Dodgers get permission from Mets to interview Bob Geren for manager opening

We can add another experienced name to the Dodgers managerial search, with the club set to interview Mets bench coach Bob Geren, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson in meeting with the media on Wednesday confirmed that the club has granted the Dodgers permission to interview Geren, per Adam Rubin of ESPN.

The Dodgers have also interviewed Kirk Gibson for the job, but more on him later.

Geren, the Mets bench coach for the last four seasons, has been mentioned as a potential candidate for the Dodgers by Mark Saxon of ESPN as early as Oct. 22, when the managerial position was vacated by Don Mattingly.

Geren, 54, was manager of the Athletics from 2007-2011, during current Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi's tenure in Oakland. Geren was 334-376 (.470) in Oakland, topping out at 81-81 in 2010, then was fired 63 games into the 2011 season.

Geren was the first A's manager to be fired midseason since 1986, and just before the time of his firing his communication skills were called into question by a pair of closers past and present, with Brian Fuentes and Huston Street chiming in. Fuentes wasn't happy with his usage in May 2011, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle:

Asked how he thinks Geren has handled him, Fuentes said, "Pretty poorly." How much communication does he have with the manager? "Zero."

Fuentes believes he's not the only player who has issues with Geren.

"I get up in the seventh inning," Fuentes said. "I have no idea. I didn't stretch. If there was some sort of communication beforehand, I'd be ready, which I was. I was heated up. I was ready.

"But there's just a lack of communication. I don't think anybody knows what direction (Geren) is headed."

A couple days later, Street, the former A's closer then with the Rockies, piled on, per The Sporting News:

"Bob was never good at communication, and I don't want to speak for anybody else, but it was a sentiment reflected in many conversations during the two years I spent in Oakland, and even recently when talking to guys after I left," Street told the newspaper. "For me personally, he was my least favorite person I have ever encountered in sports from age 6 to 27. I am very thankful to be in a place where I can trust my manager."

Geren, a former big league catcher, also served as bullpen coach in 2004-2005 in Oakland before moving up to bench coach in 2006.