Little believes Saito could be Cy too

SAN FRANCISCO -- On the day that Takashi Saito was named Major League Baseball’s reliever of the month, Manager Grady Little said the 37-year old closer merited consideration for the Cy Young Award.

“His numbers and conversion rate speak for themselves,” Little said Friday.

Saito entered the Dodgers’ series opener in San Francisco with 37 saves and an earned-run average of 1.29, which was best in the majors among pitchers with 40 or more innings.

Saito converted his 10 save opportunities in August and had an ERA of 0.68 in 14 games. He struck out 21 batters in 13 1/3 innings.

“The timing happened to be right,” Saito said, noting that the Dodgers’ recent upturn gave him more save opportunities.

Saito says he feels better at this stage of the season than he did a year ago, in part because the Dodgers’ run of poor results from mid-July to the first half of August limited his appearances and saved his arm. At one point, he said, his arm almost felt “too loose.”

Saito admitted that he tired when he pitched in four consecutive games from Aug. 26-Aug. 29, but said he recovered by resting over the next five days.

Saito was incredulous when told he could be a candidate for the Cy Young, for which San Diego’s Jake Peavy is the heavy favorite.

“Me?” Saito asked. “If anyone would say that, that’d make me really happy.”

Assistant general manager Logan White, who headed drafts in which the Dodgers selected the likes of Russell Martin and James Loney, interviewed for the Houston Astros’ vacant general manager position Friday morning. White was the seventh candidate to interview for the job, which opened when Tim Pupura was fired Aug. 27.

White had never interviewed to be a general manager.

“It was a learning experience,” White said. “Any time you have to go and put your philosophies and ideas and words and you get quizzed on it, I think you come out of that being able to better apply those things in the future. I think it’s going to make me better.”

White was interviewed by Astros owner Drayton McClane, president of baseball operations Tal Smith and former president of business operations Bob McClaren.

White said that his being interviewed was a “testament” to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and General Manager Ned Colletti.

“I’m a representative of the scouting department,” he said.

White has been credited with playing a large role in assembling the Dodgers’ young nucleus, as he was the team’s director of amateur scouting for the last five years. He was promoted to his present role this season.

White said he believes his ability to identify talent at the amateur levels will carry over the majors, noting, “Chad Billingsley is easier to evaluate now than out of high school.”

White also said he felt ready to deal with the business side of being a general manager, saying that McCourt and Colletti put him in charge of balancing the budget for amateur and international scouting.

The sites of the one-game playoffs that the Dodgers would play if they finish the season tied atop the NL West or wild-card races have been determined.

A divisional tiebreaker against San Diego would be played at Dodger Stadium, while those against Arizona or Colorado would be played on the road.

The Dodgers would host Philadelphia or Chicago if they tie either team for the wild card. A tie with San Diego, Colorado or Milwaukee in that race would require them to travel.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com