During a nine-year professional playing career, Gabe Alvarez knew what his next chapter would entail: coaching.
The Mexico native’s mentors were Hall of Fame Southern California coach Mike Gillespie and long-time MLB manager Buddy Bell. Alvarez took mental notes as a player, focusing on Gillespie and Bell’s feel for the game and how they instilled confidence in their players. When he became a coach, Alvarez wanted to exhibit the same traits.
Now in his fourth season as a minor league manager and first in Toledo, Alvarez is still applying those lessons and expanding his knowledge every day.
“I’m just thrilled to be where I am now, to be here in Toledo, a place where I played and where I’m familiar with and loved while I was here as a player,” he said.
The Mud Hens have started slow, with a 4-11 record through two weeks. But it hasn’t dimmed Alvarez’s winning expectations. In three years at Erie, Alvarez led the SeaWolves to three division titles and two Eastern League championships. He was named the 2023 Eastern League manager of the year.
Toledo’s turnaround starts with hitting and pitching, the keys to winning any baseball game. The Hens rank near the bottom of the International League in most hitting and pitching statistics. However, there’s more than enough time to make up in a 150-game season.
“I played against him coming up through college, and I know he’s had some success as a manager,” said Hens outfielder David Hensley, who attended San Diego State while Alvarez coached at USC. “Last year, especially, he had some good success with the boys down there in Double-A. Gabe’s a good guy. He’s very open with the players. We’ve got a lot of older guys that are in the locker room, so he’s pretty easygoing and pretty open to letting us kind of manage ourselves and do our own things.”
Alvarez — whose ultimate goal is to be a big league manager — always had his sights on being a pro coach, but had a decade detour at USC, where he served as an assistant and recruiting coordinator. Alvarez calls himself “fortunate” to coach at his alma mater and said he “loved every second of it.” It allowed him to be around the sport at a high level, pursue a deeper understanding of coaching and managerial decisions, and commit to developing players.
In the minor leagues, Alvarez has excelled at producing wins and the progression of prospects.
“He’s a very good coach,” said Hens infielder Hao-Yu Lee, who played for Alvarez in Erie. “He’s very hands-off. He trusts what you want to do as a baseball player, and he lets you do it on and off the field.”
The job of minor league managers is a fascinating psychological engagement that requires jumping through hoops. Every sport at every level is a bottom-line business — you’re judged by wins and losses. But minor league baseball deviates from that edict because developing prospects takes precedence.
In Erie, Alvarez took care of winning and elevating important players in the organization at once. He doesn’t disagree with the priorities in the minors. But he also cautions that players must enter the Majors understanding how to win baseball games.
“The reason why we’re doing this is to get these guys to Detroit and to help the Detroit Tigers win,” Alvarez said. “That’s always going to be the main objective. I personally believe that it’s part of a player’s development to learn how to compete to win. You have pitchers that are going to compete to get their outs and get their strikeouts. You have hitters that are going to compete to get their hits and hit their homers.
“But it’s another thing to learn how to compete to win the game. In the big leagues, that's all that matters. If you wait until you get to the big leagues to start doing that, you’re going to be behind.”
To succeed in any job, one needs to be comfortable. For Alvarez, the Tigers organization and Toledo feel like home. He played two seasons in Detroit and Toledo during his playing career and this is his fourth year working for the Tigers.
It even extends to his fandom of the Detroit Red Wings. Alvarez was a guest of late Red Wings owner Mike Illitch during his time with the Tigers and went from having never attended a hockey game to becoming a fan.
“There’s no doubt [Detroit] feels like home to me,” Alvarez said.
The familiarity and coziness with Detroit extends to Toledo, whether it’s front-office relationships, players, or the city itself, generate positive vibes for Alvarez and an atmosphere of efficiency and execution.
“We have a tremendous fan base here,” he said. “The front office, the people, the staff with the Mud Hens have been first class. Couldn’t ask for anything more. Maybe a couple more wins. But you feel the same support. You know when the team staff and the team’s front office support you and are there for you. I definitely felt that in Erie, and I feel it here.”
First Published April 14, 2025, 6:37 p.m.
