The Twins have received permission from the Boston Red Sox to interview bench coach Torey Lovullo for their vacant managerial position, according to a report in the Boston Globe.
Lovullo joins Oakland bench coach Chip Hale as known outside candidates the Twins have reached out to this week for interviews. They join Paul Molitor, Doug Mientkiewicz and Gene Glynn as known candidates in the running to replace Ron Gardenhire as Twins manager.
This would be Lovullo's third interview for a manager's job in recent weeks. He interviewed with Houston but lost out to A.J. Hinch, and he reportedly met with Texas on Tuesday. Lovullo comes with a reputation as being an excellent communicator who can connect with players in the clubhouse.
Lovullo has nine years of managing experience in the minors, and has been part of John Farrell's coaching staffs the past four seasons at Toronto and Boston. The view among many in baseball is that he's well-prepared to be a major league manager.
"My confidence has grown being the bench coach in Boston and understanding what happens in a pretty tough environment," Lovullo told the Boston Globe on Sept. 25, "anything from a pretty challenging competitive environment, the AL East, the expectations of the fan base, and a competitive and large media contingent."
Lovullo, 49, played with seven different teams over eight seasons. He broke in with Detroit in 1988 and was a teammate of current Twins radio and television analyst Jack Morris.
The Twins connections don't end there as he played with Terry Steinbach in Oakland in 1996. Steinbach is believed to also be a candidate for the Twins' job, but as yet there have been no indications he has interviewed for the job.
Now that Lovullo and Hale have been identified as candidates, who's next?
White Sox third base coach Joe McEwing interviewed with Arizona on Monday and was traveling to Texas on Tuesday to interview with the Rangers. He's believed to be someone the Twins are interested in.
There have been no indications that Rays bench coach Dave Martinez, another highly-thought-of managerial prospect, has been contacted yet.
While teams such as Arizona and Texas have released lists of candidates being interviewed, the Twins aren't as audacious.
With more outside candidates coming in for interviews — and the Twins waiting for some candidates to complete their playoff runs — the Twins aren't expected to name a new manager for few more weeks..
