The first round of managerial interviews are about to take place and contrary to previous reports include zero former big league managers. The first seven are:
-Joey Cora (White Sox 3rd base coach)
-Brad Mills (Red Sox bench coach)
-Chip Hale (Arizona 3rd base coach)
-DeMarlo Hale (Red Sox 3rd base coach)
-Jose Oquendo (Cardinals 3rd base coach)
-Randy Ready (Padres minor league manager)
-Don Wakamatsu (Oakland bench coach)
We all know about Cora, but some nuggets on the other six:
Brad Mills is a longtime friend and teammate of Terry Francona. He's also the father of Beau Mills.
Chip Hale was a AAA manager for three years and a Major League player for a decade.
DeMarlo Hale worked as a minor league manager for nine years with Boston and Texas and was named to his current post as a replacement for Dale Sveum.
Oquendo played for over a decade with the Mets and Cardinals as mostly a super utility player playing every position, including pitcher. Despite his similarity to Willie Bloomquist, he ended his career with more walks than strikeouts and posted a .090 isolated plate discipline. Has no significant managerial experience that I know of.
Ready was also a utility player. He's with the Padres now so he's a lock to be hired as long as we have to give San Diego something of greater value in return. He has about seven years experience as a minor league manager including in Portland during 2008.
Wakamatsu was born in Hood River making him also a lock for the job, but he comes from Oakland making him an anti-lock. He used to work for Seattle, making him a lock. Has five years experience as a bench coach and some limited minor league managerial experience.