Blue Jays manager search down to final five?

There hasn’t been all that much for rumors about the Blue Jays search for a new manager. The odd one , like Chris Woodward, said that they weren’t interviewed, but, for the most part, the team has been able to keep things quiet.

Shi Davidi tells us that the Jays are down to their final five.

Shi tells us four of the five are:

• Joe Espada who is bench coach for the Astros. It seems like coaches for winning teams are always the popular choices. You can understand why. The Astros seem to be the role model for what teams are trying to do now.
• David Bell, Giants farm director. Bell is rumored to in the running for a many of the other manager openings. One of the things the Jays said they would like a manager who is interested in the farm system, so Bell would fit.
• Rocco Baldelli, Rays ‘major league field coordinator’ (whatever that means).
• Brandon Hyde, Cubs bench coach.

The Jays seem to be in a bit of a hurry so that they don’t lose their number one choice to one of the several other teams looking for a manager. All the above have been mentioned in manager searches for some of the other teams.

Shi also notes that Jerry Crasnick tweeted that Sam Fuld, Phillies major play information coordinator has withdrawn from consideration.

I don’t know enough about any of these guys to make a judgement, if you have a favorite, let us know. I suppose I’d prefer someone who has been a bench coach, if everything else was equal. I guess it is notable that none of them are in the Cleveland organization.