Cleveland Indians first base coach Sandy Alomar interviewing with White Sox

Cleveland Indians first base coach Sandy Alomar is in talks with the Chicago White Sox about the possibility of becoming their bench coach.

Alomar was a finalist to manage the Indians three years ago (and was the interim manager during the last few games of 2012), before Terry Francona was hired. He has remained with the Tribe as a coach since then, first as the bench coach in 2013, and then as the first base coach in 2014 and 2015, after Francona brought Brad Mills on board to be the team's bench coach. Bench coach is viewed by most as a somewhat more prestigeous/important role than first base coach, which means a potential move to Chicago would be a promotion of sorts for Alomar, who has interviewed for a number of managerial jobs in recent offseasons.

Alomar played eleven seasons for the Indians, winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 1990 and posting his best season in 1997, when he was one of the most important contributors for the team that came an inning away from winning the World Series. Following the 2000 season, Alomar left the Indians as a free agent, and signed with the White Sox, so he's familiar with the Cleveland to Chicago pipeline.

The White Sox are coming off a disappointing season, and while manager Robin Ventura will be back in 2016, some believe he won't be on a very long leash, and will be let go if the team gets off to a slow start. If that happens, and Alomar is the team's bench coach, he'd be a leading candidate to take over for the remainder of the season.

Given the circumstances, I expect Alomar will take the position (if it is formally offered), and I won't blame him for leaving if he does.