Padres interview Stein for general manager opening

DENVER -- The Padres interviewed an in-house candidate for their general manager vacancy Wednesday, as assistant general manager Josh Stein met with executive chairman Ron Fowler and CEO and president Mike Dee.

Stein became the seventh person to be interviewed for the opening since the team dismissed general manager Josh Byrnes on June 22.

Stein, who is in his first year as assistant general manager, is in his 12th season with the organization. He started as a baseball operations intern in 2003 and worked his way up through the organization, as he's worked with general managers Kevin Towers, Jed Hoyer and Josh Byrnes.

Most recently, Stein assisted Byrnes in player acquisition and roster, payroll and budget management. He has also been involved in contract negotiations, including coordinating the club's salary arbitration efforts while also managing the team's statistical analysis and video scouting systems.

Stein was named the team's advance scouting coordinator in 2005. He went on to become the director of baseball operations following the '09 season.

On Tuesday, the team interviewed Red Sox assistant general manager Mike Hazen. The team is expected to interview Kim Ng later this week. Ng is currently the senior vice president of baseball operations with Major League Baseball, but she has assistant general manager experience with the Dodgers and Yankees.

Previously, the team interviewed former Marlins general manager Larry Beinfest, Dodgers vice president of amateur scouting Logan White, D-backs scouting director Ray Montgomery, Yankees assistant general manager Billy Eppler and Rangers assistant general manager A.J. Preller.

Fowler and Dee have conducted the interviews. The team will likely bring back around four candidates for second interviews, Dee said. Dee has said he expects the new GM to be on the job sometime after the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline.

The list of GM candidates could see additions and subtractions.

Four potential candidates -- David Forst of the A's, Mike Chernoff of the Indians, Jason McLeod of the Cubs and Michael Girsch of the Cardinals -- have declined interviews.

Forst, Chernoff and Girsch are all assistant general managers. McLeod, who previously worked for the Padres, is the Cubs' scouting director.

The Padres' senior vice president of baseball operations, Omar Minaya, has said he will not ask for an interview. Current Padres assistant GM A.J. Hinch is a viable candidate for the job. He is handling the daily operations of the big league team.