Pirates Interview Dale Sveum; Wedge Remains Front-Runner

The Pirates' long and winding managerial search continued on Wednesday, as 47-year-old former Bucco Dale Sveum sat down with the single-best management team in baseball for an interview.

Sveum, who spent parts of three seasons (1996, '97, '99) of his playing career in Pittsburgh, was most recently employed by fellow Pirate managerial candidate Ken Macha as hitting coach of the Milwaukee Brewers, a job he took over in 2009. The Brewers have already made a point of mentioning that Sveum is not in the running for Macha's old job there.

Sveum's coaching career began with the Altoona Curve, which he managed from 2001-2003. He then moved on to Boston in 2004, where he served as a highly controversial third-base coach for the World Champion Red Sox. No one could get his own runners thrown out at home better than Sveum back in the day. He eventually left Boston for Milwaukee, where he served as bench coach, third base coach, and hitting coach in his time there.

While Sveum may be the flavor of the day, previous interviewee Eric Wedge remains the favorite, at least according to SI.com's Jon Heyman: 

One league source said he sees Wedge as a "virtual lock'' for a job offer with the Pirates, though that may be a tad strong. Either way, the Pirates are expected to act quickly and have been busy interviewing candidates, including Pittsburgh native Ken Macha, Gibbons, Diamondbacks coach Bo Porter, ex-Orioles interim manager Juan Samuel and field coordinator Jeff Bannister among others. Wedge, a solid baseball man who probably leads the league in managerial interviews if he isn't tied with Bob Melvin, has longtime ties from their days together in Cleveland to Pirates GM Neal Huntington, which should give him the edge, at least. Wedge also has reportedly interviewed with the Cubs and Blue Jays, whose list of many includes Rockies coach Don Baylor, Valentine, Blue Jays coach Brian Butterfield, Samuel, Yankees coach Rob Thomson, Bogar, Hale and others, further strengthening Wedge's position in Pittsburgh.

Considering how many times I've heard that Wedge is the favorite, I would be shocked if he didn't get the job at this point, although if any team is capable of acting like a Human Wild Card it's the Pirates. Frankly, I'm surprised they've dragged their feet this long.

Mondesi's House: The Director's Cut (more links, commentary, etc): twitter.com/mondesishouse
Email: mondesishouse@gmail.com