Home Baseball Beavs Hire Canham

Beavs Hire Canham

125

Per Rodgers.

What do you guys think?

I like the hire so long as Yeskie stays on. If he doesn’t, who is a potential pitching coach to target? Canham seems all business. Catchers make great leaders/managers, in general. I’m on board.

125 COMMENTS

  1. I like it. Young guy, does a good interview, seems like he’ll coach fundamentals at a higher level than Bailey, 300 games of management experience. I actually wasn’t 100% in on Yeskie as a head coach though. We’ll see. Go Beavs either way.

    If Yeskie leaves, Kevin Gunderson could come in and do just fine.

  2. Alums coaching 3 of the 4 major sports at OSU. That’s got to be unique.

    I hope it works out but I preferred handing it over to Yeskie because he’s proven what he can do with pitching and pitching has always won at Oregon State.

  3. The hot take on Canham hiring

    The good:
    The player level/age he coached at was about the same as college.
    He’s had success in the minors where the roster basically turns over every year.
    Promoted nearly every year. As an AA manager, he was in charge of the Mariner’s top prospects.

    The bad:
    No college experience. The pro game is played much differently than college.
    No recruiting experience

    The unknown:
    What kind of coaching staff will he have? Does Yeskie or Bailey stick around? Jenkins and Gipson both played with him. The entire support staff is made up of ex players.

    He’ll need to hit the recruiting circuit really hard early. Can’t afford to fall behind as kids are recruited very young vs other sports like football. OSU has commits out to the 2022 class and the 2020 class is basically done.

    In the end, it feels like a good hire but he does have some glaring weaknesses with no college experience.

    • The “no college experience” doesn’t concern me much; his experience as a player, particularly as a catcher under Pat Casey, will serve him well. As for recruiting, I agree he has a lot to prove in that arena, he’ll need guidance (Bailey?).

      • Yeah I also disagree he has no college experience. He played, for one, but he played the most important position on the field (an on the field manager). So, he has experience managing college teammates. That’s slightly different but I wouldn’t say it’s no experience. Then he has his pro experience. Baseball is baseball other than the recruiting part. The only worry would be recruiting. Yeskie is a good recruiter, so if he can retain him then it’s looking positive. Either way OSU recruits itself a bit right now so that might make it easier the first couple years.

  4. This may be completely off base, but maybe Yeskie prefers being a pitching coach. I get it, head man is a raise, but not everyone wants that role. He may be a pitching coach in the minors or bigs someday before a manager at any level. Just a thought.

  5. Definitely the best hire.

    Also explains why you don’t promote Yeskie to interim coach. If you promote him to interim coach and then decide to hire Canham a year later there is a 0% chance Yeskie stays. Now if Canham wants him it is at least possible he stays.

  6. A good hire, but I must say I am disappointed it is not Yeskie. If he stays on staff, then this is a grand slam hire. If not, I fear we will regret not hiring him. I would imagine his phone will be ringing.

    Luck O da Beavs………..Have the best coach in a sport and he gets burnt out at 60 with tread on the tires. Mike Riley reaches the suck factor and keeps returning like a herpetic lesion.

    • How is Yeskie’s resume better? To me Canham is clearly the better hire. I’m not wanting to argue, I am really curious why some think Yeskie would be better.

      Yeskie wasn’t even in my top 2 of “hopeful hires”

      • Recruiting and pitcher development. The 2 biggest aspects of college baseball in the West. The PAC 12 is a pitchers league. The best pitching tends to win year in and year out.

        • Okay, but if Yeskie moves to head coach he wouldn’t be developing the pitcher anymore, someone else would be pitching coach.

          As for recruiting, what is the evidence that Yeskie is better at recruiting than Canham?

          • No that is a misconception that he would no longer be the pitching coach. Watch UCLA and you’ll see John Savage, the head coach, call all the pitches. It’s not unusual in college baseball for the head coach to still be the pitching coach if that’s his strength. It’s similar to an OC in football becoming head coach and still calling his own plays.

