Reviewing the Arizona Diamondbacks' managerial candidates so far

David Bell

Age: 44
Current position: Bench coach, St. Louis Cardinals:
Managerial experience:  Double-A 2008-10, Triple-A 2011-12

Bell is the latest coach to be linked to Arizona, being mentioned by Nick Piecoro yesterday. He spent 12 years in the major leagues, and along with his grandfather, Gus Bell, was the first grandfather/grandson pairing each to hit for the cycle. He retired after the 2006 season, and has been in the Cardinals organization since 2008, first managing their AA affiliate in Carolina, then for the AAA team in Louisville. He became the St. Louis third-base coach in October 2012, transitioned to the hitting coach position a year later, and became Mike Matheny's bench coach for the past two seasons. He has also managed in the Dominican Winter League.

Alex Cora

Age: 41
Current position: Baseball analyst, ESPN
Managerial experience: None

This would be thinking outside of the box, since Cora has not coached or managed at any leve of the American game since he stepped off the field for the last time during spring training in 2012. [He will be General Manager for the Puerto Rico team  in the upcoming WBC] However, even while playing, his likely future as a potential manager was no secret. He has spent the last four seasons as an analyst and color commentator for ESPN, but interviewed for open managerial positions in San Diego, Miami and Washington last winter. He does have some ties to GM Mike Hazen having been on the Cleveland and Boston teams when Hazen was in their front-office.

Torey Lovullo

Age: 51
Current position: Boston Red Sox bench coach
Managerial experience:  Class A 2002, A+ 2003-04, AA 2005, AAA 2006-2010

Lovullo is broadly reckoned to be the favorite for the position, with a consensus forming almost as soon as Hazen was appointed GM, due to their strong working relationship, both in Cleveland and Boston. Lovullo temporarily took over the reins in Boston while John Farrell was undergoing treatment for cancer., and Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said earlier this month. "In my opinion, he's ready to be a major league manager." With Hazen having taken other staff with him from Boston, including Assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye, if the aim is to turn Chase into Fenway West, than having Lovullo join them as well would make sense.

Phil Nevin

Age: 45
Current position: Manager, AAA Reno Aces
Managerial experience: Ind 2009, AA 2010, AAA 2011-16

Nevin is the name with whom Diamondbacks' fans will be most familiar. He was a candidate last time the position was open, the team deciding to go with Chip Hale. And, particularly, he was rumored to be in line for the position, at least on an interim basis, when Hale's position came under threat earlier in the season. Ownership apparently squashed Hale's firing, telling the front-office, "it wouldn't look good." However, that was then, and this is now, with an entirely different set of personnel in charge of the decision. Nevin was also a candidate for the Padres, Astros and Marlins, the last-named interviewing him twice,so if he doesn't get the D-backs position, it seems only a matter of time.

Don Wakamatsu

Age: 53
Current position:: Kansas City Royals bench coach
Managerial experience: AZL 1997, Class A 1998, AA 1999-2000, Mariners 2009-10

The only candidate so far mentioned to have "full" (rather than temporary) major-league managerial experience, Wakamatsu got the credit for the Mariners 24-game improvement in 2009... and then the blame for the 24-game implosion in 2010. Such is managerial life. Jon Heyman reported that Don will interview both with the D-backs and the Rockies, Heyman called him "a key man under Ned Yost", as the Royals went to the World Series in both 2014 and 2015. Wakamatsu seems keen to get back into management, and says he learned from his previous experience: "You have no idea what it’s like until you go through it, no matter how much you think you do. So the experience was invaluable."

Hazen previously said the team intends to interview "between five and seven" candidates for the position, to there may be a couple of names still under consideration. With the World Series still ongoing, it's possible someone on the Indians and/or Cubs might be involved, in which case no announcement should be expected until after that is decided. However, time is of the essence, and I would expect Arizona to pull the trigger and announce their decision as soon as possible, to give the new man as much time as possible before Opening Day 2017.