The Red Sox visited Diamondbacks bench coach Luis Uruta last week for his vacant management post, according to ESPN’s Eric Rojas. This is the second time in the past year that Uruta has been interviewed for the position. He was also a candidate after Alex Cora was let go, although the team chose Ron Ronick instead to stick with the internal option, which will not return as captain in 2021. Meanwhile, Boston Globe’s Alex Spear reports that the Sox interviewed Pirates Bench coach Don Kelly as well.
In January, the 40-year-old Uruta took over his current position in Arizona for three seasons. He previously served as Arizona’s minor league field coordinator, in addition to managing Designbacks’ rookie-level affiliate, managing the Dominican Winter League and Team Columbia at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Kelly, 40, has grown rapidly as a popular managerial candidate since retiring as a player after the 2016 season. Longtime Tigers Utilitymen began working in the player development portion of Detroit after retiring and relocated to their scouting staff the following year. He was named Houston’s first base coach for the 2018 season and took over as the Pirates’ bench coach under fraud captain Derek Shelton’s final ason.
There has been considerable speculation that Cora may return to Boston after receiving suspension for her role in the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal. That ban runs through the current postseason. However, the Red Sox are also reported to have visited the Cubs ‘third base coach, Will Wennable, and may be talking to Dodgers’ first base coach George Lombard, according to MLB Network’s John Heyman.
