In the nearly two weeks since the Los Angeles Dodgers parted ways with Don Mattingly as manager, the list of candidates has seemingly grown by the day with San Diego Padres bench coach Dave Roberts now said to be the favorite for the vacancy.
Just as he said he would, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is casting a wide net and conducting a thorough search.
With Roberts and Bud Black recently entering the picture, so too has New York Mets bench coach Bob Geren, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports:
Sources: #Dodgers will interview #Mets bench coach Bob Geren for managerial opening.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 4, 2015
Geren’s previous experience includes four and a half years as manager of the Oakland Athletics. His coaching history includes time as Minor League manager in the Boston Red Sox organization in the 1990s, A’s Minor League manager and A’s bench coach.
The Mets hired Geren as bench coach in October 2011. He was fired by Oakland 63 games into the 2011 season, who suffered numerous injuries to their pitching staff (including Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy) and were 27-36 at the time.
Geren’s tenure in Oakland was said to come undone due to poor relationships with players. Geren never finished above .500 with the A’s, with his best season coming in 2010 when the club finished 81-81, good for second place in the American League West division.
The 54 year old is a lifetime 334-376 as manager. His time with the A’s overlaps with that of Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi, who spent 10 seasons in the Oakland front office before joining Los Angeles last year.
Coincidentally, Geren was also Mattingly’s teammate on the New York Yankees from 1988-1991. Like the Dodgers front office, Geren is well-versed and makes use of advanced statistics.
