Tomase: Looking at some candidates to be next Sox manager
The Red Sox are so early in the process of replacing manager Ron Roenicke that any list of potential candidates will be largely speculative.
The most commonly cited names are former manager Alex Cora and former catcher Jason Varitek, who both boast instant name recognition. However, with chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom sounding reluctant to re-engage with Cora once his suspension ends next month, and with Varitek sounding not quite ready to make the leap behind the bench, the candidate may very well come from outside the organization.
In that spirit, here are a handful of names to consider.
The former Rays outfielder checks a lot boxes. The Stanford grad studied economics and statistics and is considered well-versed in sabermetrics. He's also intimately familiar with the workings of a clubhouse, thanks to eight seasons in the big leagues, where he twice stole 20 bases.
A Durham, N.H. native, Fuld is serving as Philadelphia's integrative baseball performance director, and he knows Bloom from their years in Tampa together.
Arizona's bench coach interviewed for the Red Sox manager's job after Cora departed in the wake of the Astros cheating scandal. Whether or not he was a realistic candidate at the time, the interview allowed the front office to get know him better.
A native of Colombia, he has filled a number of minor-league roles with the Diamondbacks over two decades, dating back to his days as a farmhand.
Red Sox fans will remember Bam Bam from his prospect days with the Yankees, when he was supposed to be New York's answer to Mo Vaughn. He never panned out, hitting just .220 over parts of seven seasons, but the 53-year-old has interviewed for seven openings in recent years.
A native of Curacao, Meulens speaks five languages and has had a long career as a hitting coach and bench coach with the Giants.
A former Rays draftee who advanced as far as Triple A, Quatraro has spent the last three years as Kevin Cash's bench coach in Tampa.
He sandwiched a four-year stint as a hitting coach in Cleveland around an assortment of roles with the Rays, including minor league hitting coordinator and big league third base coach. The 46-year-old knows Bloom well and is considered analytically inclined.
Rowson is officially the Marlins' bench coach, but his secondary title sounds like something out of the NFL: offensive coordinator.
Minnesota's hitting coach when the Twins clubbed a record 307 homers in 2019, the 44-year-old has helped turn the Marlins into the surprise playoff team of this truncated season by focusing on their approach at the plate.
The former infielder made an All-Star team during his lone season with the Red Sox in 2006, and he was a finalist for the Cubs managing job that went to another ex-Red Sox player in catcher David Ross last year.
Loretta spent 2019 as Joe Maddon's bench coach in Chicago and earned a reputation for preaching discipline.
Williams has multiple ties for the Red Sox organization. In addition to spending three years in the farm system after being drafted in the 45th round in 1999, he's also the son of ex-Boston skipper Jimy Williams.
He has since made a name for himself as a minor-league manager. The 40-year-old has spent the last two years with the Durham Bulls, Tampa's Triple-A affiliate, which means he has a prior relationship with Bloom.
