Giants interview former All-Star catcher in managerial search

The San Francisco Giants interviewed longtime MLB catcher Kurt Suzuki as they search for a new manager. Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle first reported that Suzuki was scheduled to interview on Friday afternoon, and FanSided’s Robert Murray confirmed this evening that this indeed took place.

Kurt Suzuki's qualifications for Giants' manager role

Suzuki, 42 on Saturday, has worked as a special assistant with the Angels for the past three seasons. The longtime MLB catcher jumped right into front office work after retiring as a player following the 2022 campaign. Suzuki appeared in parts of 16 big league seasons. He was an All-Star with Minnesota in 2014 and won a World Series as a member of the 2019 Nationals. That included a go-ahead homer off Justin Verlander in Washington’s Game 2 victory over the Astros.

While Suzuki never played for the Giants, he’s plenty familiar with the Bay Area. He played more than 700 games over two stints with the A’s when they were in Oakland. Suzuki was an A’s draftee who played there between 2007-12. He was traded back for a brief stint at the end of the 2013 season as well.

Suzuki’s front office work has come under Angels’ general manager Perry Minasian, the brother of Giants’ GM and No. 2 executive Zack Minasian. He doesn’t have any coaching or managerial experience. He was highly respected as a player and had the added bonus of working as a catcher, a trait of many future managers.

It’s an unconventional but not unprecedented candidacy. Reigning American League Manager of the Year Stephen Vogt was hired by the Guardians going into 2024. Vogt had only retired as a player one season earlier, though he did spend the intervening year on Seattle’s coaching staff. Vogt has led the Guardians to consecutive playoff berths.

Former Giants bullpen coach Craig Albernaz has worked as Vogt’s bench coach and associate manager, respectively, over the past two seasons. Albernaz has long been viewed as a potential manager in his own right, and he was reportedly a finalist for both the Miami and White Sox vacancies last year. After Chicago hired Will Venable, Albernaz withdrew from consideration for the Marlins job. They subsequently hired Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough.

Given Albernaz’s previous ties to the Giants and to baseball operations president Buster Posey, he’s an expected candidate for the San Francisco job. Slusser writes that the 42-year-old is “likely to get a look” for the position, though it’s not known if he has an interview scheduled. Cleveland was bounced by the Tigers in the Wild Card Series yesterday.