Report: Phillies could name new GM by Monday

The search for Ruben Amaro Jr.'s replacement appears to be nearing an end.

The Philadelphia Phillies have narrowed their general manager search down to three candidates: Los Angeles Angels assistant GM Matt Klentak, Oakland Athletics assistant GM Dan Kantrovitz, and Tampa Bay Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom. An announcement could be made as early as Monday, reports MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.

Phillies president Andy MacPhail has completed his second round of interviews, and is now in the final stages of the selection process. The trio of candidates are all Ivy Leaguers in their 30s and possess a strong analytics base.

"(MacPhail) needs to hire himself," Phillies partner John Middleton said last month. "And I say that because, 30 years ago, a very young Andy MacPhail was general manager, a newly minted general manager at that. This guy was sitting in an office in Minneapolis and he was playing with mathematical, statistical, analytical tools. And he was using them to try to figure out how he could make better evaluations, therefore, better personnel decisions."

The Phillies have cast a wide net during the preliminary stages of their search, initially interviewing Kansas City Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo, St. Louis Cardinals director of player personnel Matt Slater, and former Miami Marlins general manager Larry Beinfest, among others.

Amaro Jr. was fired on Sept. 10, and Scott Proefrock took over as GM on an interim basis.