Out in Arizona, one former Detroit Tigers catcher replaces another as the manager of the Diamondbacks. Bob Melvin is out, after four full seasons in the D-Backs dugout, which included a 2007 National League Manager of the Year award. His team tumbled badly after a great start last season, however, and they haven't been able to get themselves together this year. Overall, his winning percentage in Arizona was .498 (337-340).
What might be more interesting is who's taking over for Melvin. A.J. Hinch is in, news which was broken last night by SI.com's Jon Heyman. Hinch moves down from the front office, where he was the D-Backs' director of player development. (He has zero managerial experience, as Mike McClary emphatically pointed out to me last night, via text message.)
Can't Kirk Gibson get any consideration or love for a managerial position? You have to figure he was interested, if he went all the way out to Arizona to be Melvin's bench coach, right?
Melvin was a first-round pick by the Tigers in 1981, playing 47 games with the big league club in 1985 before being traded to San Francisco in a deal that brought Matt Nokes (among others) to Detroit. He played 10 major league seasons. Hinch, meanwhile, was on the infamous 2003 Tigers team that finished 49-113 43-119, appearing in 27 games. (Rick Schu, who was also dismissed as hitting coach along with Melvin, played 98 games with the 1989 Tigers.)
Mostly, I'm bringing this up because it's kind of a slow news day and the former Tigers connections are notable. However, I suppose it's also worth contemplating whether or not Melvin could be in the mix should the Tigers decide they don't want to bring Jim Leyland back next season. It's obviously premature, as we're not even 30 games into this season and the team is playing pretty well. But is Melvin someone to consider if a change is eventually made?