Francona Interviews For Cardinals Manager Job

Terry Francona has interviewed for the job of Cardinals manager. Tito said he met with chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. in Cincinnati.

Francona: "We just had a dialogue. I enjoy talking about baseball - a lot. Without going into details, we discussed pretty basic philosophy. I'd call it an enjoyable, casual conversation. ... I was just excited to go back in there and talk to them. Whatever happens, happens."

Tony La Russa was St. Louis' manager for the last 16 years (since 1996). He retired after winning the 2011 World Series.

The Red Sox will interview Cleveland bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. today. Two other managerial candidates have been announced: Blue Jays first base coach Torey Lovullo will be interviewed on Friday and Tigers third base coach Gene Lamont will meet with the team on Saturday.

Lovullo managed the Pawtucket Red Sox in 2010. He also played with Cleveland in 1998 when Ben Cherington worked in the Spiders' front office.

The Red Sox have been scouting Yoenis Cespedes, a Cuban outfielder who defected to the Dominican Republic last summer. Cespedes, 26, is expected to be declared a free agent this winter. He hit 33 dongs in 99 games last season in Cuba. Two days ago, Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein wrote:

He's a tremendous talent—arguably the best all-around player to come out of Cuba in a generation. He's a legitimate centerfielder with plus power and speed and is in his prime.

Goldstein's highly-entertaining article walks us through "The Showcase", a 20-minute (!) promotional video of Cespedes.

You'd think that because former Red Sox GM Dan Duquette was out of major league baseball for nearly a decade, that the Boston media would be able to resist insulting him after he accepted the position as Orioles GM. I did not make anything close to an exhaustive search, but the Herald's John Tomase could not resist, kicking off his column with "middle-aged paunch" and adding:

The starched white collar. The oval glasses. The smirk bordering on smug. The prep school part in his hair on the left. Judge the 53-year-old Duquette on looks alone and nothing has changed.

More like "I am judging the 53-year-old Duquette on looks alone. Nothing has changed." It takes Tomase 540 words before mentioning anything about Duquette's accomplishments in Boston.

Gordon Edes also wrote a fairly negative column for ESPNBoston, though he stuck to more substantial matters than Duquette's waistline. At the Globe, Tony Massarotti avoids the rancor, saying this new job is a chance for redemption.

Shame on us. Shame on all of baseball. We put more stock in the wrapping paper than what was in the box. If Duquette had a personable assistant GM like say, JP Ricciardi, many of his problems might have been avoided. Instead, the resentment built, and the Duquette era was remembered and chronicled as a colossal failure when it was not. ...

During his time in Boston, Duquette emphasized many of the same things Epstein did, albeit in far less polished language. He spoke of rebuilding the Red Sox through the draft and player development. He talked of expanding the team’s interests in international free agency. Duquette even used sabermetric analysis, something not nearly as accepted then as it is now ...

The Orioles are a laughingstock. They are easily the weakest sisters of the challenging AL East. They have been beaten, rejected and all but spit on in recent years.

Dan Duquette can certainly relate to that.

Naturally, I'm quite curious as to what Mazz has written about the Duke in the past. Could he have always been this level-headed and rational?