DePodesta Identifies Four Candidates for Manager

Four of the five managerial candidates to be interviewed by the Dodgers next week will be Terry Collins, Jerry Royster, Alan Trammell and Torey Lovullo, General Manager Paul DePodesta said Wednesday.

DePodesta would not divulge the fifth candidate because he has been unable to reach him. The person is employed by another team not in the playoffs.

Collins and Royster work in the Dodger farm system, Trammell was fired last week as manager of the Detroit Tigers and Lovullo was manager of the Cleveland Indians’ double-A affiliate in Akron.

DePodesta said he has a secondary list of candidates and that additional interviews might be conducted before a decision is reached. The Dodgers would like to hire a manager before organizational meetings are held during the World Series.

Jim Tracy, the manager the last five years, left the Dodgers by mutual agreement Monday, one day after the team finished with a 71-91 record.

Tracy, considered the front-runner for the Pittsburgh opening, had a lengthy telephone conversation with Pirate General Manager Dave Littlefield on Wednesday, but now might have competition from Ken Macha, who could not reach an agreement to return to the Oakland Athletics. Macha, who lives near Pittsburgh, was a finalist along with Tracy in 2000 when Lloyd McClendon was hired as Pirate manager.

DePodesta has scheduled one interview each day from Tuesday through Saturday.

Collins, 56, the Dodger director of player development, managed the Houston Astros from 1994 to 1996 and the Angels from 1997 until he was fired late in the 1999 season.

Royster, 52, is manager of the Dodgers’ triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas. He managed the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002.

“[Terry] is very familiar with our personnel,” DePodesta said. “Jerry made sense for a lot of the same reasons.”

Trammell, 47, posted a record of 186-300 in three seasons with the Tigers, one of the worst teams in baseball for many years. He was 43-119 his first year, and the team showed dramatic improvement in 2004, finishing 72-90.

“He had a phenomenal career as a player and has a sterling reputation in the game as a person and as a baseball man,” DePodesta said. “When he was let go, we spent a lot of time on his name.”

Lovullo, 40, led Akron to an 84-58 record and the Eastern League title. He has won championships in each of his four seasons as a minor league manager.

“He’s a guy I’ve been interested in sitting down with for a while,” DePodesta said. “We considered him for farm director position last year and he is a potential rising star in the game.”

Lovullo is the only one of the four who has not been a major league manager.

“It helps that somebody has been through the rigors before and understands everything that comes with being a manager,” DePodesta said. “But it won’t be a hard requirement.”

He said there are internal candidates beyond Collins and Royster on the secondary list.

Jim Fregosi is hoping he is on that list. Although he hasn’t managed since 2000 and is a special advisor to the Atlanta Braves, Fregosi has a strong interest in the Dodger opening.

“He’s looking to change the culture and improve the franchise and get it back to the respectability it had,” said Alan Meersand, Fregosi’s agent.