clubhouse. Together, Collins and Geren would be noted as having the pulse of their team and creating a positive environment where the players played hard for them.

In addition to being a bench coach, Geren worked with the catchers. We really saw his impact on Travis d’Arnaud. As a rookie, d’Arnaud struggled, yielding a league-worst 12 passed balls in addition to allowing 39 wild pitches. From there, d’Arnaud would become a strong defender and one of the best pitch framers in the game.

With d’Arnaud, we could see some of the criticisms Fuentes had may no longer apply as at least with d’Arnaud, Geren was able to effectively communicate and get the most out of his catchers. It wasn’t just his ability to coach d’Arnaud. It was his ability to connect as well. That was evident when Geren would officiate d’Arnaud’s wedding.

During his Mets tenure, he left an impression on Collins and Sandy Alderson. Collins would call him “invaluable” noting he was a statistical counterbalance to his approach. (Adam Rubin, ESPN). Alderson would have similar praise saying, “He’s done an exceptional job as our bench coach.”

After the 2015 season, Geren would leave the Mets to join the newly hired Dave Roberts‘ coaching staff with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Since Roberts and Geren took over, the Dodgers have won four straight division titles, been to three straight NLCS, and they have won consecutive pennants.

While Roberts has received the deserved accolades for his job with the Dodgers, including his being the 2016 National League Manager of the Year, Geren has proved to be an important part of the coaching staff. In fact, Roberts would say of Geren, “Bob doesn’t just coach the players, he coaches the coaches.” (Chris Erskine, Los Angeles Times).

Seeing the impact Geren has had with the Mets and the Dodgers, teams are once again considering him as a managerial candidate. He is a candidate because he has a strong handling of analytical information, has shown the ability to coach players, and over the last few years, it seems he has become a better communicator.

What The Players Say:

Huston Street – “You’re going to have professional differences. I sometimes think had I been a little older and little more mature, perhaps I would have reacted differently to the decisions that affected me. I think I’m as much to blame for a lot of it.” (Jon Heyman, CBS Sports).

Travis d’Arnaud – “It definitely makes it easier to see a familiar face, especially Bob. We had a lot of great times together with the Mets, and I’m really looking forward to working with him again.” (Jorge Castillo, Los Angeles Times).

Kenley Jansen – “We feel, me and Uncle Bob [Geren], we’ve been talking about it for a little bit and he came up with the idea with [leads of] two runs or three runs and two outs. Especially yesterday, tying run at the plate, not saying anything about nobody, you just never know. Always got to be on your toes. Just be extra little cautious.” (Ken Gurnick, MLB.com).

Recommendation:

Time changes everyone. In another sport, we saw that happen with Tom Coughlin. He went from an authoritarian on the verge of completely losing his team to someone who would create the “Leadership Council.” That turn allowed a head coach to actually do what he does best – coach. That led the Giants to two Super Bowl championships.

With Geren, we see someone who could be described as terrible in Oakland. That is certainly the case when your two closers chastise you publicly for how you completely lack communication skills and you are classified as the worst person in all of sports.

From there, Geren has learned how to better connect with players. He officiated d’Arnaud’s wedding. Jansen refers to him as Uncle Bob. We have seen Collins and Roberts speak glowingly about the support he provides his manager. His ability to handle analytics makes him someone a team wants on the coaching staff. The question is whether he is ready to once again become a manager.

From what we have seen in New York and Los Angeles, the answer is yes. While not inspiring, Geren could prove to be a good manager for whichever team is able to hire him.

If that would be the Mets, they would be hiring a manager accustomed to the front office meddling in all of the decisions the manager makes, and they would be hiring someone who is noted as a good coach able to reach players. In the end, while this may not be the manager fans want, this is a manager who could get the results they yearn to see.