Who will be the next manager?

Who SHOULD be next manager of the Red Sox?

  • Ron Roenicke

    Votes: 62 18.6%
  • Carlos Febles

    Votes: 14 4.2%
  • Dustin Pedroia

    Votes: 12 3.6%
  • Jason Varitek

    Votes: 62 18.6%
  • Billy McMillon

    Votes: 19 5.7%
  • Brad Ausmus

    Votes: 19 5.7%
  • Gene Lamont

    Votes: 5 1.5%
  • Tony Pena

    Votes: 13 3.9%
  • Bam Bam Meulens

    Votes: 51 15.3%
  • Someone Else

    Votes: 76 22.8%

  • Total voters
    333

PedroKsBambino

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Going to throw this one out there and then duck and hide...Politics aside, thoughts on G38? He was reportedly interested in the Phillies opening earlier this cycle. He seems to me like a mix of old-school and analytical. I am well aware of the potential media circus this could create in today's climate, and the fact that he has not managed, which is why I don't think it's realistic, but just wanted to put it out there.
You managed to find a worse candidate than Baker, so I give you credit for that. Plus, there's absolutely zero reason to believe that he would be good at the job.
 

YTF

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^^^^Curt Schilling's burner account.^^^^

Obviously the issue here is timing and time remaining before Spring Training. That said I don't think the issue is a lack of candidates. There are only 30 jobs and there were only a handful of openings this year. I'm sure there were at least 3 unique candidates for each of the jobs available (SF, Mets,SD, Pit,?) only one of which was hired. That leaves a lot of candidates who were considered qualified outside of others who were identified in this thread.

The most important quality a candidate could have at this stage of the game is existing relationships with the players on the team. A manager can usually begin to build these relationship over the long offseason. Cora himself flew to meet and talk to players he didn't know well when he was hired. Now, 23 days until Spring Training with a few candidates in house (like Febles or Roenicke) I believe that's where this will end up for 2020. The front office will probably consider it a "caretaker" situation with the idea that if everything works out they can continue with their in-house candidate, but if they have to eat the second year of a contract they will(I'm assuming they have to at least give 2 years to a new manager).
The shitty thing about where The Sox find themselves in relation to the time frame involved here is that both the Mets and Astros are in the same boat and working within that same time frame. Both may have in house solutions, but that's yet to be seen and though many here might see an in house solution for The Sox, their situation differs in two ways. First, Boston is still under investigation and elevating someone from within might not be something the organisation is willing to do until MLB releases their findings pertaining to the 2018 season. The second consideration here is that there is a new front office structure in place and we don't know if Roenicke, Febles or any of the other in house candidates are Bloom's ideal choice for manager.
 

SemperFidelisSox

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Nobody from the current staff should be considered until they’ve been cleared by the MLB investigation, even someone with a minor role like Varitek.
 

MartyBC

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You managed to find a worse candidate than Baker, so I give you credit for that. Plus, there's absolutely zero reason to believe that he would be good at the job.
This would be high comedy the Boston media would go apesh*t. I could see the tweets now the president tells Curt just go with your gut. So Curt says, “ I went with my gut and I droned the freaking Yankees!”
 

jon abbey

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Hey, don't toy with us, please.
Sorry, I was just riffing off my previous pro-Meulens post by referencing The Wire (Omar comin') but I wouldn't worry, you hired Chaim to make decisions like this and he'll hire someone solid.
 

InsideTheParker

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Sorry, I was just riffing off my previous pro-Meulens post by referencing The Wire (Omar comin') but I wouldn't worry, you hired Chaim to make decisions like this and he'll hire someone solid.
Oh. I seem to miss about 90% of popular culture references. And I do have a good feeling about Bloom. But we are so close to ST and my enthusiasm has definitely been curbed. I'd like a reason to get excited.
 

