Mets' GM candidates not in mix for another position

The Mets intend to hire only a general manager from this round of interviews, which continues Thursdaywith Sandy Alderson, and the hope is to have a new one in place by the end of the World Series, though that timetable is "flexible."

Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon and interim GM John Ricco revealed those plans Wednesday during a 20-minute conference call that served as an update after the club had interviewed three of their first five candidates: Red Sox assistant GM Allard Baird, White Sox assistant Rick Hahn and former Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes.

As for what they have learned from those meetings, Wilpon and Ricco refused to go into detail about each candidate's blueprint for fixing the Mets. But they stressed the importance of looking beyond next season, which could be the type of rebuilding year that many already had imagined going into this process. None of the potential GMs sugarcoated the situation in Flushing.

"I think it's being a realist, and understanding where we're at, and I think it's been very healthy, the conversation we've had," Wilpon said. "I think they've all been kind to Omar [Minaya] in terms of their comments about him. But I think they also realize that we've made some less-than-perfect decisions and have to move forward."

Wilpon also insisted that the Mets are "looking at this as a search for a GM" with no intention of hiring any of these candidates for another role within the organization. Once the GM position is filled, Wilpon said that person will then work with Ricco to hire a manager.

The Mets have yet to contact any managerial candidates, according to Wilpon, and they claim to have no concerns about other teams already moving briskly to fill their own vacancies. The Braves introduced Fredi Gonzalez Wednesday as the replacement for Bobby Cox and the Marlins, Pirates, Blue Jays, Mariners, Cubs and Brewers have begun the process.

"We've heard a number of names like we thought we would - different than what we might have had on our internal list - that are out there," Wilpon said. "So nobody's worried about timing on anything going on outside of our situation."

The Mets still are waiting on permission to speak with more candidates - they did not say any specific names - with Dodgers assistant GM Logan White scheduled to follow Alderson Friday. But the team plans to begin interviewing the finalists by the end of next week, which is when principal owner Fred Wilpon and president Saul Katz will get involved in the process.

Jeff Wilpon and Ricco said they were encouraged by the exchange of ideas, but when asked if any of the GMs had a plan to turn around the Mets quickly, Wilpon hedged a bit.

"I think there were slightly different perceptions," Wilpon said, "But nothing that anybody said, 'Oh my God' we don't want to take on this challenge and we don't think that this is going to be a great turnaround."

Wilpon said he also discussed with the candidates his reputation as being overly involved with the baseball operations because "it was out there." As for how that conversation went, Wilpon deferred to Ricco.

"We've raised it in the context of their past experience and how it compares to the setup here," Ricco said. "What we've found is universally similar across the board. What they describe and what we have here is pretty much standard for the industry."