October 29. 2035
The Matthew Barnard era is over after just one year as the manager of the Las Vegas Hustlers. General Manager Matt Rectenwald announced the decision immediately following the regular season finale when the Hustlers were eliminated from postseason play for the first time since 2019. The playoff miss ended a fifteen year stretch of postseason baseball in the desert.
"First and foremost I want to acknowledge the progress the club made in the final month," said Rectenwald. "They played inspired ball and nearly made the playoffs, but in the end there is one goal in Las Vegas and it wasn't met so there were consequences."
Barnard, 62 years old, was a surprise pick for the managers' job after the retirement of Riley Hinson. He'd been a longtime hitting coach for Montreal and had just two years of managerial experience in the Hustlers' minor league system before becoming the Las Vegas hitting coach in 2032. "I gave it my best shot but it just didn't work out," said a disappointed Barnard. "On to the next gig, I suppose."
Most observers expected Edward Allen to get the nod to replace Hinson and were shocked when he remained as the bench coach under Barnard. Now, he gets his shot to guide the team he played for from 2015-2023. "Obviously I'm disappointed for Matthew, I thought he did a great job with the team he had, especially after we traded away so many veterans," said Allen. "I'm ready to go, and given the September we had (19-8, .704) I'm truly excited to lead this team next year and for years to come."
Sources close to the front office said that Allen's sabermetric leanings are more in tune with the approach that Rectenwald plans to use in re-tooling the team moving forward.
