No Return for Manetti as Coqui Move On

[MikeB]

There was hope among fans and some players that at some point San Juan and Manager Sergio Manetti would come to their senses but time ran out today as the Coqui hired a replacement.

San Juan did well with another former London manager and are hoping to hit paydirt again by bringing in Pablo Morales to take the helm. He has big shoes to fill. Manetti led the Coqui to a title in 2031 and a franchise-record 103 wins last season. Outside of Crystal Lake’s Joe Matterson no other manager has won more games or won titles with different teams.

After eight seasons leading San Juan (and another as bench coach), the 61-year old walked away by choice at season’s end. The feud between skipper  and the San Juan front office began brewing in early August.

“Bottom line is we offered Sergio two deals and he didn’t sign either one and cut off talks afterward and hasn’t taken a phone call since,” said Best.

At $520,000 for three years, the Coqui got Morales at far less than Manetti would have garnered. And money is a problem for the team right now. Despite record attendance, the Coqui are likely to watch Mike Rose and Kelvin McDonald walk out the door when free agency opens, helpless to make them offers. The team has frantically been trying to trade someone to free up funds - the likely candidate being second baseman José González who they feel they can replace in-house. But despite Box Car’s 3.4 WAR, second among second basemen in the IL, no interested parties have emerged.

The San Juan front office has been trying to put a spin on the change but doubters abound. Morales, 51, has managed London for the past four seasons posting a 277-289 record. Like Manetti, he is more friendlier with hitters than pitchers.

“It’s no secret London hasn’t been that great the past few seasons,” said Best. “But they had back-to-back winning seasons two and three years ago and not a lot of people expected that. We think he did a good job there.”

Perhaps more appealing to the team was his penchant for smallball, something Manetti adapted to but wasn’t his style. Expect more hitting and running, bunting and stealing (if that’s possible). Morales also likes to play lefty/righty matchups more which fits in with the build of the team.

There were rumors the Coqui had been chatting with Morales but speculation had been that he might be in line for the Santo Domingo (AAA) job. Morales is from the city.

[Sandgnats]

wow interesting to see a championship manager leave so soon...