Familiar names vying for five MLB leadership positions

Joe Espada had something of a shared double title when he interviewed for the White Sox and Marlins managerial positions on Wednesday, as reported by The Post. There are five managerial openings.

Other potential candidates include Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, Brewers bench coach Pat Murphy, Braves bench coach Walt Weiss, former Blue Jays coach Charlie Montoyo, former coach of the Jays John Gibbons, Dodgers coach Bob Geren, Braves third base coach Ron Washington, White Sox interim manager Miguel Cairo, Mets third base coach Joey Cora, former Cardinals manager Mike Shildt, former Giants manager Bruce Bochy, Cubs bench coach Will Venable, bench A coach Brad Ausmus, former Mariners manager Dave Valle, WBC manager Mark DeRosa, former The manager of the Cubs/Angels Joe Maddon, former Rangers manager Chris Woodward, Padres coach Skip Schumaker, Cubs coach Mike Napoli and MLB manager Raul Ibanez.

While there weren’t a ton of players who made a big impact by switching teams at the trade deadline, at least six teams took risks and made big moves – the Padres, the Mariners, the Phillies, the Yankees, the Astros, the Braves – and they stay alive.

Padres general manager AJ Preller took the biggest risk by trading five big prospects (James Wood, whose historic lineup is Willie McCovey, was the one they least wanted to give up in the Juan Soto deal), but Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto, Phillies president Dave Dombrowski, Yankees GM Brian Cashman, and to a lesser extent Astros GM James Click also took risks by trading prospects. Three of the players Cashman traded for – Andrew Benintendi, Frankie Montas and Scott Effross – are injured, but Bronxville product Harrison Bader now looks like a big plus after fan concerns over the loss of Jordan Montgomery.

It is always said that Click may be at odds with club owner Jim Crane. As one rival mentioned, not only does the team continue to win, but they’ve moved on from their scandal. Either way, the problem would be credit related. Which seems odd because Click certainly doesn’t appear to be a credit hoarder.

Padres manager Bob Melvin was having a meeting with Mets owner Steve Cohen when Melvin had to cancel after deciding to take the Padres job, as reported by Joel Sherman. The Mets didn’t have a general manager at the time, but the biggest problem was geography: Melvin lives in Arizona and prefers to be out West. Melvin sought out Sandy Alderson in New York this week to explain his choice, but no explanation was likely needed.

Two frequent targets (for the Mets and others), Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff, who put the Guardians on a playoff team on a shoestring budget, won’t be coming to Queens (where there’s an opening for the president of the team).

Antonetti said: « I’m super happy. » And Chernoff said, “I love it here. I love Guardians.

The Mets suggested to JT Realmuto that they would be willing to pay around $125 million for five years at the start of winter a few years ago. But Realmuto preferred to test the market and ended up getting $115.3 million from the Phillies. The Mets ended up signing James McCann for $42 million over four years, and he posted a -0.2 WAR this year to Realmuto’s 6.5. Realmuto must have really liked Philly.

The Yankees may have felt a little better when the Reds told them there was nothing they could have done to get Luis Castillo once they turned down the requested Anthony Volpe-Oswald Peraza package. The Reds ended up getting three of Seattle’s top five prospects, including Noelvi Marte, although the prospects they got weren’t close to the big ones (unlike Volpe and Peraza).

The Rangers brought in hometown boy Clayton Kershaw last winter, but he wouldn’t leave the Dodgers. Some guys might want to play a final year or two at home, but Kershaw’s Dodger legacy is so strong that most believe he’ll eventually retire as a Dodger.

Best wishes to Keith Hernandez who suffered a very painful shoulder injury in a fall in Midtown Manhattan and is recovering from surgery. Hernandez, a true Gold Glover, however, was able to grab his cell phone before it hit the sidewalk.

Hernandez says he feels like he’s turned a corner in his second week of surgery, but he added, « I wish I had given up the cell phone. »