Word came down the pike this morning that Durham Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo is one of the finalists for the vacant managing job in Tampa, and this has me torn.
On the one hand, Charlie absolutely deserves a shot to manage in the big leagues. He has been a consistent winner in Durham despite wrangling rosters that ranged from the strange to the desperate as the parent organization plundered every conceivable useful part. (Chris Gimenez in left field, people. Let that sink in for a moment.) He helped produce an endless stream of major leaguers from spare parts and AAAA guys, hewed to the organizational philosophy while doing it, and won relentlessly in the process.
So, he totally deserves the shot, even if we'd miss him here in the Bull City.
On the other hand, one of the other candidates is Raul Ibanez. And the idea of the Great Stone Face (and stone glove*) sitting in the dugout in Tampa amidst the inevitable shenanigans is pure comedy gold.
(and that's leaving out the candidacy of current Rays coach Dave Martinez, who by all accounts is a fantastic candidate. But we're talking emotion here. Logic has no place in this post.)
The optimal solution, of course is simple: Martinez gets the Tampa job. Charlie gets the bench coach job at his right hand. And Raul comes to manage here in Durham.
A guy can dream, right? Right.
*Seriously. The one game I saw in Seattle had Raul parked out in left. A White Sox player hit a roller down the line. Raul put his head down and charged...and completely overran it as it went by to rattle around in the corner. Good times.
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