Williams plans on moving fast: Is Alomar his guy?
How much does White Sox general manager Kenny Williams like Sandy Alomar Jr.?
He signed the free-agent catcher three times, and Alomar spent five of his 20 major-league seasons playing on the South Side.
With Ozzie Guillen off to greener pastures, pun intended, with the Marlins, Alomar has quickly emerged as the leading candidate to become the Sox' next manager.
Williams wants to move quickly and is likely to hire Guillen's replacement before the World Series. The GM was asked if he has a preferred candidate.
“I absolutely do,” Williams said. “There's a clear direction as to the way I want it to go. As I mentioned (Monday) night there's a very short list, and I've already begun heading down that list.”
Buddy Bell is not a candidate because he wants to remain as the White Sox' director of player development.
Former White Sox outfielder Dave Martinez, who is Joe Maddon's bench coach in Tampa Bay, is also rumored to be in the running.
Alomar lives in Chicago, and he has been Cleveland's first-base coach the last two seasons. He has never managed at any level but was a finalist for the Toronto Blue Jays job last winter.
“I'm definitely interested, if anyone calls,” Alomar told Cleveland reporters Tuesday.
Coaching decisions:After pitching coach Don Cooper got a multiyear contract extension Tuesday, he served as interim manager.Cooper will manage again today in the season finale, with Fremd High School graduate and roving coach Mike Gellinger serving as bench coach.Cooper has been the Sox' pitching coach since July 22, 2002, and he has been in the organization for 24 years.#8220;My passion is pitching,#8221; Cooper said. #8220;That's all I've gone through with the White Sox for (24) years, that's what it's all about.#8221;First-base coach Harold Baines also received a multiyear extension.Bench coach Joey Cora is joining Ozzie Guillen with the Marlins, and hitting coach Greg Walker, third-base coach Jeff Cox and bullpen coach Juan Nieves are unlikely to return.#8220;(Monday) was a tough day,#8221; Cooper said. #8220;The group in there, our coaches, we have eight years together. You go through an awful lot. Eight years is a pretty good chunk of time in a player or coach's career. It's also a good chunk of someone's life.#8221;The quote:GM Kenny Williams, when asked how he would respond if Ozzie Guillen makes any disparaging remarks from Florida: #8220;If there's a high road, whatever's higher than that road, that's the one I'll be on. It needs to be that way, and it needs to be that way forever.#8221;Quentin future:If the White Sox go ahead and cut payroll this off-season, Dayan Viciedo is likely to step in as the new right fielder. Eligible for one more year of salary arbitration before free agency, Carlos Quentin could be traded.#8220;I understand my situation contractually,#8221; Quentin said. #8220;I know I'm a piece that could possibly be moved in the off-season. I'm happy playing for the Chicago White Sox; I'll look forward to having a chance to come back.#8221;BBA40002667Mark Buehrle, right, heads to the dugout with catcher A.J. Pierzynski, left, and pitching coach and interim manager Don Cooper, after warming up in the bullpen before the White Sox played Tampa Bay at U.S. Cellular Field on Tuesday.Associated PressBBA