          • Sure, he might still call the pitches but he won’t have time to be the pitching coach anymore.

            When a head football coach calls the plays they still hire an OC to do the day to day work of being the OC.

            Yeskie (and I bet UCLA’s coach) wouldn’t be doing the day to day work with pitchers anymore.

          • I dont recall saying that Yeskie wouldn’t “work with pitchers” but whatever Canham was the right hire so I honestly don’t care if people don’t like it.

    • LOL, seriously? This is now a complaint?

      I’ve come to the conclusion that some of you just hate anything and everything OSU does.

      • I can’t believe Lightbourn transferred today either.

        And Walling has some nerve to commit the same day as Adleys award. Obviously not a true OSU guy. ;)

    • To be fair, Adley has won a major nearly every day of the week the past 2 weeks. He just won the Dick Houser award this morning too, so if they had waited another day, they wouldn’t be able to announce Canham until Monday.
      Also felt like Kendall Rogers forced their hand by breaking the news early.

  7. I was for Yeskie but I’m on totally board with Canham. Just watched those 06-07 videos and it reminds me that Mitch is the epitome of OSU baseball. Doesn’t get any better as far as hustle and will to win. I think only him and Barney and Daniel Turpen went to 3 College World Series. I didn’t know it but he actually led the 2005 Beavs in home runs with 8 in only 44 starts as a frosh. And with the way he’s coaching them up in AA, I got nothing bad to say about Mitch.

  8. On board with this hire. If yeskie moves on best of luck to him. I’m sure Mitch knows some solid pitching coaches that would love a job in a program like OSU.

  9. Have to say I’m surprised it’s noskie to Yeskie. There was a lot of momentum there.
    This looks like a well thought out hire I have to say.

  10. I will be interested in hearing whether Casey, Yeskie and Bailey show up for Canham’s presser today. This may reveal very quickly who is on board and who isn’t. With Casey just looking to see that he endorses the decision.

  11. I know so little about what would separate Yeskie from Canham from ?? that I can’t say one way or another.

    I am curious to see what the former players, that were voicing support for Yeskie, have to say.

    And, it’s interesting to see so many here who generally dislike Barnes give some support to the hire.

    How many coaches has he hired at OSU? There was men’s soccer, they seem to have improved, women’s soccer hasn’t, women’s rowing- no idea, and the more visible sports, football and now baseball. Is that the sum of it?

    And results seem somewhat mixed to too early to tell.

  12. I wonder what the current players think? I have to imagine they were expecting Yeskie with a small outside chance of Bailey remaining as HC. Canham is part of Beav lore, but is a product of Casey 1.0. The current staff are the ones that have maintained the excellence, which often more difficult than getting there in the first place.

    • I liked that he said he has talked to Yeskie and Bailey already. There’s at least reason to be hopeful of the staff staying somewhat intact.

    • They can’t be too disappointed. Canham has been around the program so he’s not a complete unknown.

      These guys all signed up for Casey and they’ll get a younger version of him now. Pitchers will want Yeskie to stay of course.

  13. Canham did pretty well in the press conference. Dude hasn’t aged a day since he played here.

    I noticed at the end of the presser, the media people didn’t cut the mic and you could here Barnes candidly telling Canham “You did really well ….blah blah blah…you set the tone…something something something”

    Pretty sure Barnes didn’t realize he had a hot mic.

  14. My first thought was Canham was the choice so that the difficult decision of Bailey or Yeskie wouldn’t have to be made- Casey still has influence, he gets one of his main guys and hopefully the other two remain.

    Have to tell you that after watching his intro press conference, I’m really pleased – it’s obvious he loves OSU a lot and based on his words and successes, I think we’re in a good place.

  15. Ugh, I hate to say this, and I’m going to throw up in my mouth after, but Barnes actually did something worth his pay scale for once. Good hire.

