Managing expectations, Day 23: Second interviews are coming, but who’s in the group? Update.

Kirk Gibson

Former Arizona Diamondbacks manager and 1988 World Series hero Kirk Gibson is no longer a candidate to get a second interview for the Dodgers’ managerial vacancy. (Getty Images)

ESPN.com reported today that the Dodgers will hold second interviews with four managerial candidates from a group including Gabe Kapler, Dave Roberts, Darin Erstad, Bud Black and Kirk Gibson.

Two sources familiar with the process told me that this is not entirely accurate. One source told me that three candidates, not four, will get second interviews, and that one of the three might not be from the group of five ESPN reported. So we’ll see. The Dodgers aren’t confirming a specific number of second-interview candidates yet.

Update (1:07 p.m.): Two more relevant nuggets as the Dodgers whittle down the field:

Update (10 p.m.): Erstad is out, and ESPN has scratched Gibson from the list on its original report.

Speaking at a charity trivia contest at the Boys & Girls Club of Lincoln/Lancaster County on Friday, Erstad said he will remain University of Nebraska’s head baseball coach, according to two people who attended the event. Erstad’s wife, Jessica, is listed online as the club’s president.

Erstad was the only candidate who has never coached professionally.

If he and Gibson are out, that means Kapler, Roberts and Black are the three finalists.

Kapler has been considered the favorite for some time now. Roberts reportedly interviewed well; ESPN reported that Erstad had a strong interview as well. Black, Roberts and Gibson all have connections to Dodgers executive Josh Byrnes from either San Diego or Arizona.

But at this point, the process is less about familiarity than it was when it began 23 days ago (as I check the headline). Farhan Zaidi told reporters at the GM meetings that the list of second interview candidates was to be finalized by the end of this week.

On another note: there was some buzz yesterday around hitting coach Mark McGwire, whose contract hasn’t been renewed by the Dodgers for 2016, as a possible candidate for the same job in Arizona. McGwire lives in Southern California and has two school-age sons. It’s not clear how much that will influence where he works next year.

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About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.