Gene Glynn Names Red Wings Manager

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Welcome back to the work week following the Thanksgiving holiday and weekend. On Twitter, I think I was asked every day if there was any Twins news. It was a pretty quiet news weekend for the Twins and really for all of baseball. That is no surprise whatsoever as this is generally the quiet period. The Winter Meetings will start next week and a few things will happen, and there will be a ton of rumors. There will be plenty to talk about. It’s probably a good thing. Last night, my five-year-old daughter lost her first tooth. Seriously, it was a pretty incredible experience for a dad.

Red Wings Have a New Manager

On Friday, the Twins and Red Wings announced that Gene Glynn will be the next manager of the Rochester Red Wings. He will replace Tom Nieto, who was let go back in September. He will be joined by new hitting coach Tom Brunansky who was promoted from New Britain, and pitching coach Bobby Cuellar.

I have to admit when I saw the announcement, it was surprising and somewhat disappointing. For no reason, of course, When we first heard the list of managers that Jim Rantz was considering, it was exciting. I think we all were on board with going outside the organization. Names like Ken Oberkfell, Randy Ready, Ron Johnson and Jeff Cox were said to be in the running. There are mixed reports on which managers applied and interviewed, but those are good names. I always found it strange that Mike Quade was mentioned as a possibility. I think he was technically still the manager of the Chicago Cubs when those rumors started (although everyone knew that Theo Epstein would let him go). It came out later that he really wasn’t interested. No surprise there.

I know about minor league players, so the name Gene Glynn meant nothing to me. I read that he had not managed since 1992, and that was at the short-season, rookie ball level. He has coached in the big leagues for 13 years, with the Rockies, Expos, Cubs and Giants. He’s 55 years old. I also kept hearing how wonderful he was with fans and the media. Of course, this ‘news’ was coming from people in the media. And yes, I like the idea of a manager that is great with fans and will be very cooperative with the media. I don’t know if that makes the players better, and that’s what matters.

He was most recently scouting with the Tampa Bay Rays organization. He is touted as a great talent evaluator. Now that is what I want to hear. That is what I want to know. I’m fully behind this selection as Red Wings manager. Terry Ryan, Mike Radcliff, Wayne Krivsky. These guys are all talent evaluators, and in my opinion, that’s what it’s all about in the minor leagues. Players touted Brunansky as a terrific hitting coach last year in New Britain. Bobby Cuellar is very well respected in the game.

As we have seen, health and talent is what wins at every level. Glynn is a Minnesota native, from Waseca. Apparently he and Rantz have known each other for a long time. It appears to be a nice pick up for the Twins organization.

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