Chip

Hale

Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa has backed Hale publicly a few times this season, but apparently something has changed. Rosenthal says that the club is mulling over whether to replace Hale with Triple-A Reno skipper Phil Nevin. The D’Backs have been one of baseball’s biggest disappointments this season at 15 games under .500.

Former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos also turned down an opportunity to interview, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Internal candidates Mike Bell and Bryan Minniti, and external candidates Kim Ng, Peter Woodfork, Ned Colletti and J.J. Picollo are on the D’Backs wish list..

Hale was fired as Diamondbacks manager this month after two seasons on the job. He previously served as bench coach with the A’s from 2012-2014 and remains friends with manager Bob Melvin. The A’s have a vacancy on their coaching staff after third base coach Ron Washington left for an opportunity with the Braves.

Add them to the list that already includes former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, D’Backs assistant GM Bryan Minniti and farm director Mike Bell, Brewers vice president of scouting Ray Montgomery and MLB executives Kim Ng and Peter Woodfork. Bloom and Picollo have both interviewed for other GM posts previously.

Bowden says the D’Backs plan to ask the Nats for permission to interview Rizzo after the conclusion of the club’s postseason run. Rizzo has two years left on his contract with the Nationals, but he was in the Diamondbacks’ front office from 1998-2006 and this would be a promotion for him.

Lovullo has a strong relationship with Mike Hazen, who the D’Backs just hired as their new executive vice president and general manager. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is hearing similarly as Nightengale in that Lovullo could follow Hazen to Arizona. Lovullo has been a longtime major league coach and minor league manager and has interviewed for multiple big league manager jobs in the past.

LaRussa reportedly sat in with owner Ken Kendrick during interviews for potential general managers. While his role has not yet been fully defined, it’s believed that he will still have power and influence in Arizona.

Colletti was the Dodgers’ GM for nine years and is currently serving as a special advisor for the club. D’Backs assistant GM Bryan Minniti and farm director Mike Bell, Brewers vice president of scouting Ray Montgomery MLB executives Kim Ng and Peter Woodfork are the other known candidate for Arizona’s GM post.

In other words, Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa won’t be the head honcho anymore if he chooses to stick around. Heyman says that La Russa and owner Ken Kendrick met for three hours Monday morning and La Russa is still deciding whether to accept a reduced role. General manager Dave Stewart, manager Chip Hale and vice president of baseball operations De Jon Watson have all been let go.

Owner Ken Kendrick said in a release that the club is “still discussing what the appropriate role for (Chief Baseball Officer) Tony La Russa will be.” It’s debatable as to how much Hale is to blame for Arizona’s disappointing season, but it can’t be argued how much of a disaster Stewart has been. The Diamondbacks went 148-176 the last two years with Hale and Stewart at the helm and depleted the farm system with some ill-advised moves.