Who Is Atlanta Braves Managerial Finalist Danny Lehmann?
The Atlanta Braves are rumored to have interest in Danny Lehmann, the current bench coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers
We’ve written at length about the managerial search for the Atlanta Braves, discussing both the comments from President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos about the situation as well as capsules of several of the managerial options.
(For all of our managerial search content, click on the “Atlanta’s Next Manager” section on the Braves Today homepage)
But there’s one candidate that we haven’t really discussed, and given the whispers I’ve heard recently about Atlanta’s interest in him, let’s discuss Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann.
It’s a familiar background story
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Lehmann was a catcher before he got into coaching. An 8th-round pick by the Minnesota Twins in 2007 out of Rice University, he capped out in Triple-A, playing in the level for three consecutive seasons before finally retiring after the 2014 season, having never made his MLB debut. He retired with a minor league slash of .229/.317/.301 and eight home runs in seven seasons and 365 games.
Heading back to Rice to finish his degree, he was offered a job by the Los Angeles Dodgers to join the organization. He started in the video room, working on scounting and replays for three seasons before becoming the team’s gameplanning and communication coach. After the 2022 season, he moved into the team’s bench coach role when incumbent Bob Geren shifted over to become major league field coordinator. Per a contact on the Dodgers beat, neither Lehmann or Geren significantly changed their duties, just job titles.
Yes, there’s a connection with AA here
Remember how we talked about Anthopoulos wanting the manager to be his partner? There’s already a bit of familiarity here, so he won’t need to start from scratch like he did with Snitker. Anthopoulos joined LA’s front office after leaving the Toronto Blue Jays late in 2015. Lehmann joined the organization the same year, with the two men working together for two full seasons prior to Anthopoulos moving to Atlanta after the 2017 season.
Similar to Tigers bench coach George Lombard, it’s also entirely likely that Lehmann is also comfortable with the application of analytics, given his time in the Dodgers organization. Manager Dave Roberts has been quoted as saying that Lehmann has a “crazy bandwith” for information, something which the Dodgers have taken advantage of. “There’s always a learning curve because each year they’ve given me more responsibility, which I’m super grateful for,” Lehmann told the Orange County Register in 2023. “The game takes a while for you to understand: what you need to be thinking about, and how things layer in on top of each other, and how things connect from one series to the next.”
But he’s also not a perfect candidate
Similar to Lombard, as well, there’s a few blemishes on the resume. The largest flaw, if it can be called that, is a lack of managerial experience. While Lehmann has manager a game, taking over for an absent Roberts in May of 2023 for a Saturday matchup against the San Diego Padres1, that’s the extent of his time in the big chair.
But having spent time under Roberts and other former managers on the Dodgers coaching staff, Lehmann believes that he’s gotten a valuable education that could prepare him for a management role. “How managers are picked today is very different than 10, 15, 20 years ago,” he said in 2023. “There was a progression in the past, where it was kind of like you managed whatever league in the minors, and you progress, or became a base coach. It’s just very different. I think now it’s a little bit more specific in how you want to run your team, and I think that makes a lot of sense.”
Lehmann, similar to Lombard, would need a strong coaching staff around him in order to be in the best position to succeed. It’s a fact that he is cognizant of, as well. “You see a lot of teams doing it now as far as their hires throughout the major league staff. Not just the manager. It’s more filling holes. You want to have a complete staff, all areas covered.”
The good news is that the fact the Dodgers are still in the playoffs won’t be an issue, as teams usually give permission for their coaches to interview remotely. As Anthopoulos told us a few weeks ago, “We’d get permissions on coaches and staff and all that and we work it through off days and things like that. You could still touch base and communicate. You can’t wait. I mean, what if you have a candidate that wins the World Series and the parade and all that? Now you’re into November, especially with these other jobs. Tteams will work with you because people don’t want to deny others of an opportunity. There’s (only) 30 of these jobs in the world.”
Let’s look at that complete staff
This is in no way scientific and will not end up being accurate at all - many guys have pre-existing relationships and verbal agreements on building staffs should they become manager. Think of this as an example of how to support a first-time manager with a veteran coaching staff.
Manager: Danny Lehmann
Bench: Bud Black
1B coach: Chris Woodward
3B coach: Fredi González
Pitching: Rick Kranitz
Hitting: Chipper Jones
Bullpen: Eddie Pérez
This proposed staff brings in a Braves legend in Chipper Jones as hitting coach, has a former big league manager in Bud Black as a bench coach, and brings over Chris Woodward from LA to hold down the same role2. The bullpen could be another place where Lehmann brings in his own guy.
But either way, based on folks I’ve talked to, Lehmann is a serious candidate for the role. If that’s the path Atlanta takes to fill their vacancy, let’s hope he’s got a strong staff around him.
Roberts was attending his son’s graduation from Loyola Maramount, but returned for Sunday’s series finale.
I’m torn of which is less likely, a just-fired manager in Black immediately agreeing to be a bench coach or Woodward taking a lateral move to Atlanta instead of needing a promotion to bench coach to change jobs. Feel free to replace Black with any other available former manager - Rocco Baldelli would be my preference.