M’s line up five interviews for GM

SEATTLE – The Seattle Mariners, jump-starting the process of hiring a general manager, will interview five candidates this week, according to industry sources.

In search of a replacement for Bill Bavasi, who was fired on June 16, the Mariners will interview Peter Woodfork, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ assistant general manager; Jerry DiPoto, Diamondbacks director of player personnel; Tony Bernazard, New York Mets vice president of player development; Kim Ng, Los Angeles Dodgers assistant general manager; and Tony LaCava, Toronto Blue Jays assistant general manager.

Woodfork, 32, is a 1999 graduate of Harvard, where he played infield for the Crimson baseball team and earned a degree in psychology. He spent three years working for Major League Baseball in the labor relations department before spending 2003-05 in the Boston Red Sox organization as director of baseball operations and assistant director of player development. He joined the Diamondbacks in 2006 and assists Arizona GM Josh Byrnes in all phases of the baseball operations department.

DiPoto, 40, spent eight years as a major league relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, Mets and Colorado Rockies from 1993-2000, compiling a 27-24 record with 49 saves. He began his front-office career in the scouting department of the Red Sox (2003-04) before heading the pro scouting department of the Rockies in 2005. In 2006, he joined Byrnes, a former Red Sox assistant GM, in Arizona, where he oversees all aspects of pro scouting.

Bernazard, 52, was a major league infielder for 10 seasons, including 80 games with the Mariners in 1983 after coming to Seattle from the Chicago White Sox in a trade for Julio Cruz. A native of Puerto Rico, Bernazard spent 12 years (1992-04) in the players association as a special assistant to union chief Donald Fehr. He joined the Mets in 2004 as a special assistant to GM Omar Minaya and runs their player development department.

Ng, 39, has 18 years experience in the major leagues and would become the first female GM if hired. A graduate of the University of Chicago, where she played four years on the softball team and earned a degree in public policy, Ng has worked in the front offices of the White Sox, New York Yankees and Dodgers as well as a stint as director of waivers and records for the American League. She earned three World Series rings with the Yankees, and now assists Dodgers GM Ned Colletti in player acquisitions and contract negotiations while overseeing their player development and pro scouting departments.

LaCava, 47, signed with his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates as a non-drafted free agent out of the University of Pittsburgh in 1983, spending two years as an infielder in their minor league system. He joined the Angels as an associate scout in 1989 and worked in their scouting department through 1999, when he became the Braves’ national scouting supervisor. He became the Montreal Expos’ director of player development in 2000, was national cross checker for the Indians in 2002, and joined the Blue Jays after that season as assistant to the general manager. He was named to his current position in July 2003.

The Mariners are expected to talk to more candidates next week as they aim for an announcement shortly after the World Series.