JimD

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In his weekly Q&A on BSM, Sean McAdam questions Varitek's readiness to deal with the media in a manager's role:

BayAreaPatsFan
Hi Sean,

Why not Jason Varitek as the next Red Sox manager? I don’t wanna see Showalter, Dusty Baker or other retreads at the wheel.

Sean McAdam
We don’t know if he wants to manage. We don’t know that he’s well-suited for it. And I maintain that he would not enjoy/be comfortable with all the media responsibilities which, like it or not, are a huge part of the job in 2020. As for the “retreads” you cite — as I’ve written, I don’t think you need to worry about that happening.
Also, he believes that a hire is more likely from outside the organization than within:
JChalifour
Sean,
We still haven’t heard about the Red Sox interviewing any managerial candidates. The longer this goes does it become more likely that the hire will be internal?

Sean McAdam
They’ve moved slowly so far, but I think they kind of wanted to get through the end of the week with organizational meetings and then some public events (BBWAA dinner, Winter Weekend). I would expect that you’ll start to hear about them requesting permission more very soon. I’m still inclined to think they go outside the organization.
 

HriniakPosterChild

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When Francona was hired, neither he nor Theo were allowed to use agents to negotiate their contracts (if I recall correctly, but it’s been a long time).

What professional relationship would Boras have with a long retired player like Tek?
 

gkelly53

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And Boras has said before that he doesn't rep manager candidates as he sees it as a conflict of interest. I think it was around the time Cora was hired, Boras was his agent as a player
 

wiffleballhero

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In the simulacrum
Give the job to Craig Breslow.

I'm assuming he would check most of Bloom's boxes, has a sense of the local media environment, is not a dinosaur (like some of the people being floated here) nor is he just an '04 nostalgia vote. While a pitcher, he also seems unlikely to be utterly unhinged (like Schilling, good-god how did that idea get going?).
 

Lose Remerswaal

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I love Breslow, but not sure what one season as Director of Strategic Initiatives for Baseball Operations for the Cubs does to prepare him to be a Major League Manager.

And yes, I am aware he was voted "Smartest Man in Baseball". Considering the other guy mentioned in the last post, though . . . .
 

The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa

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And Boras has said before that he doesn't rep manager candidates as he sees it as a conflict of interest. I think it was around the time Cora was hired, Boras was his agent as a player
Darn, I was looking forward to hearing about the Mystery Team® in play for Varitek's services once again. But just because Boras wouldn't be officially representing a candidate in the managerial job market doesn't mean he doesn't have the Mouth of Boras out there saying helpful things.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Does baseball have a rule about never blocking coaching promotions, or is that just the NFL?
I believe teams must ask permission before interviewing contracted employees of other teams, but beyond that there are no rules about it. Usually teams aren't going to stand in the way of a coach getting a promotion, but at this point in the off-season, they may not want to create a vacancy in their own staff. These are relatively rare circumstances. The last time any team hired a manager this close to the start of a new season was 2003 when the Red Sox hired Grady Little. Teams then didn't deny the Red Sox permission (Little was the Indians bench coach at the time) and that was during spring training. Seems unlikely to me that any team would deny permission now.
 

StuckOnYouk

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Would they really want a pissed-off bench coach who wasn't allowed to interview for a managerial spot when he's already interviewed several other times and failed to get the job? Imagine the Mets don't have a great year, his stock will certainly drop compared to now - how much who knows.
 

OurF'ingCity

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Reading the tea leaves, I think it's increasingly likely they stick with Roenicke (assuming he is willing to sign a one-year deal, which he may or may not be willing to do). His comments to McAdam quoted above seems to be a clear attempt at distancing himself from whatever comes from MLB, which I don't think he would be publicly willing to do if there was any thought he might be personally punished by MLB.
 

