By John Erardi and John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Omar Minaya will interview today for the Reds' general manager job, chief operating officer John Allen confirmed Friday.

Allen has said there are eight finalists. He has interviewed Minnesota's Wayne Krivsky and Detroit's Al Avila. It's believed Houston's Tim Purpura and San Francisco's Ned Colletti are also finalists.

Minaya, 44, is in town with the Montreal Expos, for whom he has been GM for two years. He is regarded by many insiders as the leading candidate for the Reds job.

"I'm not going to comment on my future, as far as what I'm going to do next year," Minaya said. "Being a sitting GM, I want to have the weekend to finish up (the season) and then address the possibility of my situation once the season is over."

He said he is "honored" to be considered for potential jobs, although he didn't identify the Reds by name. Judging by Minaya's pedigree, which is strong in finding and developing young players, he might be hard to beat.

"Player development, scouting, player development, scouting," said Allen, repeating the theme being hit hard by the Reds in seeking the right GM. "We're looking for people with that type of experience and background. But at this point, all eight candidates are on equal footing. There's no leg up to anybody."

Minaya was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in New York. He scouted amateur players for the Texas Rangers in 1985, moving up to Latin American scouting coordinator in 1989. From 1995-97, he was the Rangers' director of professional and international scouting before becoming the New York Mets' assistant GM in late 1997.

Minaya got a strong endorsement Friday from Expos manager Frank Robinson, the former Reds great: "Omar is a very open person. He's a good communicator. ... He's made my job easy. ... He is an upbeat, positive person."

Minaya and Robinson have headed the Expos' field operation since Major League Baseball took over the club before the 2002 season. The Expos went 83-79 in 2002, a 15-game improvement from 2001. They are 82-78 after Friday's win.