Boston Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino told WEEI there are no front-runners yet for the Red Sox manager opening, but the Red Sox plan to begin interviews next week for "eight or 10" candidates.
"I wouldn't read too much into who comes in first (to interview)," Lucchino said on Boston sports radio station WEEI. "We're at eight or 10 names and we just want to get the interview process beginning."
Lucchino said there have not been many internal discussions to rank the candidates, and the Red Sox have not made any of the candidates public. But the Sox are expected to show interest in Texas Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux, Red Sox bench coach DeMarlo Hale, Cleveland Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr., Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A manager Ryne Sandberg, Tampa Bay Rays bench coach Dave Martinez and Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin.
Whittling down those candidates will take time, noted Lucchino. He did not give a specific timetable for the process, but does not expect the club to replace Terry Francona without a thorough search.
"It's going to take a few weeks, certainly," Lucchino said. "We hired Terry Francona I think on Dec. 2 of (2003) and we didn't lose anything in the 2004 season. I think we feel like there is some time on that."
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