  16. Thanks for posting a link to the interview, Beavers4life.

    I didn’t love that interview. Too much reminiscing on the past and a bit of immaturity in talking about the songs. It also sounds like he wants all the guys from the ’06 era around him, too. Nepotism? I wasn’t too impressed with him, but I do think catchers make great leaders. I hope he man’s up a little more and acts more professional than that within the next few months on the job.

    • Not going to lose any sleep over the presser. He’s excited and I’m excited for him and the family ? Casey signed off on this and that’s all I need.

        • You’re welcome on the posting of the interview.

          I’m not critical of it mainly because it was his first time back at Oregon state in 12 years after he played. It’s the honeymoon stage. It will wear off just like Jonathan Smith’s Honeymoon stage wore off.

          He read from a scripted speech to keep him on track, which tells me he wanted to keep the press conference on task and not get too emotional and off the fact that he’s now the HC. The purpose of a HC coaching presser is to allow fans to get to know the new coach and get a feel for who is as a person. He felt very comfortable up there talking about Oregon State and how he keeps relationships with past and current players. I didn’t mind the reminiscing so much as the fact that he still has to go back to the Travelers and say goodbye to that team and tie up loose ends.

          Otherwise, time will tell on making this his own and growing with the job. I would much rather have a coach who wins on the field and in the classroom than a coach who “wins” a press conference. This was exactly that press conference. Oregon State baseball is so unique that you get emotionally involved with each team as they develop. Now I’m writing with emotion, so i will stop.

          • Yeah, he’ll probably be fine like Smith is now.
            I just expected a better interview after reading the comments that he did well.

          • I like that he is going back to Ark. to say goodbye to his players and staff. That shows he has character and will do the right thing. That is “manning up.” The opposite of Bobby Petrino. Of course he would talk about the past, the past is why he is our coach. I think it is a way to demonstrate that while he may change some superficial things, he is not going to alter the foundation that Casey built. I thought he was very impressive. Plus I loved the Dan Wilson plug.

      • Ha, you got me with the South Park reference. I had to google that one.

        Canham was definitely thrown more softball’s than the Oregon guy. I was a little disappointed that Canham wasn’t asked any questions about the style of
        play he prefers and how he’ll adapt to the college game.

        https://youtu.be/Kf2hNx05E9M

        • I’m not surprised. When your school reaches the national championship and that head coach retires on top, and a returning former player under said head coach takes his place. No questioning of the leadership when it comes to baseball. Winning really does take away criticism.

  17. Wow, more players are graduating tomorrow than i thought. Makes sense now why we are oversigning transfers when we dont have open scholarships..
    I would expect more than one of these guys to not be on the team next year.

    Aydun, Togiai, Luton, Hicks, Bodden, Rashed, Brandel, Cardasco, Lavaka, Wilson, Chokair, Moore. I have no idea who, but the scholarship numbers don’t add up, so at least a couple must be going away. The OLine cant afford to lose bodies.

    https://twitter.com/KickingBeav13/status/1139640908394008576?s=19

  18. Does anyone know why there hasn’t been any news on Adley signing with Baltimore. I was under the impression that the signing amounts were pretty much set in stone and there is no negotiating. Is he trying to work a trade so as not go to Baltimore?

    PS: A few posters showed up in my feed as “ignored”. I didn’t take any such action. Glitch??

  19. There are slot values for each pick but negotiations still go on. Teams try to underpay to sign other prospects with leverage that were drafted later. I don’t think this is happening but Adley could also demand above slot value.

  20. I’ve become a short-term Michigan fan. Coming out west, as a sixteen, and playing well in Corvallis and LA, then a nice win over TT yesterday has me pulling for them. Plus I want to keep the trophy out of any southern state.

    • Exactly, and I think they are playing really good ball at the right time. Plus, the physical contrast of the maturity of these kids, well, they look like men. That’s one thing that I noticed in the regional as the Beavers looked like kids compared to Creighton, Cincy and Michigan. Obviously, much of that is a result from OSU’s youth. Go Michigan!

