The St. Louis Cardinals interviewed former Red Sox manager Terry Francona for their managerial vacancy on Tuesday. The World Series champions are looking for a replacement for Tony La Russa, who announced his retirement days after the team defeated the Texas Rangers in Game 7.
The interview, which took place in Cincinnati, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was the fourth the Cardinals have conducted and the first with someone who does not have any previous ties to the organization. The first three candidates included Mike Matheny, Chris Maloney and Joe McEwing.
Matheny played for St. Louis and is now a minor league instructor with the Cardinals and Maloney has managed the team's Triple-A Memphis affiliate for the last five years. McEwing played for the Cardinals in 1998 and 1999 and was recently promoted to be the third base coach under new White Sox manager Robin Ventura.
"We just had a dialogue," Francona said before boarding a flight home. "I enjoy talking about baseball — a lot. Without going into details, we discussed pretty basic philosophy. I'd call it an enjoyable, casual conversation."
Francona said he was not given a time frame for when the team would reach a decision. He is also rumored to be under consideration for the Chicago Cubs managerial job but would not confirm that report, calling it "kind of private."
The Cardinals are still scheduled to interview two more candidates, Ryne Sandberg and Jose Oquendo, on Wednesday.
