Double-A staff fired

Considering the struggles at Double-A Erie, it wasn't really a surprise that manager Duffy Dyer and his staff would have their jobs on the line. But it didn't take long to find out their fate. As reported by the Erie Times-News (you may need to register to see the story), player development director Glenn Ezell walked into the SeaWolves clubhouse right after the game and gave them their walking papers, from Dyer to coaches Pete Incaviglia and Mike Caldwell. Here's a snippet of the story:
 

"I don’t believe we as an organization here in Erie accomplished what we needed to accomplish this year,"  Ezell said. Asked what he felt the club needed to accomplish under Dyer, Ezell said, "That’s it for right now."

Ezell said he would address questions about Dyer and his staff at a later date.

Incaviglia and Caldwell served in their respective positions the past three seasons.

The SeaWolves were 123-160 in Dyer’s two years as manager.

"They didn’t give me any reasons for the firing but it’s because we didn’t win as many games, I guess, and because the players didn’t do as well as they anticipated they would do," Dyer said. "They thought we didn’t develop well enough, That’s probably the reason I got fired, because they didn’t make any adjustments, I would assume. I can’t blame them. The record here for two years was terrible, so I’ll move on."

The aforementioned win-loss record was one matter, but it probably didn't help that Brent Clevlen could struggle so mightily at Erie and then come up to Detroit and find his hitting stroke two levels higher.

Matt Walbeck said earlier this summer that he wouldn't return to Class A West Michigan because he wanted a shot higher up on the minor-league ladder. It'll be interesting to see if this becomes his next challenge.