Dodgers' Wallach interviews for Tigers' vacancy
Third-base coach familiar with Dombrowski, has managing experience in Minors
DETROIT -- Tim Wallach was a mainstay of Dave Dombrowski's teams in Montreal before becoming a valued member of Don Mattingly's coaching staff with the Dodgers. Wallach is now officially a candidate for the Tigers' managerial job.
The Tigers interviewed Wallach on Friday in Detroit, making him the second candidate to interview for the opening created by Jim Leyland's retirement.
"I thought it went well," Wallach said in a text message to MLB.com, confirming the initial reports from Jonah Keri of ESPN and Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
After interviewing Friday afternoon, Wallach flew back home to California that night. Keri reported that talks were escalating, but at this point, Wallach said, they have nothing further scheduled.
Wallach, who turned 56 last month, is the first candidate from outside the organization to interview for the job. Yet his familiarity with Dombrowski, and vice versa, makes him far from an unknown.
Wallach spent more than a decade as the third baseman in Montreal, including the years when Dombrowski was the Expos' general manager in the late 1980s and early '90s. Just as important, Wallach has amassed a fairly strong resume coaching in the big leagues and managing in the Minors.
Wallach got his chance at his second career with the Dodgers, where he served as the hitting coach under then-manager Jim Tracy in 2004 and '05. He spent two seasons as the manager at Triple-A Albuquerque, earning Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year honors in 2009, before joining Mattingly's staff three years ago as his third-base coach.
Reports suggested that Wallach was in line to become the Dodgers' interim manager when rumors were flying early in the season about Mattingly's job status. The Dodgers' midseason turnaround ensured we never got to find that out.
Wallach's meeting in Detroit came a day after Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon interviewed for the position. With neither bench coach Gene Lamont nor third-base coach Tom Brookens contacted about the job, McClendon might be the only candidate interviewed from Leyland's staff.