Rick Sweet - Post-playing Career

Post-playing Career

After spending 1984 as a Mariners coach, he was moved into the scouting department for the next two seasons. In 1987, Sweet was named to his first managerial post, with the Bellingham Mariners of the Northwest League. He spent one more season managing in the Seattle organization with the Wausau Timbers, then moved to the Houston Astros system to manage the Osceola Astros.

Over the next seven seasons, Sweet moved his way up the Astros chain. In 1993, while managing the Triple-A Tucson Toros, he won his first championship, as the Toros won the Pacific Coast League title. By 1996, he was named to the Astros' coaching staff under manager Terry Collins. After one season as Houston's first base coach, he was let go along with Collins, and landed in the New York Mets organization for 1997.

After a season managing the Binghamton Mets, Sweet changed organizations once more, moving on to manage the Harrisburg Senators, the Double-A farm team of the Montreal Expos. In 1998, Sweet won his second league championship as a manager, leading Harrisburg to the Eastern League title.

Over the next several years, Sweet continued to manage, moving from the Expos organization to the Padres' system in 2001, the Detroit Tigers system for a season in 2004, and then finally the Reds' organization in 2005, when he was named to his current position as manager of their Triple-A farm team, the Louisville Bats. He led the team to three straight Western Division titles (2008–10) and was named the International League Manager of the Year in 2008 and 2009.

Sweet was fired from the Bats after the 2011 season despite posting a winning record for the previous six years. He was hired by the Cincinnati Reds as a roving instructor for catchers.