By John Fay and John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERIES

Photos of Tuesday's game

Dave Miley's first day

There are some strong candidates within the Reds organization for the vacant general manager's job, which will be filled after the World Series.

The following list was compiled by the Enquirer to give Reds fans an idea of possible candidates from outside the organization. The names were gathered from baseball insiders, who didn't want their names used, and cross-checked against a survey conducted last winter by Baseball America, in which 50 baseball executives were asked to identify up-and-coming GM candidates.

Jayson Stark noted in an article Tuesday on ESPN.com that "there have been rumblings" that Reds chief operating officer John Allen already had begun asking about Braves assistant GM Frank Wren and Tigers assistant GM Al Avila. Both were on the Enquirer's list.

Here are 10 possible candidates for the Reds job, in no particular order:

Paul DePodesta, Oakland A's: A phenom near the top of almost everybody's short list. He might be hard to lure, because he has been the right-hand man to A's GM Billy Beane the past five years and will have his pick of jobs. He's a former advance scout and a cum laude graduate of Harvard, where he played baseball and football.

Mike Arbuckle, Philadelphia Phillies: He scouted for 12 years for the Braves before being named the Phillies' director of scouting in 1992. He's been their assistant GM since 2000 and built a highly regarded player development department.

Frank Wren, Atlanta Braves: Fired as Baltimore's GM in 1999, he has been the Braves' assistant GM since October of that year. The former Expos assistant scouting director and director of Latin American scouting in late 1980s/early 1990s was an outfielder in the team's minor leagues.

Al Avila, Detroit Tigers: A former Marlins scouting director, he assists GM Dave Dombrowski with day-to-day operations. He was a catcher in the Dodgers organization for two years.

Dick Tidrow, San Francisco Giants: A former major league pitcher (mainly with the Yankees and Cubs), he's a tireless worker and shrewd judge of talent. He oversees player development and scouting.

Omar Minaya, Montreal Expos: He already is a GM and would be hard for the Reds to land, especially if a bidding war for bigger jobs in higher-revenue markets develops. The Expos are in a precarious position, so somebody might lure him.

Tim Purpura, Houston Astros: He's director of player development for an organization that has produced such homegrown talent in recent years as starters Roy Oswalt and Wade Miller, and hitters Lance Berkman and Richard Hidalgo.

John Farrell, Cleveland Indians: As director of player development, the former Indians pitcher oversees the minor leagues and programs in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. He was pitching coach/recruiting coordinator for five years at Oklahoma State University, and mentored 14 future pro pitchers, including Scott Williamson.

Michael Hill, Florida Marlins: The Rockies' former director of player development, he played three minor league seasons (two with Texas, one with Cincinnati). He's a 1993 graduate of Harvard, where he played football (top rusher) and baseball (team captain). He's from Golf Manor and was a multi-sport star at Cincinnati Country Day.

Tony LaCava, Toronto Blue Jays: The assistant to the GM has a heavy scouting background with Anaheim, Atlanta and Cleveland. He's a former minor league infielder with Pittsburgh.