Toledo Mud Hens manager Doug Mientkiewicz talks Tigers prospect development in his office in Toledo on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Gregory Levinsky, Detroit Free Press
After the 2018 season — a successful one — Detroit Tigers vice president of player development Dave Littlefield called Triple-A Toledo manager Doug Mientkiewicz to lock him down.
Mientkiewicz, considered a potential big-league manager, had just led the Mud Hens to the International League playoffs for the first time in over a decade.
Littlefield pressed for a two-year contract extension. Mientkiewicz, aware other opportunities could arise, preferred to go season-by-season.