In 2022, the New York Yankees chose Rachel Balkovec to manage the Class-A minor league affiliate team, the Tampa Tarpons.
As a result, Balkovec became the first woman to work as a full-time manager with a Major League affiliated team.
However, Balkovec has other goals for her career beyond just managing at the Major League level.
Instead, she hopes to become a general manager in MLB.
On Tuesday, the Yankees Class-A manager stopped by the podcast “Foul Territory” to discuss her goals and explain why she wants to ultimately become a general manager instead of simply remaining a field manager.
“You’ll see me hopefully as a general manager in the next 10 years.”
Yankees minor league manager @_rachelbalkovec on why her goal is to be an MLB GM rather than a manager.https://t.co/bjiSQYqKg7 pic.twitter.com/mobPHfdlMx
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 13, 2023
Former MLB catcher Erik Kratz asked Balkovec if we would ultimately see her in a Major League dugout in the next few years.
Balkovec responded by telling Kratz that becoming a Major League manager was not her goal before professing her desire to become a general manager within the next 10 years.
She says she hopes that we’ll see her as part of a front office sooner rather than later.
Balkovec discussed the recent paradigm shift in baseball and how different people from different backgrounds have found themselves in the conversation for coaching and front office roles.
She talked about how the initial perception of a manager is somebody who writes the lineups and breaks down matchups, but that now with analytics, the focus is on pitch counts.
Balkovec mentioned that in this day and age, the front office executives are the ones that hold all the cards when it comes to building a successful team, and how it’s something she hopes to accomplish soon.
NEXT:
Yankees Starter Keeps Progressing On His Injury Rehab