UPDATE: Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Gardenhire is currently the favorite, while Scott Miller of Bleacher Report says Sofield is now "emerging as the favorite."
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UPDATE: General manager A.J. Preller weighed in on the Padres' search for a new manager today.
"I feel good about the number of guys we had in the initial stage, and now we'll be able to get that down to a smaller group," Preller told Corey Brock of MLB.com. "We're looking to push things forward."
"The last few days, we've talked to some guys we didn't have a chance to talk to the first few weeks. ... Guys who were involved in the postseason.
"We're starting to figure it out. We're looking to figure out who fits what we're looking for."
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The San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers are among the remaining MLB clubs in the process of searching for new managers.
San Diego already watched their interim manager take a job elsewhere, but rumors indicate they are close to filling their vacancy.
Ron Gardenhire and Rick Sofield appear to be the frontrunners/finalists for the job in San Diego after Pat Murphy reportedly departed the Padres to become bench coach for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Gardenhire and Sofield had second interviews with San Diego and they're seemingly separating themselves from the pack that once included Alex Cora, Phil Nevin, Mark Kotsay, Scott Servais (took the job in Seattle), Andy Green, Tom Gordon and others.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported Gardenhire's second interview on Sunday. Gardenhire also interviewed with the Washington Nationals, whose search is now apparently narrowed down to Bud Black and Dusty Baker.
Gardenhire spent 13 seasons with the Minnesota Twins and compiled a 1,068-1,039 record with five postseason appearances (6-21 record). He was fired last year after four consecutive 90-plus loss seasons.
As for Sofield, the Pittsburgh Pirates third base coach also had his second meeting with the Padres and Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says he "appears to be a finalist."
Sofield just finished his third season with Pittsburgh and his first as third base coach under manager Clint Hurdle. As mentioned previously, he has extensive experience managing at the collegiate level, specifically with the University of South Carolina Beaufort and University of Utah. He was also an assistant coach at South Carolina University.
The Padres have not been transparent with their interview process, so this is the extent of knowledge regarding their search for a new manager. General manager A.J. Preller said it would be a wide-ranging search and that the team was in no rush to fill the vacancy, so if the organization isn't impressed with the second interviews don't be surprised if they call in more candidates.
But for now it appears it's between Gardenhire and Sofield, which shows the Padres could really go either way in their selection.
