Sox free to shuffle up
CLEVELAND — A different sort of wait has ended at Fenway Park.
The conclusion of the World Series will bring a flurry of movement around baseball, both on the Red Sox roster and inside the front office.
The Sox shouldn’t need much time to announce Clay Buchholz’ $13.5 million option has been picked up for 2017, and that Ryan Hanigan’s $3.75 million option has been declined, which is the team’s plan. Hanigan has an $800,000 buyout.
On the sixth day after the World Series, free agency officially begins, barring some change related to the negotiation of the next collective bargaining agreement (the current CBA expires Dec. 1). Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara and Brad Ziegler can walk, leaving the bullpen as an area of need. Veteran infielder Aaron Hill is a free agent as well.
Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo was in Arizona on Sunday to interview to become the Diamondbacks manager. While Arizona general manager Mike Hazen, the former Sox GM, has not made a final decision, it would be a shock if Lovullo does not become the skipper.
Assuming Lovullo’s hiring is finalized, the Sox are likely to promote from within for their bench coach job. Hitting coach Chili Davis and third base coach Brian Butterfield jump out as candidates.
If someone is moved up, it’s possible the Sox could go outside the organization for a replacement. Sox manager John Farrell has enough connections in the game that he might want to bring in someone with whom he’s familiar.
Baseball sources said if Lovullo is hired, he is not able to take anyone else from the Sox with him to Arizona. The Diamondbacks’ plundering therefore would be cut off at three names: Hazen, assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye and Lovullo.
The rest of a group of expected promotions inside the Sox front office could be known as soon as today. Several titles will change following the departure of Hazen and Sawdaye and the promotion of Eddie Romero to assistant GM.
Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has alluded to the promotions, but the team refrained from specifying all of them out of respect for the World Series, just as MLB likes it.
How Dombrowski structures the front office will be a matter to watch. He’s known for his hands-on approach, and now that he’s had more than a full year under his belt with the team, the structure might start to more closely match his vision rather than the format and chain of command he inherited.