  21. not only in this year’s baseball regional – OSU’s other team’s members often appear to me as looking much younger than opponents. Arizona mbb comes to mind, especially.

    • We seem to recruit smaller guys. In’13 against MSU in the CWS we looked like a little league team playing the high school. I wonder if Casey prioritized quickness on defense when recruiting.

      • I can attest to this, Speaking for myself, you would consider me a “runt”, but technically I was very sound defensively, quick on the bases, and my small strike zone was difficult on pitchers. I played with a chip on my shoulder to show I belonged, some would call it a Napoleon complex — I had to be smarter and know the game inside and out (baseball IQ), be better on the base paths and be better with my glove to make the team, because I didn’t meet the eyeball test and didn’t have the power to knock it out of the park or make the long throws from the outfield or from third base — I moved to 2nd base my final years in high school as I had primarily played short stop. I was lead off batter and my primary job was to get on base at all costs — don’t strikeout, wanted to bat like Mattingly. Playing 9 years of ball (my last year was my junior year in high school), starting every year but one, and being on two all-star teams. The only position I didn’t play extensively was catcher. I love baseball because no matter the size of the person, there are always 7 ways to get on base. Can you guys name them all? (Without looking them up)

        • I’ll bite

          1. Hit
          2. Walk
          3. Error
          4. Fielders choice
          5. Called third strike not caught (although wouldn’t this technically be an error?)

          That’s all I got and am too lazy to look it up. I’m sure there are a couple ways that rarely happen like some type of interference.

          We were at the Corvallis Knights game Friday night and the Knights had runners on 2nd and 3rd. For whatever reason the runner at 3rd tried to steal home on a 0-0 count. He was easily thrown out. However the umps gathered and had a discussion. They ultimately sent the runner back to 3rd and the recorded out was taken off the board. We were all extremely dumbfounded by this. I asked the Knights the following day on social media and this was their explanation…………

          “the plate umpire ruled that the catcher could not move up through the strike zone and make the play. Called it a “no pitch” which meant the runner goes back to 3rd.”

          I have never heard of that rule or knew it existed. Point being, strange shit still does happen in games that you rarely, if ever see.

        • 1) Hit by pitch
          2) Walk
          3) Base hit/double/triple
          4) Dropped Strike 3 with an over throw error or fielders choice
          5) Fielder’s choice
          6) Error
          7) pinch runner?

        • Last one is Defender Interference (usually catcher’s mitt, or sometimes I’ve seen pitcher/catcher interfering being too aggressive on a bunt up the 1st base line, typically on right handed hitters as they cross over the plate to enter the base path)

  22. Beavs hosting several football official visitors this weekend. Probably the biggest official visit weekend we’ve had in some time actually.

    I had a longer post started but wordpress somehow lost it before i posted so here’s a short version with links to player profiles.

    Cooper Darling-OL(OSU commit)
    https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2020/cooper-darling-249133

    Jake Overman-TE(Beavs are favorite currently)
    https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2020/jake-overman-216391#school-interests

    Maureese Wren- JC ATH. Visited Bama recently
    https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/maureese-wren-180041#school-interests

    Jeremiah Hunter- WR (Cal commit)
    https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2020/jeremiah-hunter-223259

    Alex Lemon- JC DE
    https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2020/alex-lemon-244909

    Ender Aguilar- DE
    https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2020/ender-aguilar-236147

    Latrell BankstonJC DT
    https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2020/latrell-bankston-241178

    These are all guys with multiple quality P5 offers, so it’s pretty encouraging that we’re getting so many on campus. This list isn’t final either, some guys are still working out visit plan details so I could see this list growing.
    Another possible addition could be JC OL Luke Haggard. I’m also waiting to hear on some others. I’ll try to get verification on the full list later this week once we get a little closer to the weekend.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here