Minnesota Twins: Bench Coach Options
By Nate Palmer
Brad Ausmus
Brad Ausmus joins Alomar, Jr. as former major league catchers to make this list. Most recently, Ausmus served as the Detroit Tigers manager before being let go at the close of this season. Ausmus would certainly be a known commodity if the Twins considered him for their opening. After just being let go from a manager position, Ausmus may potentially not be willing to entertain a lesser role like that of being a teams bench coach. We do know he did interview for the Boston Red Sox position before they hired Alex Cora which at least confirms a willingness to still be in baseball for the 2018 season.
In his time with the Tigers, Ausmus did win one AL Central title but spent most of his time dealing with an aging and underperforming roster. Ausmus was unable to produce the results the front office had hoped for with that aging roster and once Dave Dombrowski was out of the picture the writing may have been on the wall for Ausmus. His experience with the division may lead the credentials of what makes Ausmus an intriguing name for the Twins.
Mike Redmond
Our third former major league catcher to make this list is “old friend” Mike Redmond. Redmond has experience as a manager with the Miami Marlins and is currently with the Colorado Rockies as their bench coach. Twins fans will likely remember him best as a solid backup catcher to Joe Mauer as well as some stories of his interesting locker-room antics.
Redmond was reportedly in the mix for the Phillies and Tigers jobs. Redmond was at one time regarded as a fast-rising manager and someone to keep an eye on. As noted in this article about Redmond, Baseball Prospectus 2015 described him as a solid tactician and someone who was good with platoons. Both skills that would be valuable to any major league bench.