On Monday, the Boston Red Sox announced that Grady Little is their new manager. Boston's new ownership wanted to complete the search for a replacement for Joe Kerrigan quickly so that the new manager would still have a few weeks of Spring Training left with the team before Opening Day.

Boston only interviewed three candidates. Mike Cubbage, who held the job of interim manager for 6 days, was given an interview but will now return to coaching 3rd base. Former Montreal Manager Felipe Alou was the third and last to interview. The Red Sox requested permission to interview Oakland bench coach Ken Macha, but the A's would not allow Macha to go without compensation. Houston also denied their bench coach Tony Pena permission to interview. Former Minnesota Manager Tom Kelly, who is still under contract with the Twins after retiring following the 2001 season, was granted permission to interview but declined the offer. Although Los Angeles consented to third base coach Glenn Hoffman speaking with Boston, he preferred to stay with the Dodgers.

Boston's criteria for the position included past managerial experience at the minor and/or major league level. While Little has never before held a major league manager's position, he has 16 years of minor league managerial experience with 3 different organizations.

Baltimore
1980: R Appalachian League
1981-82: A Carolina League
1983: AA Southern League
1984: A Carolina League

Toronto
1985: A Carolina League
1986-87: R Appalachian League

Atlanta
1988: A Midwest League
1989-91: A Carolina League
1992: AA Southern League
1993-95: AAA International League

His experience was spread over a wide range of levels, including 3 years of Rookie ball, 8 years of A-ball, 2 years at AA, and 3 years of AAA. In that time he was 1st in his division 5 times and finished 1st overall 4 times, finishing with a losing record in only 6 seasons. Little shared managerial duties in 1984 and 1988 but managed full seasons in each of the other 14 years. He has a reported record of 1054-903.

In 1996, San Diego hired him as their bullpen coach under Bruce Bochy, who I consider to be a very good example manager. Little left the Padres to go to the Red Sox in 1997 as the bench coach under Jimy Williams. While Williams isn't exactly an ideal mentor, Little's time in Boston means he has some familiarity with the Red Sox's players, as there is a substantial amount of overlap between the 1999 and 2002 teams. Following his time in Boston, Little became the bench coach in Cleveland under Charlie Manuel, which was the position he left for his new post. His time with the Indians should mean that he is also somewhat familiar with Manny Ramirez. Manuel's health problems meant that Little was reportedly left to manage the team on 26 separate occasions.

I might be a bit concerned that six years away from managing could potentially leave him a bit rusty, but between the opportunities he's had to manage Cleveland and the fact that he has three weeks of Spring Training, I think he should be ready by Opening Day. He's said that though he's been influenced by Bochy, Williams, Manuel, and Bobby Cox (I presume during his extended minor league time with the Braves), he has his own style. He also has a fun-loving reputation but is also respected by both the front office and the players.

MLB.com writer Ian Browne including in his article a quote from Little which provides us with a good look at a portion of Little's managerial philosophies. He quotes Little as saying, "I'm an aggressive manager. . . I like action on the field. If they have the ability to run, they'll run. If they don't, I don't want them running into outs."

I like the fact that the Red Sox are bringing in some fresh blood rather than recycling someone who's already seen time as a major league manager. Little appears to have generous amounts of minor league managerial experience combined with some quality time as a major league coach. While these factors don't guarantee him success in the majors, he was certainly a quality selection and it should be interesting to watch how he progresses this year.

In other news, Ramon Hernandez signed a four-year, $9.5 million contract with the Oakland A's on Sunday. I'm fairly sure that he would have been arbitration-eligible for the first time after this season, so this contract should take him all the way to free agency following the 2005 season.

As a catcher, Hernandez offers a complete package with both offensive and defensive skills. His plate discipline still leaves much to be desired, but he's not yet 26 and studies show catchers often mature into their offense later in their careers because of the need to spend extra time on their defense. With the guidance of the Oakland system, I can see him maturing into a hitter capable of 25 HR a year with a .375 OBP about the time he turns 29.

Having a consistent starting catcher should also benefit the pitchers, many of whom are also signed to multi-year deals. This move really benefits the entire team and comes at a very nice price. While I don't have the yearly breakdowns, an average price of less than $2.5M a year seems quite reasonable for the production the organization can expect. Hernandez can be pleased with the contract because it offers him financial stability in case of injury.

General Manager Billy Beane has excelled at signing key members of the organization to multi-year contracts. The fact that 10 players on the team are signed beyond the 2002 season and many of those are signed beyond the 2003 season is highly unusual, but it does give Oakland fans hope for a continuation of their recent success.