Dave Stewart to be next Diamondbacks General Manager?

Right from the get-go, it seemed that Stewart was the favorite for the position and, indeed, some suspected that the whole interview process, with up to 10 candidates being involved at some point, was more for show than anything else. As the numbers were thinned over the past couple of weeks, Stewart's name continued to be front and center. This morning, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports cited "sources close to the team" that Arizona would make Stewart an offer, although Heyman added, "There is no word that a deal is done yet, or even that the offer officially has been made, so nothing is official yet."

Nick Piecoro spoke to Stewart, and wrote, "If the club is planning to make him the GM, Stewart said it would be news to him." The former pitcher, who now works as an agent - something he would almost certainly have to give up if he became the General Manager - told Piecoro, "I hope they do. Maybe something's going to happen later in the day. At this moment I would like to say that that's true, but I wouldn't be telling the truth." Reports earlier suggested that the team would announce the new GM on Thursday, which is an off-day before the final series of the season starts against the St. Louis Cardinals, at Chase Field on Friday.

Stewart has a long relationship with Diamondbacks' Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa, going back to the days when Stewart pitched in Oakland under the management of La Russa. He does have some front office experience, but not recently, having been the assistant general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1998 through 2001. Ironically, he was also a special assistant to Kevin Towers at the San Diego Padres for a couple of seasons. In the (increasingly unlikely, it appears) event the team looks elsewhere, DeJon Watson and Allard Baird, currently executives with the Dodgers and Red Sox, are possible alternatives.