Pic of the Week

Ron Gardenhire is notably trimmer this spring
 than he was in his final years with the Twins.

Many challenges await Ron Gardenhire as manager of the Detroit Tigers. I was and remain dubious that this job is a good fit for him. The Tigers are all-in on a tear-down and rebuild project, which means play the kids, and Gardy's consistent pattern with the Twins was to prefer an experienced player to fix problems.

But I suspect the biggest problem is lifestyle. Managing is a stressful job, and it was pretty obvious to even the casual onlooker that Gardenhire was getting much heavier and less healthy with every passing seasons in Minnesota.

Three seasons and a bout of prostate cancer have passed since Gardenhire was fired by the Twins. I didn't think he'd get another opportunity to manage, but the Tigers hired him, and he's largely reunited his old coaching staff (Rick Anderson, Steve Liddle, Joe Vavra). He sounds happy this spring. Let us hope that the likeable Gardenhire isn't going to resume killing himself with the stress this time around.