The Detroit Tigers interviewed the first candidate for their open manager spot on Thursday, sitting down with long-time hitting coach Lloyd McClendon, reports Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.
Tigers interview Lloyd McClendon for manager job
Detroit’s long-time hitting coach sat down with the Tigers brass on Thursday.
Leon Halip
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McClendon told Crasnick that he thought the interview "went very well," but now he just has to wait and see. The former Pirates skipper (2001-2005) has been with the Tigers for eight seasons, the last seven of which were spent as the club's hitting coach.
McClendon didn’t have a great record in his five seasons managing the Bucs -- going 336-446 overall -- but no one else (not named Clint Hurdle) has had much luck managing the Pittsburgh recently either, so it’s hard to judge his managing acumen solely off of that.
Of the several teams looking for a new skipper, the Tigers are the newest club on the block; Jim Leyland, who had been at the helm in Detroit since 2006, just announced that he was stepping down on Monday. As such, the team is just jumping into the preliminary interview stage.
Beyond McClendon, the field appears to be wide open. Recently resigned Mariners skipper Eric Wedge has shown interest in taking over in Detroit, and bench coach Gene Lamont seems a likely in-house candidate, but there don't really seem to be any standout candidates at the moment.
A rumor has emerged that Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson -- who has a long history with the Tigers -- could leave his post in Arizona to take over in Detroit, but it appears unlikely that he'll step out of his contract.
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