The general manager race is well underway. Of course, we don't know who is in the lead, bringing up the rear, or staggering out of the gate with a broken leg. No, our new ownership group has decided to let the tension build until the climactic photo finish that will see the leading contender showered in roses and treated to a sack of oats. It hasn't been revealed yet whether the guy with the broken leg will be taken out back and shot.

What we do know is that at least nine candidates have interviewed, second interviews may be in the works for the finalists, and a decision is expected this week.

Today, KC2HMZ contributed some background information on all the candidates. In fact, he wrote more actual, hard information in two comments here than RHM usually enjoys in an entire weeks' worth of smart-alecry.

Seems like a shame to let all that content get drowned out on an 8-day old entry when I could be re-posting it to give the illusion that I actually did some work, so here I am reposting it for your reading-and-surmising-who's-going-to-win-the-crown enjoyment.

1. Wilder interviewed for the Red Sox GM job during Epstein's departure period. He would be entering his third season working for the ChiSox and is responsible for overseeing the Minor League system, player development staff and Latin American operations. Before that he worked for the Brewers as a special assignment scout, and as VP of player personnel. In 2000, he worked for USA Baseball's selection committee and helped assemble the team that won the gold at Sydney. He worked for the Cubs as farm director and later as assistant GM. He spent 1991 to 1995 working for the Braves organization. As a player, he played in the minors for 7 years with the Athletics and Cubs - he was an outfielder - retiring in 1989.

2, Kullman had the title of director of baseball operations before being tapped to serve as the interim GM. He also served as interim GM when Jim Bowden was fired in July 2003.

3. Almaraz. I must confess that I don't know much about this guy other than that he's a long-time scout, probably best known for his program with Latin American players.

4. Beattie. A college basketball star at Dartmouth, he pitched for the Yankees and Mariners and threw the first one-hitter in Mariners history. He also surrendered Carl Yastrezemski's 3,000th hit. After retiring he went on to serve as GM of the Expos and Executive VP of the Orioles. He was removed in Baltimore after the 2005 season, and when he arrived home, the phone was ringing - it was Castellini, who hired him as a special advisor.

5. Maddox. Before the Red Sox hired Theo Epstein, Maddox was identified as a candidate for that job. He was with the Pirates as as special assistant to the GM and then as scouting director before coming to the Reds.

6. Krivsky was the other finalist in 2003 when they ended up hiring O'Brien (apparently everybody in the organization except Lindner wanted him for the job). He worked for the Rangers as an administrative assistant, assistant to the GM, and finally as assistant GM before becoming the Twins' assistant GM.

7. Arbuckle is another guy who was a candidate for in Boston before the BoSox hired Theo Epstein. He's been with the Phillies since 1993, serving as director of scouting, then as assistant GM, scouting/player development. He began his full-time career in baseball with the Braves in 1980. After the Phillies fired Ed Wade in October, he was interviewed before Philly hired Pat Gillick. He's also been a member of the USA Baseball steering committee.

8. Wren's worked for the Expos as assistant director, scouting, Marlins as assistant GM and as VP and Assistant GM), Orioles GM, and has been the Braves' VP / Assistant GM since 2000.

9. Mozeliak has been with the Cardinals since 1997 and has held a variety of titles including Assistant Director of Scouting, Director of Scouting, Director of Baseball Operations, and assistant GM. He also has the St. Louis connection to Castellini for whatever that's worth. He also has a Cinci connection since his wife, Julie, grew up here and graduated from Indian Hill High School. He got his start in baseball with the Rockies in 1993.

Thanks a lot, KC2HMZ. I look forward to plagiarizing your stuff again real soon!

Bob Castellini, Reds CEO, has an open letter to the fans. Castellini doesn't really have anything to report: nothing's really happened yet. Still, he's taken the time to touch base and make us feel like we're still welcome. What a sweetie-pie.

I want to promise you that our online resources will be a vital part of the process. Rest assured that this newsletter, as well as reds.com, will become even more of vehicle for team management to connect with our fans and create a true online Reds community.

Brad Kullman's already going to be answering some questions from RedsZone. And though Castellini doesn't mention it here, I understand that they're also investigating use of MLBlogs to get their message out to the masses.

Credit to Castellini and crew for their techno-savvy. Next thing you know, they're going to go all 1337 on us. They're probably using their bad-ass MLB network to play Quake 4 or City of Villains at this very moment.

That does sound pretty fun, actually. Can you feel the warm fuzzies?

Or rather: //@rM phuzzi3$

Consider Paul Wilson. He has trimmed down, healed up, and is looking good. But that hair has got to go.

Don't get me wrong: I'm as big a fan of long locks as there is. But when Wilson gets on the mound, he makes LaRue look fresh as a daisy. Seriously, that guy could soak through a hat an inning.

And do we really need the visage of cloudy liquid dripping of the stringy clumps of that mane? Personally, I think that's something we could do without.

I'm glad to see him back, though.

BaseballGeeks Podcast #5 features a 2-minute recap of this week in Reds news as spoken by yours truly. Expect it around minute 17:40.

Since none of the local stores stock a USB microphone, it features the stellar quality of the internal mic of my Mac.

No really…it's the microphone quality that sucks. Not the voice talent.

Non-RHM-related topics of the program include:

• Skype
• Baseball Geezers Mike Piazza, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Bagwell, and Frank Thomas
• Predictions for the AL East
• Playertrack.com Top 10 3B
• False Rumors

According to Marc:

The Reds and Felipe Lopez have agreed to terms on a $2.7 million contract for this season, avoiding an arbitration hearing that was scheduled for next Wednesday. Lopez had asked for $3 million in his arbitration filing and the Reds had offered $2.15 million.

I was starting to wonder whether the Reds' fabled ability to avoid arbitration was a casualty of the ownership change. Now there's just one left: Mr. Dunn. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall at that arbitration case.