Red Sox begin manager search
No Gold Glove for Bradley Jr.
The Red Sox have begun their search for their next manager.
According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Sox have started to interview candidates, including Cubs third base coach Will Venable and Pirates bench coach Don Kelly, a pair of former players who only recently transitioned to the dugout. Each Venable and Kelly last saw big league action in 2016.
The trend of hiring young, freshly-retired players to become managers and bench coaches has surged throughout MLB, in large part because of the success of Alex Cora, who led the Red Sox to a historic season and World Series title in 2018, his first year as a manager after retiring after the 2011 season.
Red Sox general manager Brian O’Halloran declined to comment on the team’s search.
Cora is considered the heavy favorite to get his job back once his one-year suspension is lifted by MLB following the completion of the World Series. He’ll have paid his price for the sign-stealing scandal with the 2017 Houston Astros and was never found to be directly guilty of breaking any rules with the 2018 Red Sox, a team that was also penalized for illegal sign-stealing.
He’s a favorite of the ownership group, the players and the majority of the fanbase, which showered him with praise throughout 2018 and ‘19, even when the team fell out of playoff contention.
Venable is a Princeton University alum who had a nine-year career, mostly with the Padres, as a utility outfielder who hit .249 with a .719 OPS. He was originally hired as a special assistant in the Cubs’ front office in 2017, the year he stopped playing, and spent two years as Joe Maddon’s first-base coach before new manager David Ross moved him into the thirdbase-coach role.
Kelly, who was drafted from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, was a utility man with the Tigers for most of his nine-year career in which he hit .265 with a .698 OPS. He spent one year as the Astros’ first-base coach under A.J.
Hinch in 2019 before joining the Pirates as first-year manager Derek Shelton’s bench coach in 2020.
JBJ feels snubbed
For the first time in at least a decade, the Red Sox did not have a single Gold Glove Award finalist.
Rawlings announced the finalists for its annual defensive awards on Thursday, and the Red Sox were notably absent across the board.
Not even former Gold Glove winner Jackie Bradley Jr. was considered a top-three defensive center fielder in his own league based on the award, which is voted on by the players and coaches, with 25% of the considerations coming from the SABR Defensive Index.
Bradley was notably frustrated by his omission, responding to a writer on Twitter who noted that his seven “outs above average” statistic tied with White Sox center fielder Luis Robert, a Gold Glove finalist, for most among all big league center fielders.
“I just don’t understand, and I have yet to have anyone from any analytics department explain to me how they “calculate” the “numbers” or better yet how can you physically improve on them as a player,” Bradley said on Twitter
The 30-year-old Bradley won his first and only Gold Glove in 2018. He’s often noted that playing in the unusual confines of center field at Fenway Park seems to have a negative impact on his defensive statistics.
All year, the Red Sox outfield was notably missing the presence of Mookie Betts, who has won the Gold Glove in right field four straight years and was again named a finalist during his first year with the Dodgers. Kevin Pillar was a solid defender during his time in Boston, but was traded mid-season, as was former Gold Glove first baseman Mitch Moreland.
Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers were not named finalists, nor was Christian Vazquez.
The Red Sox have previously had at least one Gold Glove finalist every year that Rawlings has been announcing finalists.
But they were undoubtedly worse on defense in 2020. They ranked 20th in MLB with minus-2 defensive runs saved, meaning they allowed two more runs than the average team due to their poor defense.
Ironically, they led the majors with 18 outfield assists, including seven from newcomer Alex Verdugo and three from Bradley.