This past Wednesday, the Boston Red Sox fired manager John Farrell following the club's disappointing ALDS exit. The Red Sox went 93-69 and lost in the ALDS for the second straight season. Interestingly enough, team president Dave Dombrowski said no level of on-field success would've saved Farrell's job.

Now, as the postseason continues with the LCS round, the Red Sox are moving forward with their managerial search. They will reportedly interview Astros bench coach Alex Cora on Sunday, and have reached out to the Diamondbacks for permission to interview their bench coach, Ron Gardenhire.

Sunday is a travel day for the ALCS as the series shifts from Houston to New York. It is not at all uncommon for coaches to interview for jobs on off-days during the postseason. The Astros had to grant permission for Cora to be interviewed.

Both Cora and Gardenhire were on Matt Snyder's list of potential Red Sox managerial candidates. Gardenhire of course managed the Twins from 2002-14, leading the team to six first-place finishes in 13 seasons despite a smaller than league average payroll. Cora has no big-league managerial experience, though he is widely regarded as a future manager, and is said to be the favorite for the Boston job.

During his press conference to announce Farrell's firing last week, Dombrowski indicated he would prefer to hire a manager with some level of in-dugout experience, either managing or coaching. They don't want to hand the keys over to a rookie. From Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe:

"Being in a dugout during a game and seeing what the manager encounters is probably helpful," Dombrowski said. "I do think it would be difficult for a person more so [in Boston] than in some other places to walk directly onto the field without some on-field managerial experience at some level or big league coaching." 

Among those also mentioned as Red Sox managerial candidates -- either reportedly or speculatively -- are former Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, current Giants hitting coach Hensley Meulens, current Indians first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. and former Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek.

The Red Sox have not given a firm timetable to finalize their managerial search other than Dombrowski saying he'd like to wrap it up sooner rather than later. The Tigers, Mets and Phillies are looking for a new manager as well.