After spending the last six seasons as the Mariners’ director of player development, Andy McKay will have a new role — and a new office, so to speak — in 2022.
In November, McKay was named to the big-league coaching staff, where he’ll not only be a coach on manager Scott Servais’ staff but will also serve as the senior director of baseball development.
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McKay is no stranger to the dugout. He served as the head baseball coach at Sacramento City College for 14 seasons (1999-2012) before joining the Rockies as their peak performance coordinator, a job he held until he joined the Mariners in October 2015.
The Athletic recently caught up with McKay to talk about his new role and the player development gig he’s leaving.
Can you tell us about this new role and what it will entail?
When I left college coaching and started my job with the Rockies, wearing pants and a polo shirt lasted about two days. I thought, “I can’t do this. I feel out of my body.” I needed to be in a uniform. When I was with the Rockies, I did the job from the dugout, from the clubhouse and from the bullpen every day. What was pretty revealing to me was this is where I’m comfortable, this is who I am.
When I joined the Mariners, I tried to lead player development from the dugout. That was my home base. It’s where I feel I can be who I am. This (position) will allow me to continue to help with the minor-league system, the major-league system and stayed involved in the mental skills piece while also asking (manager) Scott (Servais) how I can support him.
You’ve spent a lot of time in the dugout going back to your days at Sacramento City College. What have you missed about being in the dugout?
It’s where I feel like I can be my real self a little more. It’s where you see the real player, when they are in the midst of preparation or competition, you really get to know who they truly are. Now you’re able to communicate with them on a more authentic basis. They’re out there competing in front of thousands of people, completely vulnerable. I realized this a long time ago, but if you really want to learn about hitters, sit next to the bat rack. You’re going to encounter them on their way into the competition, see their mannerisms, hear what they talk about. And then you get them when they come back (from the plate). So you sort of get the pre-and post-.
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On the player development side, the Mariners have introduced programs like High-Performance Camp and Gas Camp that have been a hit with players and have certainly impacted careers. What are you most proud of in your time heading player development?
It’s an easy answer, really. It’s this massive collaboration that we’ve created. When we talk about developing a player, it all starts with our scouting group, goes into our high-performance group, our analysts, our front office, to Scott Servais, it goes to a coaching staff that was mostly developed here. In any one player’s development, I can point to 10-15 people who were incredibly important. We tore down the walls between the departments and removed any sense of territory. Everyone is at the table with an equal voice. That was, honestly, the No. 1 thing we wanted to achieve. And we did it, and we’re still doing it.
Last season you had two first-year minor-league managers with no previous coaching experience at any level. This season, Tim Federowicz will do the same with Triple-A Tacoma. Do you think that’s something we will see more of?
Everyone managed their first game at some point. This is my 30th year of coaching, and there was a day that was my first day. You take it on a case-by-case basis. We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have players who wanted to continue as coaches. We feel our process is well defined, so right now we tend to look more at the person than their content. We feel we can teach them to coach.
It’s not a philosophy. But it’s the best person available in that moment that we can access. When Tim is managing in Triple A this year, he’s the manager, but we have this massive collaboration around him. This isn’t where he’s making every decision. He’s got a huge group and support network around him. You’re not looking for the king to come in and rule the kingdom. All of us are better than one of us.
The Mariners have had several coaches and coordinators leave to go elsewhere for bigger opportunities, the latest being minor-league hitting coordinator Connor Dawson, who is now the assistant hitting coach with the Brewers. I’m sure it hurts to lose good people. What’s your philosophy on that?
It is a mixed bag. These people are really good people who have had a massive impact on your process and are also good friends. One of the foundational pieces when we came in here was staff development. You knew you were going to develop people into opportunities outside the organization. Bill Walsh is a coaching hero of mine and his coaching tree is unbelievable. He was open about it, trying to develop people to the fullest of their abilities so they can train the players to the fullest of their abilities. It’s not always fun. But with Connor, he came in and had an impact and now he has an opportunity to live a dream.
Emanuel Sifuentes is taking over as director of player development. What can you tell us about him?
Emanuel is incredibly bright and a really strong communicator. He’s also keenly aware of all things Mariners. He knows our people and our process inside and out. He worked as an advanced scout, worked as an amateur scout and worked as my assistant. He cares about this deeply. Everyone is thrilled that he’s sitting in that seat. He’s going to do it better than I did. He’s going to continue to grow. Whatever level of success I had, I want Emanuel to have more of it.
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Finally, what’s Opening Day going to be like for you?
Honestly, I think it will be that I have a job to do. But we’re playing the Detroit Tigers, and I grew up in Detroit and I think watching that team changed my life. Without having fallen in love with the Tigers and baseball … I don’t know what I would be doing right now. I never dreamed that I was going to be a major-league coach. Maybe it will hit me (on Opening Day). But I’m going to go to work and try to win a baseball game and find a way to impact the people around me.
(Photo: David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
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