The Pirates have interviewed Frank Wren for their vacant general manager's position, and the assistant to Atlanta General Manager John Schuerholz could be considered the leader in the clubhouse.
There are other players still on the course, however, including Mike Arbuckle.
Arbuckle, 50, is the Philadelphia Phillies' director of scouting and player development. He has been the team's scouting director since Oct. 26, 1992, and the Phillies added the player development director title Dec. 1, 2000.
The Pirates yesterday received permission to interview Arbuckle, who had no comment on whether an interview has been scheduled.
Wren also offered no comment when asked if he had been interviewed by the Pirates.
"I'm not going to comment about that," said Wren, whose wife, Terri is from Greensburg. "I don't want to start giving a play-by-play of the whole situation."
The field of candidates at this early juncture also includes Tim Purpura, assistant to Houston General Manager Gerry Hunsicker, and David Wilder, Milwaukee's vice-president/player personnel who was interviewed yesterday.
They are the other two who have been interviewed by Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy.
"And others will be interviewed in the near future," he said.
Wilder, 40, was an assistant general manager with the Chicago Cubs before going to Milwaukee. He also has a scouting and player development background that includes a stint with the Braves.
McClatchy indicated Monday he will probably interview six to nine candidates. It's possible the Pirates will have a new general manager in place by the All-Star break July 9-11.
The Pirates have other candidates on their list, but, as of yesterday, the team hadn't formally asked for permission to interview some of them.
That group includes Ned Colletti, assistant to San Francisco Giants General Manager Brian Sabean, and Wayne Krivsky, assistant to Minnesota General Manager Terry Ryan.
It's believed at least one of those two will be interviewed by the Pirates if permission is granted.
The Pirates would not need permission to interview Bob Watson, the former Houston and New York Yankees general manager who works with Frank Robinson, Major League Baseball's vice-president/on-field operations.
Watson said yesterday he hasn't heard from the Pirates.
"I'll let this take its course," Watson said. "If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, I'm not going to worry about it."
While McClatchy continued his search for a new general manager yesterday, negotiations between the Pirates and the representative for their No. 1 draft pick, pitcher/right fielder John VanBenschoten, have ceased.
And the timing might not be just a coincidence.
The two sides were close to reaching agreement on a signing bonus as of Monday afternoon, but a disagreement over perhaps less than a $100,000 difference has stalled the talks.
The fact this deal hasn't been done yet -- VanBenschoten definitely wants to sign -- has prompted speculation that the Pirates will wait until they name their new general manager before finalizing it.
There has been speculation that the new general manager might want to use VanBenschoten as an outfielder rather than a pitcher, which is the Pirates' current plan.
"That's up to the Pittsburgh Pirates to decide," said Joe Bick, VanBenschoten's adviser who will wait to hear back from the team -- whenever that will be.
On another topic, the Pirates have decided they'll put up Jackie Robinson's No. 42 alongside the eight retired Pirates uniform numbers during a ceremony July 14 honoring the Negro Leagues. The Pirates will play Kansas City at 1:35 p.m. at PNC Park.
Robinson, the former Brooklyn Dodger who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947, has had his uniform number retired throughout the big leagues.
The Pirates had his number displayed at Three Rivers Stadium, along with their eight retired numbers. However, Robinson's No. 42 isn't included on the facade in front of the second deck behind home plate at PNC Park, where the other eight numbers hang.
Arbuckle enters search for GM 
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