St. Louis Cardinals: Bell named manager and no sight of Matheny

Former St. Louis Cardinals’ coaches are and are not making news. The one making news may not be as noteworthy as the one who isn’t.

The St. Louis Cardinals once welcomed Mike Matheny as their manager. In his squad was David Bell who served as both assistant hitting coach and bench coach before leaving for the San Francisco Giants organization.

As of Sunday, or rather as of an announced press conference on Monday, Bell will be named the next manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

As of Sunday, despite reports that Matheny would be atop several of the lists for managerial vacancies, Matheny’s name is apparently nowhere near any list for managerial vacancy.

The news on Bell is not surprising. I covered potential Bell news yesterday. See the link below.

Nepotism may have been involved and perhaps that is what is keeping Mike Matheny off of lists… I wish I could say that with a straight face but I just cannot. I’m convinced that Matheny himself is what is keeping him off of lists.

Yes, Matheny had plenty of winning seasons but winning alone has yet to prove fruit-bearing in MLB. Why do I say this? Several winning managers have found themselves being welcomed to exit. In Matheny’s case, I believe his coaching choices led to his demise.

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Let’s take a look. Poor bullpen management. Distrust of players to management. No transparency of players to management regarding their health. Oh, and there is this one thing about keeping John Mabry in the role of hitting coach despite declining offensive numbers.

One other question: do you believe the decision of the St. Louis Cardinals to remove Matheny with two years remaining on his contract is keeping him from other gigs? I do. Just look at John Gibbons with the Blue Jays; he too was removed with time left on his contract and he too is still without a job.

I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize the fact that other more-qualified names are in the mix for managerial vacancies who are likely keeping Matheny off of lists. These include Brad Ausmus, Joe Girardi, and former players like Mark DeRosa, Eric Chavez, Omar Vizquel, and David Ross. Almost all of these (save for David Ross) would be better answers for clubs that Matheny.

So, at this point the St. Louis Cardinals should be proud and glad that of the two former Cardinals’ names, Bell is the one to land somewhere. Unfortunately, this now means that the St. Louis Cardinals must go nose-to-nose with a former coach who knew the Cardinals players well.

Time then for the Cardinals to add a player or players who Bell may not know as well. Go at it, Cardinals, add big names!

Do you think that Matheny is getting a poor shake? We all know that I do not feel that way, but I’d love to hear from you guys. Thanks and go Cardinals!