The Detroit Tigers announced on May 5 that the contract for Triple-A manager Gabe Alvarez was abruptly terminated due to a “violation of club policy.”
On May 6, sources told The Athletic that the termination was the result of a human resources investigation into Alvarez stemming from alleged harassment claims from a female employee.
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Alvarez had served as the manager of Triple-A Toledo since 2025. Viewed by some as an up-and-coming coach, he’d been the manager for Detroit’s Double-A affiliate in Erie for the three years prior, winning the Eastern League in both 2023 and 2024.
Mike Hessman was named the interim manager in Toledo. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was asked about the situation on Tuesday, and he said, per the Detroit News: “I talked to Hess this morning to establish kind of a cadence for our communication. I don’t have any comment on the whole thing. But in terms of my confidence in Hess to handle the transition, he’s going to handle things very well. He’s a good communicator. He and I talk regularly already when he was the hitting coach.”
The Athletic also reported that the “HR department for Ilitch Sports + Entertainment — the Tigers’ parent company — was made aware of a complaint against Alvarez on Monday night.” Their handbook reportedly states that a violation would result in disciplinary action, which could include “immediate termination. “
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When asked for a comment, neither Alvarez nor his representation responded to The Athletic.
The now former manager played for Detroit between 1998 and 2000 before he was traded to the San Diego Padres. Nearly 10 years later, he got into coaching, becoming an assistant at the University of Southern California.
This is the second reported incident in the Tigers organization in the last 13 months — last April, assistant GM Sam Menzin resigned after an internal investigation reportedly revealed he sent “lewd, unsolicited photos” to several female team employees.
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