M’s request to talk to Avila denied by Tigers

The list of candidates who won’t interview for the Seattle Mariners’ general manager job grew again Tuesday when their request to talk with Al Avila, the assistant GM for the Detroit Tigers, was denied.

Avila, 50, was a finalist five years ago before the Mariners hired Bill Bavasi.

“The Mariners asked (Tigers GM) Dave Dombrowski for permission and permission was not granted by the Tigers,” said Tim Hevly, the Mariners’ director of baseball information.

That makes at least six who either pulled their names from consideration or weren’t allowed to speak with the Mariners by their teams. The Mariners were denied in their attempt to speak with Avila, White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn and Padres GM Kevin Towers. Three other assistant GMs — David Forst of the A’s, Jed Hoyer of the Red Sox and Chris Antonetti of the Indians — chose to stay with their teams.

The Mariners interviewed two in-house candidates — longtime assistant GM Lee Pelekoudas, who took over after Bavasi was fired in June, and Bob Engle, who is the club’s vice president of international operations.

They’ve also interviewed five outside candidates — Mets player development director Tony Bernazard, Diamondbacks player personnel director Jerry DiPoto, Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava, Dodgers assistant GM Kim Ng and Diamondbacks assistant GM Peter Woodfork.