Rich Garces Belly

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Reading the tea leaves, I think it's increasingly likely they stick with Roenicke (assuming he is willing to sign a one-year deal, which he may or may not be willing to do). His comments to McAdam quoted above seems to be a clear attempt at distancing himself from whatever comes from MLB, which I don't think he would be publicly willing to do if there was any thought he might be personally punished by MLB.
i agree that it appears that way, but that would be an awful move IMO. They need someone not involved in the sign stealing, hopefully they find someone by this time next week.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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i agree that it appears that way, but that would be an awful move IMO. They need someone not involved in the sign stealing, hopefully they find someone by this time next week.
How do you know Roenicke was involved in the sign stealing?

My assumption is that there hasn't been much movement on interviewing for a new manager because they're waiting for MLB to wrap up the investigation. They're not going to commit to Roenicke or any of the rest of the staff before they know who might be implicated, and they're not going to bring in serious outside candidates without knowing the landscape of what that person might be dealing with. Unless they get some sort of indication from MLB that the investigation is going to run into spring training or the season itself (no reason to think it will), they're better off waiting.

Let's bear in mind that the Mets aren't under investigation so they could move on from Beltran quickly and easily. The Astros know what they're facing in terms of punishments and are moving forward on interviews, but they haven't found their guy yet. I don't expect the Red Sox to beat them to the punch unless MLB makes its ruling tomorrow.
 

Rich Garces Belly

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How do you know Roenicke was involved in the sign stealing?

My assumption is that there hasn't been much movement on interviewing for a new manager because they're waiting for MLB to wrap up the investigation. They're not going to commit to Roenicke or any of the rest of the staff before they know who might be implicated, and they're not going to bring in serious outside candidates without knowing the landscape of what that person might be dealing with. Unless they get some sort of indication from MLB that the investigation is going to run into spring training or the season itself (no reason to think it will), they're better off waiting.

Let's bear in mind that the Mets aren't under investigation so they could move on from Beltran quickly and easily. The Astros know what they're facing in terms of punishments and are moving forward on interviews, but they haven't found their guy yet. I don't expect the Red Sox to beat them to the punch unless MLB makes its ruling tomorrow.
so either he was involved or oblivious to what was going on around him,
Neither is what you want in a manager. If you see Someone being mugged and don’t report it you are implicit by the courts... just ask Jerry, Elaine, George, and Cosmo.

I also find it interesting that none of the players interviewed have campaigned or even mentioned Roenicke to become the next manager.

If they promote him it will just bring up even more questions all season long.
 

YTF

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I only want Roenicke if he's truly Bloom's choice. It's a rather unique situation replacing a popular and successful manager under these circumstances. More unique given this happens months after Bloom joins the team. If for other reasons Cora was fired, lets say at the end of the coming season we'd fully expect Bloom to go through the process and bring in the guy he feels best suits his vision for the team. If Chaim thinks Roenicke's that guy then I'm excited to usher in this new era, but I don't want to see the move as a one year stop gap or matter of convenience on an interim basis.
 

OurF'ingCity

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I also find it interesting that none of the players interviewed have campaigned or even mentioned Roenicke to become the next manager.
On this point, at least, you are wrong:
Martinez threw his support behind bench coach Ron Roenicke as a potential replacement.

"I guess it's up to [Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom] to pick that," he told reporters Saturday. "I could definitely see it coming from within. Ron is a great candidate, and he knows our team, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's him or something. I don't know."
Source
 

OurF'ingCity

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I only want Roenicke if he's truly Bloom's choice. It's a rather unique situation replacing a popular and successful manager under these circumstances. More unique given this happens months after Bloom joins the team. If for other reasons Cora was fired, lets say at the end of the coming season we'd fully expect Bloom to go through the process and bring in the guy he feels best suits his vision for the team. If Chaim thinks Roenicke's that guy then I'm excited to usher in this new era, but I don't want to see the move as a one year stop gap or matter of convenience on an interim basis.
What if the guy that "best suits his vision for the team" isn't available now but might be available after this season (thinking guys like Quatraro, Meulens, etc.)? In that case a one-year quasi-interim approach would actually make sense. I'd rather that than Bloom picking from a less-than-desirable crop of replacements that are available now and committing to that long term when there may be many better options next year.
 

