• The Cleveland Indians are said to be interested in bringing in Bobby Valentine, after having fired Eric Wedge at end of the regular season, but they interviewed Manny Acta last week, and the Houston Astros, who parted ways with skipper Cecil Cooper, reportedly interviewed Acta and Bob Melvin, the former Mariners' and D-Backs' manager who has history with Mike Rizzo, now the Washington Nationals' GM, who has interviewed...no one? DC GM Mike Rizzo told Washington Post writer Chico Harlan, as quoted in an article last week entitled, "Front Office Moves...And The Decision That Follows", that filling several important Front Office positions was the first order of business this winter, and now that they had:
"The [managerial] search is going to begin a little more seriously in the very near future..."
Mr. Rizzo cited the team's desire to settle things in the front office and the participation in the post season of several potential managerial candidates as reasons the Nationals' search might be delayed, but never fear, if all the other managers looking for jobs sign elsewhere, according to Mr. Rizzo, "We've got a terrific in-house candidate in Jim Riggleman, who's got as good a chance as anybody." Let's see...The Nationals waited for Jim Bowden to resign, or allowed him to resign rather than firing him, then waited until a thorough search could be conducted before naming a full-time GM only to eventually promote Mike Rizzo from his interim role to the full-time position, and now they're taking their time wading into the manager market...I wonder how this will resolve itself?...After all, don't forget what Mr. Rizzo told MLB.com's Bill Ladson about the job Mr. Riggleman had done back in a late August blog post entitled, "What happens to Riggleman?":
"'I certainly like what Jim has done. I'm the one who made him the interim manager. It was my decision,' Rizzo said. 'He is an old-school baseball guy with a lot of new ideas. He is certainly going to be a candidate for the permanent managerial job, but that's a discussion we are going to have after the season is over and throughout the winter. There is going to be a process.'"
• What's That? Bowden Again? I noted last night that Former DC GM Jim Bowden tweeted about the decision LA Hitting Coach Don Mattingly faces, but he also tweeted an update of the Astros' and Indians' skipper searches:
"Astros...Melvin/Garner front-runners; Indians Valentine,Acta, Lovullo front-runners for Managerial openings."
Latest From Bowden Twitter:This one went out Sunday night:
"Managerial leading candidates: Cleveland: Valentine,Acta & Lovullo; Houston: Garner, Melvin; WSH: Mattingly."
• Speaking of Don Mattingly...Boston.com writer Nick Carfado writes about Mattingly possibly becoming a manager in an article on Sunday entitled, "Mattingly may be ready to step up to the plate in a managerial position", but he doesn't mention the Nationals, writing only that, "Mattingly, 48, is expected to draw the interest of the Indians and perhaps Astros."
• One thing Mr. Carfado does mention, however, is the fact that the D-Backs' shortstop Stephen Drew, "...is expected to be shopped by the Diamondbacks..." and though Mr. Carfado concludes the sentence by writing, "...and there should be discussions with the Red Sox", I have to wonder if DC GM Mike Rizzo, who's made no secret of his desire to add a middle infielder would consider pursuing Drew, who was drafted by Arizona when Rizzo was the D-Backs' Scouting Director.