Kapler, Roberts Are Finalists For Dodgers’ Manager; Decision To Come By Monday

Since the Dodgers and manager Don Mattingly mutually agreed to part ways last month, the Dodgers have been conducting interviews to determine their next skipper. Farm director Gabe Kapler was said to be the early front-runner, although to this point, Los Angeles has also interviewed Padres bench coach Dave Roberts, Mets bench coach (and former A’s manager) Bob Geren and former big leaguer/current Nebraska head coach Darin Erstad. Last month’s updates on the search can be found here, and we’ll keep track of the November updates to the Dodgers’ managerial search in this post…

• The Dodgers will decide on their next manager no later than Monday, sources tell Buster Olney of ESPN.com (on Twitter).  The club’s choice still appears to be between Kapler and Roberts.

Earlier Updates

• Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that a decision has been delayed until Sunday or Monday, as some members of the Dodgers’ ownership group are traveling.
• Bud Black “appears to be out of the mix,” ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitter links), suggesting that Gabe Kapler and Dave Roberts are the two finalists. Second interviews with finalists are ongoing, with the club expected to make its decision this Friday or Saturday. With Kapler and Roberts apparently the final two names under consideration, Los Angeles seems set to go with a skipper that has not previously run a big league dugout at the big league level.
• Erstad has withdrawn from the search, telling Shaikin (Twitter link) that he’s committed to continuing with the University of Nebraska.
• Gibson is not one of the four finalists, per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, who tweets that the other four names just listed will be interviewed further next week.
• There are five names still in the mix at present, ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden reports (Insider link): Black, Erstad, Kapler, Gibson, and Roberts. The team will move forward with four finalists, meaning that one of those candidates will not make it into the second stage.
• Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi said the team expects to be down to 3-4 candidates by the end of the week, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
• Los Angeles will interview Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Martinez, of course, also served under Chicago skipper Joe Maddon with the Rays back when Friedman ran the baseball operations there. He joins a still-growing list of possible candidates for one of the game’s premium field staff positions.
• Former Diamondbacks skipper (and Dodgers World Series hero) Kirk Gibson will also interview for the job, ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden tweets. Gibson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s earlier this year, and discussed his treatment and life with the disease recently with Scott Miller of Bleacher Report. Needless to say, it’s remarkable and encouraging to hear that he is well enough even to be considered for the position.
• Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times hears that Kapler is no longer the favorite. That distinction, Plaschke writes, instead goes to Roberts. According to Plaschke, Dodgers ownership voiced a strong preference for an honest managerial search instead of simply anointing Kapler, and Roberts “aced” his interview with Dodgers decision-makers. Of course, it’s also worth bearing in mind that Rosenthal’s recent update said the team was only half-done with its initial wave of interviews, so there’s still time for this to change.
• Bud Black, whose reported deal with the Nationals fell through last night, will interview for the Dodgers’ vacancy, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The Dodgers are about halfway through the interview process, according to Rosenthal, and the team could interview as many as 10 candidates.