Red Sox start interviews for new skipper

BOSTON — The Red Sox reportedly have started the process of hiring their next manager.

A pair of updates Thursday from MLB.com and The Boston Globe have linked the club with Cubs third-base coach Will Venable and Pirates bench coach Don Kelly.

Boston has interviewed both Venable and Kelly, according to each outlet. The Red Sox are coming off a 24-36 season that landed them in last place in the American League East. It marked the fourth time since 2012 that Boston has occupied the division basement, and the club opted not to exercise Ron Roenicke’s team option for 2021.

Venable was an outfielder who debuted with the Padres in 2008 and later spent one season with the Rangers (2015) and Dodgers (2016). He was hired by Chicago as a special assistant to the president of baseball operations, Theo Epstein, in 2017 and served as the club’s first-base coach in 2018 and 2019. Venable turns 38 later this month.

Kelly started his career with the Pirates in 2007 and later played for the Tigers (2009-14) and Marlins (2015-16). Detroit hired him as a scout and player development consultant in 2017. The 40-year-old Kelly later served as first-base coach with the Astros in 2019.

The ongoing World Series complicates possible Red Sox contact with at least three other potential candidates — the first, of course, is former Boston manager Alex Cora. His suspension in connection with Houston’s electronic sign-stealing in 2017 ends at the close of the Fall Classic. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has yet to specifically rule out Cora’s potential return.