Some good news came out of the Giants’ media today — for the Dodgers — as it was announced that Bob Geren, the current bench coach for Los Angeles, was not named a finalist to fill the San Francisco Giants’ managerial vacancy.
No doubt Geren wanted the managerial gig, but it does mean that there is a really strong chance that he returns to the Dodgers to continue his duties as a bench coach in 2020. Under the direction of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, the former Oakland A’s manager has thrived.
The players love him and he seems to always command respect in the clubhouse. It would be huge if the Dodgers keep him next season considering their roster is poised to get a lot younger with the departures of Russell Martin, David Freese, Rich Hill, and possibly Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Heard the #SFGiants are down to a final 3 in their manager derby. There’s likely to be a final round of interviews next week. Pedro Grifol, Joe Espada and Gabe Kapler are among those not known to have been eliminated. @PavlovicNBCS identified those 3 as the likely final 3
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 1, 2019
Instead of Geren, the Giants have opted to move further with three finalists for the position with former Dodgers scouting director Gabe Kapler being amongst the group.
At this point in time, expectations are that Geren will be returning to his post as bench coach which is undoubtedly good news for the Dodgers. Geren has been praised in the past by former Mets GM Sandy Alderson for his strong understanding of advanced statistics and analytical baseball. With the way the Dodgers operate, they need him or someone of his ilk to maintain the bench coach job.
