The Cleveland Guardians won 92 games in 2024 and made it all the way to the American League Championship Series.
That means they, as an organization, did an admirable job with the resources they had at hand.
Unfortunately, that means other teams are aiming to ‘steal’ some valuable executives and coaches from the Guardians.
The St. Louis Cardinals already nabbed Rob Cerfolio from Cleveland to oversee their played development department.
Now, it’s the Miami Marlins threatening to take a member of the Guardians coaching staff.
“Craig Albernaz, Clayton McCullough Interviewed For Marlins Managerial Opening,” MLB Trade Rumors posted on X.
Craig Albernaz, Clayton McCullough Interviewed For Marlins Managerial Opening https://t.co/RXldFAwO6B pic.twitter.com/igudCaJb78
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) October 25, 2024
Albernaz replaced DeMarlo Hale as the Guardians bench coach ahead of the 2024 campaign and formed a formidable dugout tandem with Stephen Vogt.
Per MLBTR, “Albernaz is now “viewed as one of the top candidates” for the position, perhaps due to his time working alongside Marlins POBO Peter Bendix in the Rays organization.”
The Marlins were one of the worst teams in the National League this year, but executed some impressive deadline trades as sellers and have a bright future.
For a young, talented baseball guy like Albernaz, that could be a great starting point for his potential managerial career.
There are other candidates, though, so nothing is set in stone.
A former player who didn’t make it to the major leagues, Albernaz’s coaching career started in 2015 a year after he retired as a player.
He became widely known for being the San Francisco Giants catching and bullpen coach from 2020 to 2023.
After that, he took the bench coach gig for the Guardians and had a very successful year.
His performance has caught the eye of other MLB squads, though.
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