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Diamondbacks To Make Coaching Staff Changes

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The Diamondbacks signed manager Torey Lovullo to a one-year contract extension last month, ensuring he’d be back for a sixth season in the dugout. There’ll be a pretty significant shakeup around the skipper, though, as Zach Buchanan of the Athletic reported upon a series of coaching staff changes this afternoon.

Only three members of Lovullo’s staff will return in their current capacity: first base coach Dave McKay, third base coach Tony Perezchica and bullpen coach Mike Fetters. Bench coach Luis Urueta has been reassigned within the organization; Matt Herges is out as pitching coach but could return to the organization in some other capacity; catching coach Robby Hammock will not be brought back.

Urueta has been on Lovullo’s staff since the end of 2017, serving as bench coach for the past couple seasons. He drew some consideration in the Red Sox’s managerial search last winter but remained in Arizona after Boston re-hired Alex Cora. Herges was hired leading up to the 2020 season, his first stint as a big league pitching coach. The former big leaguer had previously served as the Giants’ bullpen coach.

The D-Backs were already expected to search for new hitting instruction after firing hitting coaches Darnell Coles and Eric Hisnke in June. Rick Short and Drew Hedman had been promoted to serve as interim co-hitting coaches, but they won’t return in that capacity. Buchanan notes, however, that Arizona is considering some form of nontraditional hitting coaching — as evidenced by their atypical co-coach setup this summer — that could see Short and Heyman return in some other role.

Red Sox, Alex Cora Have Been In Contact

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A reunion between the Red Sox and Alex Cora may be in the offing. After a year away from the team because of a suspension, their former manager is a candidate to return in the same role. The Red Sox have been in contact with Cora, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports.

The Red Sox have already interviewed seven other candidates, as shown on MLBTR’s Managerial Search Tracker. Pirates bench coach Don Kelly and Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza have received second interviews, according to Speier, who adds that Cubs third base coach Will Venable and Twins bench coach Mike Bell are no longer under consideration. Diamondbacks bench coach Luis Urueta is also out of the mix, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets. Among known candidates, that leaves Cora up against Kelly, Mendoza, Marlins bench coach James Rowson and Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker. However, Speier writes that there are other names under consideration.

No one from the Kelly-Mendoza-Rowson-Schumaker group has managed in the majors, so they certainly can’t match Cora’s accomplishments in the role. Cora managed the Red Sox to a 192-132 record from 2018-19, guiding the team to a World Series in the first of those seasons. But the Red Sox parted with Cora last offseason after Major League Baseball suspended him for a year because of the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal. Cora was the Astros’ bench coach that season.

Latest On Red Sox Managerial Search

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The Red Sox won’t be interviewing Red Sox bench coach Matt Quatraro for their managerial vacancy. Per Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal, Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom cannot hire anyone from the Rays for a period of two years. The condition was put into Bloom’s contract when the Rays allowed him to be hired away by Boston, which certainly makes sense, given the number of Rays executives who have been poached by other organizations the past couple of years.

Expanding the agreement to include uniformed personnel also makes sense, given that the Rays and Red Sox are divisional rivals. One might imagine the Rays being more amenable to letting someone like Quatraro take a promotion with, say, the Pirates, a league away. They proved once again to be rather prescient in putting this agreement in place before letting Bloom join Boston.

Bloom has no shortage of candidates, however. James Rowson of the Marlins, Will Venable of the Cubs, Mike Bell of the Twins, Skip Schumaker of the Padres, Luis Urueta of the Diamondbacks, and Don Kelly of the Pirates are all rumored to be in the mix. And while none of those names carry the public weight of, say, Alex Cora, the rumored favorite for the position, the process is sincere, per Rob Bradford of WEEI. Bradford is quick to point out that Kevin Cash was an unknown of a similar ilk when Bloom and the Rays chose him to be their manager.

Alex Cora remains the favorite until we hear otherwise, but these other candidates have time to make an impression. Boston cannot speak with Cora until after the World Series when his suspension will be lifted.

Red Sox Interview Luis Urueta, Don Kelly, Skip Schumaker, James Rowson

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6:15pm: The Red Sox have also interviewed Marlins bench coach James Rowson, Speier tweets.

5:46pm: The Red Sox have asked the Twins for permission to interview their bench coach, Mike Bell, according to Speier.

3:33pm: Boston has also interviewed Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker, Kevin Acee of the San Diego-Union Tribune tweets.

10:45am: The Red Sox interviewed Diamondbacks bench coach Luis Urueta for their vacant managerial post last week, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reports. It’s the second time in the past year that Urueta has interviewed for the position. He was also a candidate after Alex Cora was let go, although the team opted to instead stick with an internal option in Ron Roenicke, who won’t return as skipper in 2021. Meanwhile, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports that the Sox interviewed Pirates bench coach Don Kelly as well.

Urueta, 40 in January, has held his current position in Arizona for three seasons. He’s previously served as Arizona’s minor league field coordinator in addition to managing the Diamondbacks’ Rookie-level affiliate, managing in the Dominican Winter League and managing Team Colombia in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

The 40-year-old Kelly has fast risen as a popular managerial candidate after retiring as a player following the 2016 season. The longtime Tigers utilityman began working in Detroit’s player development part upon retiring and moved to their scouting staff the next year. He was hired as Houston’s first base coach for the 2018 season and hired as the Pirates’ bench coach under rookie skipper Derek Shelton last offseason.

There’s considerable speculation that Cora could return to Boston after his suspension for his role in the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal has been served. That ban runs through the current postseason. However, the Red Sox have also reportedly interviewed Cubs third base coach Will Venable and, per Heyman, could talk to Dodgers first base coach George Lombard.

Red Sox To Interview Luis Urueta For Managerial Vacancy

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The Red Sox are interviewing Luis Urueta for the club’s open managerial position, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes (Spanish-language link). He’s expected to speak with the club today via phone.

Urueta is presently the bench coach of the Diamondbacks, where he serves under skipper Torey Lovullo — who, like much of the top Arizona baseball ops leadership, came over from the Boston organization. The Snakes have given Urueta permission to interview, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).

The 39-year-old Urueta didn’t make it far as a professional player, but he has found quite a lot of success by climbing the ranks as a coach. His roots are in the D-Backs organization. The Colombian has also managed his home nation’s World Baseball Classic team and skippered the Dominican winter ball Licey Tigers.

Urueta’s background is generally similar to that of just-hired Mets manager Luis Rojas. Both clubs faced late hiring searches owing to the involvement of their prior managers in the Astros sign-stealing scandal. Urueta becomes the first Red Sox candidate known to have an interview; Mark Kotsay is also rumored as a potential target.

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