As the Red Sox continue their search for a new head of baseball operations, Twins general manager Thad Levine is no longer in the running, according to Jeremy Nygaard of Twins Daily. Levine was told yesterday by the Sox that he was no longer a candidate, MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam reports (via X).
The news comes as the Red Sox have apparently taken a next step in their selection process, as the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes that club has moved onto a second round of interviews. Cubs assistant GM Craig Breslow is believed to have advanced to this second round, though it isn’t known how many other candidates might also be getting a second sitdown with team brass. As per The Athletic’s Chad Jennings, “information is spotty” on the situation, but Red Sox assistant GM Eddie Romero and Breslow could both still be candidates. Four other candidates known to have sat down for an initial interview remain in the process for now — Red Sox assistant GM Michael Groopman, Red Sox VP of player development/scouting Paul Toboni, former Pirates GM Neal Huntington, and former Phillies/Giants manager Gabe Kapler.
The 51-year-old Levine has been Minnesota’s GM since the 2016-17 offseason, working as the top lieutenant to chief baseball officer Derek Falvey (who turned down an interview offer from the Red Sox). Levine has over two decades’ worth of experience working in the front offices of the Twins, Rangers, Rockies, and Dodgers, though he hasn’t yet gotten the chance to call the shots in a baseball operations department. There have been a couple of close calls, however, as the Rockies and Phillies considered Levine for their most recent GM openings were respectively filled by Bill Schmidt and Dave Dombrowski.
Falvey, Kim Ng, Jon Daniels, James Click, Michael Hill, Sam Fuld, Brandon Gomes, and Mike Hazen are among the prominent executives who have declined to interview for the Red Sox job, yet it appears as though the club is satisfied enough with its current list of candidates to progress into what might be a final stage of the hiring process. Breslow may or may not be the frontrunner, as reports have indicated that the Sox definitely see him as a candidate for some kind of front office role, if perhaps a GM working under a president of baseball operations moreso than a PBO himself.