Rays name 8 manager candidates, including Raul Ibanez

Joe Maddon skipped town to sign with the Cubs on a five-year, $25 million contract, so the Rays need to find a new manager. They’re going to initially try to select one from a list of eight candidates, but according to earlier reports, they are going to check out at least 12 potential managers before making a decision.

Those initial eight candidates, courtesy of the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin:

Dave Martinez was Joe Maddon’s bench coach, and while they’re not the same person, you have to assume that a little bit of Maddon’s style rubbed off on Martinez over the course of seven seasons as his No. 2. Manny Acta is the former Nationals and Indians manager who everyone in the universe will remind you loves advanced statistics, but every game you’ve ever seen him manage suggests he doesn’t understand what he loves. That, or he doesn’t know how to get his players to buy into them, which was always one of Maddon’s strengths in Tampa Bay.

The rest of the list is a mix of guys you hear mentioned for manager jobs here and there, as well as newbies like Craig Counsell, former backup catcher and Devil Ray Kevin Cash, and the name that popped out the most for both you and us, Raul Ibanez.

Ibanez hasn’t decided if he’s still playing or going to take a coaching job -- the Yankees are interested in having him be their hitting coach, for instance -- but if things go well with the Rays, maybe he can just skip the whole coaching thing and go straight to being in charge.

The Rays even released a little graphic to tell you all about their manager search. Social media in action!