The Los Angeles Dodgers are nearing the end of their managerial search, according to the latest rumors. Darin Erstad withdrew his name from consideration while Bud Black and Kirk Gibson seem to no longer be in the running.
The race is now between Gabe Kapler and Dave Roberts, as expected based on previous rumors and reports.
ESPN's Jerry Crasnick has the latest:
Indications are #Dodgers manager job will come down to Gabe Kapler and Dave Roberts. Bud Black appears to be out of the mix.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) November 18, 2015
#Dodgers are doing 2nd interviews with managerial finalists and plan to make a decision by Friday or Saturday, sources say.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) November 18, 2015
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports speculated the race coming down to these two candidates last week.
Before the Dodgers expanded their managerial search to 10 candidates, Kapler had already been regarded as the favorite. However, Roberts interviewed and was said to have impressed the Dodgers' management, which could shift their stance in the hiring process because Roberts has previous coaching experience after serving as bench coach of the San Diego Padres from 2014-2015.
Additionally, Roberts is a minority candidate (African American and Japanese American) and the MLB has stressed the importance of diversifying dugouts and front offices across the league. That could play a factor in the decision making.
Los Angeles also interviewed Bob Geren, Dave Martinez, Ron Roenicke and Tim Wallach for the position - all of whom have MLB coaching experience.
Nonetheless, Kapler has still remained at the forefront of the discussion (likely) due to his ties with the front office. He has a previous relationship with president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman when the two were with the Tampa Bay Rays (Kapler was a player at the time) and then Friedman hired Kapler to take over as the team's director of player development last November.
It is believed Kapler shares the same philosophy as the new front office, which is expected to be a significant credential taken into consideration during the hiring process. The Dodgers parted ways with Don Mattingly, who was a more traditional manager, despite him winning three straight NL West titles and never recording a losing season in five years with the team.
Stay tuned for updates later in the week regarding the Dodgers' manager situation.
