Lost in the chaos and excitement of the World Series is the fact the Arizona Diamondbacks are still without a manager as the calendar turns to November.
It’s not surprising the team, and generally all of Major League Baseball, is holding off on personnel decisions with the Series front and center. It is a little stunning how quiet the usually transparent and public D-backs’ front office has been about potential candidates to replace Chip Hale who was let go, along with General Manager Dave Stewart, after the season.
One person close to the situation says the list is shrinking.
“I’m actually hearing it’s down to a final four,” ESPN Baseball Insider Pedro Gomez said to Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat in a phone interview Wednesday morning. “It’s Phil Nevin…it’s Torey Lovullo…it is Alex Cora…and Don Wakamatsu.”
Gomez believes the two likely finalists are Nevin, who managed the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate in Reno, and Lovullo who has been the bench coach in Boston the last few years and worked closely with new Arizona Executive Vice President and General Manager Mike Hazen.
Cora, who interviewed with the club according to Gomez and former Valley resident and Seattle Mariners’ manager Wakamatsu are long-shots for the position.
The final decision will say a lot about the dynamics from the top down within the organization.
The Diamondbacks finished 69-93 last season. Arizona last made the playoffs back in 2011.
Eric Sorenson
