Casey Candaele has spent the last two seasons telling the Buffalo Bisons' top prospects they were going to Toronto. Candaele apparently got the same call Wednesday morning.
The Bisons manager was named interim bench coach by the Toronto Blue Jays as the parent club made a major shakeup in its dugout.
Manager Charlie Montoyo was fired and replaced for the rest of the season by bench coach John Schneider. Candaele is thus taking over Schneider's role for the rest of the year. Second-year pitching coach Jeff Ware was scheduled to manage the Bisons in the second of a six-game series Wednesday in Des Moines against the Iowa Cubs, and likely for the rest of the series.
After this series, the Bisons have a four-day break before returning to Sahlen Field to host the Rochester Red Wings on July 22.Â
Candaele, 61, was 122-89 in his two seasons in Buffalo. The Bisons were 79-47 last season, winning the Northeast Division of Triple-A East for their first title since 2005 and earning their dugout leader co-manager of the year honors in the league.
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It was a season in which the Herd opened playing "home" games in Trenton, N.J., while the Blue Jays were playing in Buffalo and then returned to Sahlen Field in August.
Candaele played for the Bisons from 1995-97 and was a key member of the '97 team that won the American Association title. He played 754 games in the big leagues for Montreal, Houston and Cleveland.
It is the Bisons' first in-season managerial change since 1987, when Orlando Gomez was fired with an 11-22 record and replaced by Steve Swisher for the final 107 games of the last season in War Memorial Stadium. Swisher went 55-52.
"While it's difficult to lose such a great leader like Casey from our team, we are extremely excited for him to have the opportunity to coach with the Blue Jays and at the major league level," Bisons General Manager Anthony Sprague said in a statement. "Casey was the perfect manager for the Bisons in 2021 during a challenging year between Buffalo and Trenton that ended with a division title. He always brings out the best in his players and we look forward to seeing him continue to succeed in Toronto."
The Bisons are 43-42 and three games out of first place in the International League East. They are sixth in the division and have been skidding for several weeks due mostly to a lack of starting pitching. Their 8-2 loss Tuesday in the series opener at Iowa dropped them to 2-12 in their last 14 games and 13-24 in their last 37 after a 30-18 start.
The Blue Jays are still in playoff spot, but are a disappointing 46-42 and fourth in the American League East after Tuesday's 4-3 win over Philadelphia. According to Sportsnet, the firing of Montoyo is the latest into a season by a team holding a playoff spot since Milwaukee fired Ned Yost in 2008.
