Major League Baseball announced the All-Star coaching staffs as selected Terry Francona and Clint Hurdle today. Assisting Francona with the AL squad will be Tigers manager Jim Leyland and Yankees manager Joe Girardi, in addition to the rest of his Red Sox staff, while Hurdle picked Padres manager Bud Black and Mets manager Willie Randolph, in addition to his Rockies staff, to help with the NL.The selections seem completely arbitrary: as my collegue Pat Lackey pointed out over email, it seems odd that Black is getting the honor given that San Diego currently has the worst record in baseball and completely collapsed down the stretch last year. The selection of Leyland is equally confusing given Detroit's slow start.
I'm guessing Girardi and Randolph are getting a pass for their team's disappointing starts because the game is being played in New York, but in a cruel coincidence, today's announcement happens to coincide with a new wave of rumors surrounding Ranolph's job security.
What happens if Randolph gets canned between now and the game? Can he still help out as a free agent? That seems to weird to be the case. Will the Mets interim skipper get the honor? That doesn't seem fair, either. I'm guessing Hurdle would just select someone else. Based on the criteria currently being used for Black, Leyland and Girardi, Nats skipper Manny Acta or Red skipper Dusty Baker look like perfect candidates, what with being in last place and all.
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