By Alex Barth, 985TheSportsHub.com
After Mark Kotsay’s name was floated earlier in the week, the Red Sox are now reportedly interviewing another external candidate, Luis Urueta, for their open managerial position.
According to ESPN’s Enrique Rojas, Urueta is expected to speak with the Red Sox on Friday. (The original report is in Spanish).
The 39-year-old Urueta currently works for former Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo as a player development coach with the Arizona Diamondbacks, with a focus on Latin players. Urueta has been in that role for the last two seasons, after working his way up through the Diamondbacks minor league system as a coach since 2007.
Despite spending just two years as a coach in the majors, Urueta has no shortage of managerial experience. He served at the helm of a number of teams in the Diamondbacks minor leagues in the decade leading up to his most recent promotion. In the World Baseball Classic he led his home country of Columbia to their first tournament bid ever in 2017. He has also managed the Tigres del Licey of the Dominican League.
Before getting into coaching, Urueta spent four years in the minor leagues as an infielder, never advancing beyond Class-A. He followed that up by playing professionally for three years in Italy for Fortitudo Bologna before retiring in 2003.
Standing 6-foot-2, Urueta was initially on track to become a goalie in soccer-crazed Colombia, but pivoted to baseball after seeing fellow countryman Edgar Renteria win the 1997 World Series with the then-Florida Marlins.
“It’s not easy to play baseball in a country where everyone lives and breathes soccer and the national team has played in six World Cups,” Urueta told La Vida Baseball in a 2018 interview.
With just 11 days until pitchers and catchers report to Red Sox spring training, and rumored candidates few and far between, Urueta could be close to making Columbia focus on baseball, or a least the Red Sox, a bit more going forward.
Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Hate mail? Let him hear it on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at Alexander.Barth@bbgi.com