Tavares Makes Candidate List

Thirty-six hours after his general manager resigned over lunch, Tony Tavares had a working list of four men who could replace Bill Bavasi.

Tavares, the president of Disney Sports, said Sunday that his list is composed of two current or former general managers and two with backgrounds in baseball operations.

Working with Bavasi, who was reassigned as a special assistant to the president, and two consultants outside the organization, Tavares pared a list of about a dozen candidates, “the usual suspects,” Tavares has called them, to four.

He said that today he will seek permission from the clubs involved to speak to the candidates and stressed the list could change as he measures those responses.

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Interim Manager Joe Maddon, whose candidacy to become next year’s manager might have ended when Bavasi stepped down, at least gave it his best shot.

The Angels were 19-10 after Terry Collins quit, including Sunday’s 1-0 victory at Edison Field over the Texas Rangers, a game played frantically, in 1 hour 56 minutes.

Jarrod Washburn (4-5) pitched 8 2/3 scoreless innings against the have-a-plane-to-catch Rangers, and Tim Salmon homered in the seventh inning off Mike Morgan.

“I’m optimistic about what will happen the next few months,” said Mo Vaughn, who has recommended Don Baylor and Kevin Kennedy as potential replacements for Collins. “I know Tony Tavares. He’s from my neck of the woods. And he does not like to lose, period.”

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Darin Erstad, who missed his third consecutive game because of a strain in his right knee, will have the knee reexamined in about three weeks. “I think it’s OK,” he said. “I’ll just be smart and be careful.”