BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The baseball operations department -- and not ownership -- is driving the Dodgers' managerial search, said general manager Farhan Zaidi.
Club officials left the General Managers Meetings on Thursday, with Zaidi having said the first round of interviews would conclude this week. The initial slate of contenders, believed to number nine, will be trimmed to three or four, he said.
The club hasn't confirmed or denied that the nine candidates are: former big league managers Bud Black, Bob Geren, Kirk Gibson and Ron Roenicke; big league bench coaches Dave Martinez, Dave Roberts and Tim Wallach; plus Dodgers farm director Gabe Kapler and University of Nebraska head coach Darin Erstad.