Ron

Gardenhire

Thames -- who played for the Tigers from 2004-2009 -- has met at least twice in the last week with general manager Al Avila and other team executives. The 43-year-old doesn’t have any managerial experience, though that isn’t a pre-requisite for Avila in his search. Other known candidates for the job include A.J. Hinch, Will Venable, George Lombard, Vance Wilson, Don Kelly, Pedro Grifol, Mike Redmond, Alex Cora and Lloyd McClendon.

Ron Gardenhire abruptly retired Saturday, with McClendon taking over as interim manager for the rest of the season. Hinch is obviously the most interesting name here, as he, of course, won the World Series with the Astros in 2017 before being fired this January following the sign-stealing scandal.

Gardenhire had planned on retiring at the end of the season, but said Saturday that he hasn’t been feeling well as of late and that the stress and the stomach issues that he has dealt with this season really wore him down. The 62-year-old finishes his managerial career with 1200 career victories, which ranks 46th in major league history. He finishes with a 132-241 record in his three seasons as the manager of the Tigers. Bench coach Lloyd McClendon will serve as the acting manager for the remainder of the 2020 season.

Gardenhire missed a couple of games due to a stomach virus, but he’s beginning to feel normal again. A COVID-19 test came back negative. The Tigers begin play Tuesday at 18-21, two games back for the final playoff spot in the AL.

Gardenhire missed Sunday’s game and needs some more time before he’s back to 100 percent. Lloyd McClendon will handle managing duties once again.

That one unnamed player was based in Florida but had not been using the Tigers’ spring training complex in Lakeland over these last weeks and months. Nonetheless, that facility has been closed for the time being and the Tigers are preparing to stage spring training 2.0 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

Paul is taking over for Joe Vavra, who became the new bench coach when Lloyd McClendon was moved to the hitting coach role. He spent last year as the bench coach with the Angels.

Liddle spent one year with the Tigers, coming over to join Ron Gardenhire after serving that role previously. Lloyd McClendon, who spent last year as the hitting coach with Detroit, will take over in that role. Joe Vavra will replace McClendon as the hitting coach.

The details of the extension are not yet known. Avila has been the Tigers’ GM since August of 2015 and his contract had been set to expire after the 2020 season.

It’s believed to be a two-year agreement, and it will be officially announced at a press conference Monday afternoon at Target Field. Gardenhire has been the manager of the Twins since 2002. The club hasn’t enjoyed much success in recent years, but they haven’t had great pieces. It somewhat refreshing to see a team avoid scapegoating its manager.