Earlier this week, the Jays hired longtime Tampa Bay Ray alum Charlie Montoyo to be their new skipper while the Rangers today tabbed Los Angeles Dodgers third base coach Chris Woodward as their new man in the dugout.
Montoyo succeeds John Gibbons who guided the Jays to back to back losing seasons after back to back post-season appearances in 2015 and 2016. He joined the Rays even before they ever took the field in 1997 and managed in their minor league system until joining Kevin Cash's coaching staff in 2015 first as the bench coach before becoming third base coach this season. For his part, Montoyo has said he doesn't see deploying an opener as the Rays so frequently did in 2018. It will be interesting to see how Montoyo works with Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. Montoyo was briefly teammates with his father Vladimir Guerrero with the Montreal Expos in 1993.
While Montoyo's big league playing career lasted only four games, Woodward spent 12 seasons in MLB primarily as a shortstop with the Blue Jays, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, two stints with the Seattle Mariners and the Boston Red Sox before finishing his career with the Jays in 2011.
The following year Woodward returned to the Mariners as their minor league infield coordinator and became the club's infield coach at the big league level in 2014. He became the Dodgers' third base coach in 2016 and was part of back to back NL champions in 2017 and 2018. Woodward's only managerial experience came during the World Baseball Classic when he managed New Zealand during the qualifying rounds in 2016.
Woodward succeeds Jeff Banister. Like Gibbons in Toronto, after back to back playoff appearances in 2015 and 2016, the Rangers fell on hard times and finished last in the AL West in both 2017 and 2018. The Rangers dismissed Banister on September 21st. Bench coach Don Wakamatsu took over for the remainder of the season. Some thought Wakamatsu, who managed the Mariners in 2009 and 2010, could be a full time replacement. But the Rangers are continuing the trend of hiring first time big league managers. It is unclear if Wakamatsu will remain with the Rangers in 2019.
Both Montoyo and Woodward will have their work cut out turning around former post-season rivals. Although not as big as whoever is hired to be the new manager of the Baltimore Orioles who are coming off a 115 loss season.
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