Not yet into the thick of the Major League Baseball offseason, the early storylines thus far have centered around managerial vacancies.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals all had openings (the Dodgers’ managerial position remains unfilled), and only the Mariners hiring of Scott Servais has been met with little fanfare or intrigue.
Once Don Mattingly and the Dodgers agreed to part ways, the expectation was it would only be a matter of time until the 54 year old ended up with the Marlins. Miami made their hire of Mattingly official on Monday.
Meanwhile the Nationals have dominated headlines, beginning Monday evening and carrying into Tuesday morning. After appearing set to hire Bud Black, Washington reversed course and announced Dusty Baker as their next manager.
To little surprise, Black will interview with the Dodgers, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports:
Sources: #Dodgers plan to interview Bud Black for managerial opening. Team about halfway into process. As many as 10 interviews possible.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 3, 2015
Rosenthal reported Tuesday morning the Dodgers interviewed Dave Roberts, who played for Los Angeles from 2002-04.
Moreover, Rosenthal’s note of the Dodgers potentially interviewing as many as 10 candidates fits in line with Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman stating on Oct. 22 the front office would exhaust a thorough search.
Black was fired by the Padres in June after San Diego got off to a disappointing 32-33 start. He spent eight and a half seasons with the Padres organization, going 649-713 during his tenure and never making the postseason.
In 2010 Black guided the Padres to a 90-72 record and was named National League Manager of the Year, despite his club collapsing late and missing the playoffs. Roberts served as Black’s bench coach in 2014 and again this season.
He also managed the Padres for one game before San Diego promoted Pat Murphy from the Minors to be the club’s interim manager.
It’s currently unclear if Roberts would be considered for bench should Black get hired by the Dodgers. Tim Wallach, the Dodgers bench coach in 2014 and 2015, will join Mattingly in Miami if not hired for the managerial opening.
The Dodgers are said to be in negotiations to retain pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. Friedman previously marked the goal is to have a manager in place prior to the Winter Meetings beginning in Nashville, Tenn. on Dec. 7.
