MILWAUKEE -- Even as the Red Sox begin to turn their attention to a roster makeover for 2012, they have some unfinished business as the general manager meetings get underway here at the Pfister Hotel.
Red Sox GM Ben Cherington, who is arriving later Monday night, seems to be honing in on a choice for his new manager.
Dale Sveum has already been told that he will get a second interview with the Red Sox and an opportunity to meet with principal owner John Henry and team chairman Tom Werner Wednesday.
Henry and Werner are due here Wednesday, when the meetings morph from GMs to owners. None of the candidates interviewed in the first round met with Henry or Werner in person, though they all spoke with team CEO Larry Lucchino.
Reached Monday afternoon, Sandy Alomar Jr. said he had yet to hear back from the Sox on a possible second interview. Alomar, like Sveum, is also a candidate for the Chicago Cubs' managerial opening.
Cherington has repeatedly said that he would prefer to have a manager in place by Thanksgiving, which falls on Nov. 24. That would seem to lead to the Sox making a decision by the end of the week, or on the weekend, with an introductory press conference early next week.
Doug Melvin, the Milwaukee Brewers general manager, has had Sveum on his staff for the past six seasons and believes Sveum is ready to manage.
Boston Red Sox
"He's very conscientious," said Melvin. "He's very passionate about the game. He sees the game from different angles. He's been a hitting coach, a third-base coach, a bench coach . . . He's experienced in all those areas. Dealing with people, I think he'll be brutally honest. Dealing with players, I think he'll let them know what's expected of him.
"He's a competitor. He wants to win. He was on those Brewers' teams in the early '80s and they had that competitive spirit. Same with those Red Sox teams he coached."
Melvin installed Sveum as his interim manager at the end of the 2008 season, having him take over for Ned Yost with 12 games left on the schedule.
"People ask me why I didn't hire him (to become permanent manager)," said Melvin. "We just felt we wanted to go outside the organization and I'm not a big believer in making an interim guy the full-time guy. We wanted a different voice. But I think Dale has been through enough that he'd be ready to take over and do the job now."