The Kansas City Star reported on Thursday that John Gibbons has withdrawal his name from the Pirates’ managerial Candidates. He will remain as the Royals bench coach.

There has been no reason why Gibbons has withdrawn but, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Trib, he has not been contacted by the Pirates since his interview on October 11^th.

“I haven’t heard a word since my interview,” said Gibbons.

Gibbons was surprised the Pirates’ were interested in him as a potential manager of the Bucs.

“It came out of the blue,” said Gibbons. “I’d read that John Russell got let go, so I knew there was an opening. I was kind of hoping I’d get considered.”
“They have some good, young talent,” Gibbons said. “The future looks bright.”

Yankees’ bench coach, Tony Pena, is a likely candidate for the managerial job according to sources. He is ineligible to interview until after the playoff run is over (The Yankees are currently down 3-2 to the Rangers).

Since John Russell was fired on October 4^th, the Pirates interviewed seven candidates in 10 days for the position.

The list includes: John Gibbons, Dale Sveum, Carlos Tosca, Jeff Banister, Bo Porter and Ken Macha. Eric Wedge was also interviewed but signed as the Mariners new skipper.

There have not been any interviews in the past week. General Manager Neal Huntington told the trib on Wednesday: “The managerial search is an ongoing process. We continue to do due diligence on candidates and are considering additional interviews.”