Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports that Jim Leyland will manage the U.S. team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. His coaching staff will consist of his long-time associates and assistants: Jeff Jones, Marcel Lachemann, Lloyd McClendon, Willie Randolph, and Alan Trammell.
Leyland has been out of the managing game since the end of the 2013 season, but he has certainly kept a hand in the game. He scouts and does special assignments for the Tigers and can be seen at spring training and most of baseball’s major events. He’s definitely not checked out in retirement.
Leyland’s predecessors as U.S. team WBC managers are Buck Martinez (2006); Davey Johnson (2009); and Joe Torre (2013). The United States has never won the WBC. Japan won the first two finals, the Dominican Republic the most recent.