E5 Yaz

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They need someone not involved in the sign stealing, hopefully they find someone by this time next week.
This is a ludicrisp argument ... even if Roenicke were involved in the sign-stealing. By your logic, shouldn't they wipe out the entire coaching staff? Why stop there? Clearly the sign stealing helped all the hitters, so they shouldn't come back either.

The stigma will be with the Red Sox for a while, regardless of who manages or plays for them.
 

YTF

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What if the guy that "best suits his vision for the team" isn't available now but might be available after this season (thinking guys like Quatraro, Meulens, etc.)? In that case a one-year quasi-interim approach would actually make sense. I'd rather that than Bloom picking from a less-than-desirable crop of replacements that are available now and committing to that long term when there may be many better options next year.
If Bloom inquires, but is denied interviews then sure.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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so either he was involved or oblivious to what was going on around him,
Neither is what you want in a manager.
Have you seen what the Sox are actually accused of? It was entirely a player run "scheme". The coaching staff, including the manager, might have been entirely in the dark. I don't see that as any sort of black mark on any of them. I don't doubt there are perfectly legal schemes cooked up by players that the coaching staff are ignorant of. These are adults. Coaches aren't babysitters monitoring everything at all times.
 

Ale Xander

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Is there a point in time, where, without news to the contrary, it becomes obvious Roenicke becomes/became manager? Day before pitchers&catchers report? Tuesday after Super Bowl? Sometime in between?

You don't have an interim for February and March and then bring in someone else, right?
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Is there a point in time, where, without news to the contrary, it becomes obvious Roenicke becomes/became manager? Day before pitchers&catchers report? Tuesday after Super Bowl? Sometime in between?

You don't have an interim for February and March and then bring in someone else, right?
There's no reason to assume anything regarding the manager position until the MLB investigation concludes. If that doesn't happen until after camp opens, then yeah, Roenicke probably runs spring training in an interim capacity. But they're not going to make a decision about a long term plan until they know where they stand with MLB.

Going into spring training with an interim manager isn't unprecedented. The Red Sox went through the entire off-season in 2001-2002 with essentially an interim manager (and GM for that matter) because of the sale of the team. I very much doubt that there's anything they'd be doing differently during the early days of spring training with a different manager in charge.
 

edoug

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Is there a point in time, where, without news to the contrary, it becomes obvious Roenicke becomes/became manager? Day before pitchers&catchers report? Tuesday after Super Bowl? Sometime in between?

You don't have an interim for February and March and then bring in someone else, right?
1. It would have to bee relatively soon. I think.
2. Unless they fire him, he.s going to manage the team all year. I don't believe they're going to bring back Cora no matter if they are punished or not. Bringing back Cora this year is most likely not an option anyway.
 

Buckner's Boots

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Does anyone have insight on why Demarlo Hale is not a major league manager right now? He always seemed to have what it took from the outside, was always mentioned as a possibility, always seemed to be interviewed, but...
 

jon abbey

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Does anyone have insight on why Demarlo Hale is not a major league manager right now? He always seemed to have what it took from the outside, was always mentioned as a possibility, always seemed to be interviewed, but...
He’s 58, I think he missed his window. Most first-time managers these days are in their late thirties.
 

Harry Hooper

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McAdam had this in a chat last week:

I think DeMarlo still working in the Blue Jays’ system, though not on the major league staff. Most of the people with whom he was connected to have moved on from the Red Sox, so don’t know if that’s likely.
Link
 

Yelling At Clouds

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I have a vague memory of Kotsay and John Henry being close from when Henry owned the Marlins - am I making that up?
 

AlNipper49

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Mark Kotsay’s wife also won the SoSH aware for hottest wife a few years in a row I believe.

Holy shit, that was like 15 years ago, time flies.
 

BuellMiller

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