Troy Snitker is reportedly the Cleveland Guardians' top managerial choice

Troy Snitker is currently the hitting coach for the Houston Astros alongside Alex Cintrón, but could he soon be the Cleveland Guardians next manager?

Snitker, 34, is the son of Braves manager Brian Snitker, and the fact that he's with the Astros - and has been since 2015 - should definitely have the ears of Guardians fans perking up. He represents a new wave of young managerial talent and has been instrumental in Houston's continued American League dominance over the past few seasons.

Though nothing official has been thrown out there, a very interesting tweet from Will Joyce, a former scout, suggests Snitker is actually Cleveland's top managerial choice. And, really, it would be hard to argue with the line of thinking given Snitker's background and experience at the major-league level, even before he's 35 years old. And from an offensive standpoint, the Astros just continue to produce no matter who's in the lineup. So if the Guardians were to want to mirror any organization and its ability to remain consistently competitive, Houston would be it.

I know that's not a lot to go off of, but here's the thing: Joyce is legit. He's no longer an active baseball scout, but he does still have connections within the game.

"[Snitker] is very highly thought of by the Guardians and he’s someone that kind of fits the profile of what they’re looking for," Joyce said. The source relaying the information to Joyce is a former Houston scout himself, who heard the Guardians are also very high on John McDonald, whose name has been floated around in rumors recently.

Snitker had himself a modest minor-league playing career, finishing up in indy ball in 2013. After retiring from the game in 2014, Snitker coached at North Georgia and got a master's degree. Then he set his sights on a coaching career, teaching himself Spanish to better connect with international players. Eventually, Snitker was hired in 2015 by the Astros as a rookie league hitting coach, working his way up through the Houston system until he was promoted to the majors as a hitting instructor in 2018.

With the way Snitker has ascended to the major leagues and found sustained success, it's only a matter of time before he does become a top name for manager openings around the league. And if the Guardians want to be ahead of the curve, finding a young manager who can relate to players and lead a young team to success, it seems they could do a lot worse than Troy Snitker.