You might know this candidate, perhaps best for some of the credit for the greatest baseball version of a “linsanity” run of all time – Aristides Aquino’s monster month in 2019 where he hit 14 homeruns in the month of August. Or maybe you just remember his face because he was the Reds hitting coach…
Who is he?
His name is Donnie Ecker, and he has ties to the Cincinnati Reds, having served as the assistant hitting coach in 2018, later to be announced as the Director of Hitting in 2019, unfortunately just to be sniped for a much bigger role in San Francisco. Donnie then followed Bruce Bochy to Texas, to be hired as their bench coach and offensive coordinator there.
The Rangers didn’t have a good year offensively this year, but last year, they raised hardware and their offense had crazy good seasons from Marcus Semien and others. They went into the World Series with a top 5 offense, and were third in team OPS. This 2024 season, they dealt with injuries left and right, much like the Reds, had really bad regressive years from Adolis Garcia & Semien, who some may deem a sore thumb, but they still were middle of the pack, which I’d deem a nice feat. Perhaps they had a little World Series hangover year. Happens.
Elly de La Cruz Electricidad Vintage Style T-shirt
Elly De La Cruz vintage style t-shirt – Perfect for Bristol Speedway in 2025!
Does he have the experience for this?
Seeing as Donnie was one of the creditors to a World Series run, has learned under Bruce Bochy, arguably one of the top 5 best managers of all time, and has been credited with several Cincinnati Reds successes, I’d say he is absolutely experienced enough to manage a Major League Baseball team, and that’s what’s next for him.
Donnie Ecker served as a bench coach, hitting coach, offensive coordinator, he’s worked in player development for the St. Louis Cardinals in a year they produced several talents out of left field (metaphorically, speaking, and not literally in LF,) and has worked as a hitting coach at 3 different levels of baseball, including AAA. His resume is plenty.
So will he take the job, if offered?
Here’s the kicker: as a would-be first year manager, not particularly “sought” yet – he won’t command a bunch of money. I know, I know, as a Reds fan, we’re all rolling our eyes. I’m with you. But hear me out – the Cincinnati Reds are on the hook for $4,950,000 still when it comes to David Bell. They have a tight budget year over year, and the last thing they may want to do is tie $7,000,000-$8,000,000 into the manager role. Donnie Ecker would command about $1.5-$2M, one would assume, plus be up for many different performance based bonuses.
I could see Donald Joseph Ecker being attracted to this job for a plethora of reasons; he’s already familiar with Cincinnati, OH, he’s lived here before, and he has also worked with many of the coaches still here including Director of Pitching, Derek Johnson, whom many believe will stick around and honor his current contract. Donnie fits the mould of what Nick Krall is looking for – he wants a leader with player development hands on experience, and someone that will come in and help the young core grow. I think Donald J Ecker fits it.
So that bodes the question, what do you think about this, if Donnie is the hire? Let us know in the comment form below.
