Tag: carlos mendoza

The latest on the Red Sox’ managerial search

With the White Sox and Tigers both landing their new managers in the forms of Tony La Russa and A.J. Hinch this week, the Red Sox currently stand as the only club in baseball with a vacancy at manager as the month of October comes to a close.

From what has been reported, the Sox have interviewed seven candidates — Will Venable, Don Kelly, Luis Urueta, Skip Schumaker, James Rowson, Mike Bell, Carlos Mendoza — to fill that opening, though former manager Alex Cora has been viewed as the favorite to return to his old post.

As it turns out, Boston has indeed been in contact with Cora since his one-year suspension ended on Tuesday following the conclusion of the World Series, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

On top of that, assistant general manager Eddie Romero told Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia Friday that the Red Sox do plan to speak to Cora about the position, while MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports that the club will interview the 45-year-old within the “coming days.”

In that same tweet from Heyman, we also learn that Mendoza, currently the Yankees’ bench coach, and Kelly, who serves the same role for the Pirates, have gotten second interviews for the job, which have actually happened in-person.

While Heyman notes that other candidates may have been interviewed a second time as well, it is worth noting that all three of Urueta (Diamondbacks bench coach), Venable (Cubs third base coach), and Bell (Twins bench coach) are now out of the running for Boston’s managerial opening, per Speier and MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

With that in mind, the list of managerial candidates chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and Co. have composed to take over for the ousted Ron Roenicke can, at the moment, be narrowed down to Cora, Mendoza, Kelly, Schumaker (Padres associate manager), and Rowson (Marlins bench coach).

Of course, as Cotillo notes, these are just the names that have been leaked out. There still could be other candidates, such as Dodgers first base coach George Lombard and former major-league outfielder-turned-Phillies executive Sam Fuld, who the Sox have in mind and would like to speak to.

That being said, how Boston proceeds with their managerial search could very well make for an exciting weekend depending on how things play out from here. My guess is Cora is named manager by next Friday. We will have to wait and see on that, though.

Advertisement

Red Sox Managerial Search: Yankees Bench Coach Carlos Mendoza Interviewed for Opening, per Report

The Red Sox have reportedly interviewed Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza for their managerial opening, according to The New York Post’s George A. King III.

Per King, Mendoza has talked with the Tigers in regards to their vacancy at manager as well.

Mendoza, who turns 41 next month, has spent the last 12 seasons with the Yankees, most recently serving as manager Aaron Boone’s bench coach for the first time this year.

Prior to being named bench coach, the native of Venezuela worked two seasons as New York’s first-ever quality control and infield coach in 2018 and 2019. He also has experience as a coach and manager in the minor-leagues, as well as stints as manager for the Arizona Fall League’s Scottsdale Scorpions in 2012 and 2016.

A veteran of 13 minor-league and independent seasons as a professional, the former utility infielder is now the seventh confirmed managerial candidate the Sox have interviewed in recent weeks. The other six include Cubs third base coach Will Venable, Pirates bench coach Don Kelly, Diamondbacks bench coach Luis Urueta, Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker, Twins bench coach Mike Bell, and Marlins bench coach James Rowson.

Of course, as soon as this year’s World Series comes to a close, which will happen on either Tuesday or Wednesday, former Sox skipper Alex Cora will have finished serving his one-year suspension for the role he played in the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal.

Cora, who was at the helm in Boston for two years, is thought to be the favorite to return to his old post in place of the ousted Ron Roenicke, but given the qualities of the other candidates listed above, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and Co. could be looking to go in a new direction in terms of on-field team leadership. We will have to wait and see on that.