LaMar to dial up candidates today

© St. Petersburg Times
published October 8, 2002

Having spent Monday in meetings drafting his list of candidates, Rays general manager Chuck LaMar plans to pick up the phone today and start arranging interviews to begin the process of hiring his next manager.

"We want to get started," he said.

LaMar plans to talk to five to 10 candidates, including at least two from the Rays organization, likely coaches Tom Foley and Billy Hatcher. To interview candidates who work for other teams, LaMar must request permission to speak directly to them, and those are the calls he is expected to make today.

Those candidates could include Oakland bench coach Ken Macha, Yankees third-base coach Willie Randolph, Yankees first-base coach Lee Mazzilli, Padres coach Alan Trammell and Detroit minor-league manager Bruce Fields. There also may be candidates from teams still in the playoffs.

Other possibilities include recently resigned Red Sox coach Mike Stanley and former managers Buck Showalter and Bucky Dent.

LaMar plans to bring the candidates to Tropicana Field for the initial interviews, which he said are an integral part of the process.

"The initial interviews are everything," he said. "Obviously I hope to have a second interview with several of the candidates before we finalize the position, but that first impression, that first gut feeling, especially if you've never met that candidate before and don't know him, I think it's everything."

LaMar hopes to have a new manager in place by the end of the month.