San Francisco’s manager search heads in different directions than other teams

SAN FRANCISCO — When the offseason began, the Giants understood there would be a wideopen competition to attract the best possible manager candidates.

Jobs range from high-profile gigs with pressure to win immediately such as ones with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies to positions leading rebuilding teams with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals.

Eight different clubs have spent at least part of October searching for a new manager, which would theoretically complicate the hiring process for a team such as the Giants that hopes to contend within the next two seasons. To this point in time, however, the Giants’ search does not appear to be significantly affected by the interviews being conducted by other organizations.

Seven different candidates have reportedly had in-person interviews with the Giants for the chance to succeed Bruce Bochy, but only two — former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler and Cubs first base coach Will Venable — have received interviews with another franchise.

To date, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has sat down with two internal candidates, bench coach Hensley Meulens and Ron Wotus, and reportedly spoken with five external candidates including Kapler, Venable, A’s quality control coach Mark Kotsay, Royals quality control coach Pedro Grifol and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro.

The Giants have also been tied to Royals special advisor Mike Matheny and Astros bench coach Joe Espada, but it’s unclear if either will receive formal interviews. Matheny, a former Giants catcher and Cardinals manager, is viewed by many as the favorite to replace Ned Yost as the Kansas City manager while Espada (who spoke to the Giants over the phone) has reportedly impressed the Chicago Cubs’ brass during two interviews.

The Giants have yet to begin a second round of interviews and are content to take their time with the process, but they do not appear interested in many of the candidates who have emerged as front-runners for other jobs. Their search has instead led them to many younger, inexperienced options including some who are only a few years removed from a playing career.

Despite being deserving of consideration elsewhere, neither Meulens nor Wotus appears to be in the mix for an opening outside of the one in San Francisco. That could always change, but if nei

ther has received calls from other organizations by this point of the offseason, it’s likely the Giants or bust for both coaches.

Quatraro, who was promoted to a position as bench coach with the Rays this year, is an intriguing option because he works for an analytically-driven organization that has embraced a forward-thinking culture. The Giants are the only team that has reportedly interviewed the 45year-old Quatraro, which may suggest some teams are unsure how a coach with limited minor league managerial experience and no MLB playing experience would transition to such a big job.

Like Quatraro, Grifol never played in the majors, but the Royals assistant boasts a strong résumé that includes stops as a minor league manager and director of minor league operations in the Mariners organization. If Matheny doesn’t end up replacing Yost, Grifol could become the leading internal candidate in Kansas City, which appears to be the only other place he’ll be considered.

Kapler, Kotsay and Venable all seem to have slightly broader appeal, but the Giants likely don’t need to be concerned about losing out on a second interview with any member of the trio due to another team’s search. Kapler and Venable both interviewed with the Cubs, but former catcher David Ross will soon be announced as the new Chicago

manager. And while Kotsay has been mentioned as a potential option in Pittsburgh, his chances of securing the Giants job appear much higher.

At the beginning of the month, teams such as the Phillies and Padres loomed as threats to attract many of the same candidates the Giants planned to interview, but most of the hiring processes around the game have unfolded in different ways. The Phillies only seem interested in experienced candidates such as Joe Girardi and Dusty Baker while the Padres quickly zeroed in on former Rangers manager Ron Washington and Rangers minor league development coordinator Jacye Tingler.

The Mets are also reportedly high on Girardi, but their list of interviewees includes a slew of names such as Carlos Beltran and Eduardo Perez who haven’t been mentioned in the same breath as the Giants thus far.

The Giants’ search doesn’t exactly mirror any being conducted by other teams, but for a few weeks, it most closely resembled the one in Chicago where Kapler and Venable interviewed.

With Ross set to become the Cubs’ new manager, the Giants are not losing the chance to hire a candidate they considered.

With a week left in October, however, the Giants do not appear to be nearing a decision. The Angels took fewer than three weeks to settle on Joe Maddon and other franchises such as the Mets and Phillies seem close to making a hire, but the Giants are willing to let their own process play out into November.