New York Mets have 2 experienced managers as finalists

The death of Sandy Alderson’s father apparently won’t significantly slow down the new Mets general manager’s quest to fill his team’s manager vacancy.

Alderson’s 87-year-old father, John, was crossing a St. Petersburg, Fla., street late Saturday when he was struck and killed by a car. He died early Sunday.

Back at work, Alderson was to meet with ex-Mets shortstop Jose Oquendo yesterday at the GM meetings in Orlando, Fla., concluding his first round of interviews. While it’s unlikely Oquendo will come in for a second chat, it is believed that Terry Collins and Bob Melvin are the two front-runners, and that fan favorite Wally Backman is out of the running. Another candidate, Rockies hitting coach Clint Hurdle, decided the Pittsburgh job would be a better fit for him.

Alderson appears to prefer a manager with previous major league experience, which fits both Melvin’s and Collins’ descriptions and eliminates Backman and third-base coach Chip Hale. Alderson hopes to have a manager in place by next month’s Winter Meetings.