On Wednesday afternoon, the Arizona Diamondbacks released a list of seven candidates vying to fill the team’s managerial vacancy after Kirk Gibson was relieved of his duties late last month.
The list initially included Sandy Alomar Jr., Jay Bell, Andy Green, Phil Nevin, Jim Tracy and Turner Ward. However, later on Wednesday, via Twitter, the team announced it has received permission to interview Joe McEwing. The organization also made it clear that other candidates could – and likely would – be added to the pool once other teams give their permission to interview the other respective candidates. Arizona’s chief baseball officer and Hall of Fame skipper Tony LaRussa described what his team would be looking for in its search on Monday:
"“I think the first priority is leadership, a personality,” D-backs chief baseball officer Tony La Russa said Monday when asked what he’s looking for in his next manager. “You just think about when he stands in front of the club and it’s Spring Training in front of 50 or 60 guys, there’s got to be something about them that gets their attention. And then something about what he says that makes sense.”"
Nevin is rumored to be leading candidate at the onset of the search, given his work as the organization’s manager at Triple-A Reno in 2014, where his team made the postseason before falling in the Pacific Coast League Championship Series. The former San Diego Padres corner infielder amassed 208 career home runs across 12 seasons as a player, including a career-high 41 in 2001. He was also considered a strong candidate for the Houston Astros’ managerial vacancy, which was recently filled with A.J. Hinch.
The former Dodgers, Rockies and Pirates skipper Tracy is the only one on the list who has any substantive big league managerial experience. In 11 years at the helm of the trio of teams, he put together an 856-880 record, most recently managing in Colorado, where he resigned back in 2012 after a dismal campaign.
Alomar Jr. joins Tracy as the only other candidate with major league managerial experience, as he served as an interim manager for the Cleveland Indians in Sept. 2012 after Manny Acta was fired. He has been tied to multiple managerial vacancies in recent years and is currently the Indians’ first base coach. During his playing career, the now-48-year-old was named to six All-Star teams, winning a Gold Glove and the Rookie of the Year Award in 1990, when he batted .290 with nine home runs and 66 RBIs with Cleveland.
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Current Cincinnati Reds bench coach Jay Bell has experience with the Arizona organization from his playing days, where he was a member of the team from 1998 to 2002. He returned to the organization under Bob Melvin for two seasons in the middle of the last decade, serving as a bench coach. With the Diamondbacks, Bell batted .263/.355/.458 across 616 games, in which he drove in a solid 304 runs.
Both Green and Ward are also internal candidates for the position, given their work in the Diamondbacks’ farm system. Green was named the Southern League Manager of the Year in each of the past two seasons as the skipper of Double-A Mobile, while Ward has coached with Arizona at the big league level – serving as the assistant hitting coach in 2013 and the hitting coach this season. He also saw success managing Double-A Mobile in the past, winning back-to-back championships in 2011 and 2012.
McEwing currently serves as the third base coach for the Chicago White Sox – the only organization he has any coaching experience with. After spending time working in the Chicago farm system upon his retirement as a player, the 41-year-old joined the big league coaching staff in 2012 under then-newly appointed manager Robin Ventura. During his playing career, McEwing appeared with the New York Mets from 2000 to 2004, serving as a utility player.