Melvin on Diamondbacks' list

PHOENIX (AP) -- Bob Melvin spoke to the Arizona Diamondbacks about becoming the team's manager on Monday, joining Mark Grace and Al Pedrique as candidates interviewed for the job.
General manager Joe Garagiola Jr. said interviews are scheduled for three others, and he expects to talk with two more.
Manny Acta, third base coach for the Montreal Expos, was to be interviewed today; Wally Backman, manager for Arizona's Class A team in Lancaster, Calif., on Wednesday; and Jamie Quirk, bench coach of the Colorado Rockies, on Thursday.
The Diamondbacks also have permission to speak with two other candidates -- first base coach DeMarlo Hale of the Texas Rangers and bench coach Joe Maddon of the Anaheim Angels.
GM's plans
Garagiola said he had not scheduled interviews with either of them, but hoped to do so soon. He said he had yet to talk to Maddon to measure his interest in the Arizona job.
"I'm hopeful that by the end of the week we will feel we've got a group that we can make some recommendations to ownership on," Garagiola said.
Melvin served as Arizona manager Bob Brenly's bench coach in 2000 and in the World Series championship season of 2001, then left to replace Lou Piniella as manager of the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners went 93-69 in 2002, but faded to 63-99 this year, and Melvin was fired the day after the season ended.
"We were interested in asking him about his experiences as manager, and what were the positives that he took from that," Garagiola said. "It was another good session."
Grace, who retired as a player after the 2003 season and was a television analyst for Arizona games this year, repeatedly has expressed his desire to manage in the major leagues.
Brenly was the team's television analyst when he was hired to replace the fired Buck Showalter. But unlike Grace, Brenly had experience as a major league coach.
Negatives downplayed
Asked about Grace's lack of experience as either a coach or manager, Garagiola said: "You can neither discount it, nor is it an automatic disqualifier. If it was a disqualifier, we wouldn't have interviewed him."
Pedrique, who began the year as Arizona's third base coach, took over as manager for the remainder of the season after Brenly was fired on July 2. The injury-ravaged Diamondbacks went on to lose 111 games, tied for eighth-most in baseball history.
Jeff Moorad, a prominent player agent, officially takes over as the Diamondbacks' chief executive officer on Friday.
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