Valleycats expect to pick manager soon
Team has interviewed six of eight possible candidates
The Tri-city Valleycats expect to hire a manager next week, general manager Matt Callahan said Thursday.
Callahan said the Valleycats have interviewed six candidates with two more scheduled. He said he expects the new manager will come from one of those eight candidates.
“The managerial search is going well,” Callahan said by text message. “We’ve had a lot of interest and some good interviews so far.”
Callahan said the managerial hire was the top priority when the Valleycats announced they were joining the independent Frontier League last Thursday after losing their Major League Baseball affiliation.
The new manager will take a major role in finding players. Tri-city had no need to procure talent when it was a minor-league affiliate of the Houston Astros, who sent their prospects to Tri-city.
The Valleycats never had to hire a manager, either. The Astros assigned them to the Valleycats. Under Houston, the Valleycats had 10 managers in 18 seasons, the past four for a year each.
Recently, Valleycats president Rick Murphy was asked what the Valleycats were looking for in a manager.
“Obviously, depth of baseball knowledge and also someone that could relate to today’s player and who can help them
maximize their potential and develop, but also understand there’s a certain way to play the game and we’d hope that somebody that’s disciplined, that our players are respectful of the game and understand that our organization emphasis is on integrity not only on the field but off the field,” Murphy said.
“We also want them to understand how important to be a good community partner. Those are things that now they are employees of the Valleycats, we would have a much larger say in that.”
Murphy added that experience with independent baseball would also be helpful, particularly in terms of managing the salary caps and player movements.
“I think what we’re going to try to do is find the individual that we think best exemplifies the qualities that can represent the Valleycat brand, can deliver the on-field product that our fans are used to seeing — the quality of the ball as well as young men who definitely care about the community and our fan base,’’ Murphy said.