Mike Sarbaugh
There are no guarantees in pro baseball, whether you are trying to climb the ladder as a player or manager or coach.
Mike Sarbaugh has built an impressive managerial resume with several of the Cleveland Indians' minor league clubs, including directing the Double-A Akron Aeros to the Eastern League title this past season.
Success doesn't necessarily equal promotion. Even when the Indians fired manager Eric Wedge and hired Manny Acta, there was no indication of change coming at the minor league level.
Until a week ago.
That's when Sarbaugh was named the new manager of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers of the International League.
"It's been a lot of hard work over the years," said Sarbaugh, a Mount Joy native. "It's always good … any time you're in any business where you get a promotion, it's always a good feeling."
When the Indians fired Wedge and Cleveland's Triple-A coach, Torey Lovullo, interviewed for the job, some speculated that Sarbaugh would move up to Triple-A.
That was if Lovullo became the Indians manager.
But the Indians hired Acta, the former Washington Nationals manager, possibly leaving the Indians' minor league managers at status quo.
When Lovullo wasn't asked to be part of Acta's staff in Cleveland, he accepted a Red Sox offer to coach Triple-A Pawtucket.
That produced an opening in Columbus.
So after two seasons as the manager in Akron, Sarbaugh, 42, is headed to Ohio's capital and 10,100-seat Huntington Park.
"After some of the success I've been fortunate to have over the years, I felt like I was prepared for this," he said. "But in baseball, sometimes things don't work out that way. I feel fortunate I've been given this opportunity."
The 2010 season will be Sarbaugh's 21st in the Cleveland organization. After being drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers out of Lamar University, he played six seasons of minor-league ball, the last five in the Indians organization.
After several years as a coach, he was named manager of the Single-A short season Mahoning Valley team in 2004. He led that team to the New York-Penn League title and moved on to manage to Single-A Lake County.
Two seasons with Kinston in advanced Single-A followed, producing a Carolina League title in 2006 and a Manager of the Year honor in 2007. His Akron team won the division title in 2008 and lost in the league finals.
En route to winning the league title last season, Akron went 89-53.
The move to Triple-A will bring a new set of challenges for Sarbaugh, who has never had a losing season as a manager. Instead of the teaching that comes with managing in Double-A, Triple-A is more about preparing a player's move to the majors and massaging egos for players who are sent down from the big leagues.
"It might be helping them deal with that, getting them back on track, and getting back to the big leagues," said Sarbaugh who has a career managerial record of 455-321 (.586) over six seasons.
Columbus had the second worst record in the International League at 57-85 last season. The Clippers finished 27 games behind Louisville in the International League West.
Despite that finish, Sarbaugh and the Indians are optimistic about the players in the organization. Sarbaugh expects some of those players, particularly those who came in trades over the last two seasons, to have an impact in Cleveland over the next year or so.
One of those players is catcher Carlos Santana, who came to the Indians in the deal that sent Casey Blake to the Dodgers in 2008. Sarbaugh thinks Santana may start for the Clippers this season.
"There is a lot of talent in the minor league system but you never know how that translates to the major league level," he said. "But I think the organization feels good about the players we have."
Sarbaugh who lives with his wife and three children in Berks County in the off-season and substitute teaches at the Governor Mifflin Middle School, will head to Cleveland in January when the Indians conduct a developmental camp for its younger players.
Then it's off to spring training in Arizona in February, a rung closer to the possibility of becoming a major-league manager.