Tony LaCava

The Orioles offered Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava their general manager job and he turned the position down, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Instead, LaCava will remain Toronto's assistant GM and Baltimore will resume its search for Andy MacPhail's replacement.

The Orioles also interviewed director of player development John Stockstill and Dodgers assistant GM De Jon Watson for the job. Angels GM Jerry Dipoto had interviewed for the position before accepting his job in Anaheim.

The Blue Jays had been preparing for the possibility that LaCava would leave, according to Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. There was major concern in Toronto that LaCava would bring personnel with him to Baltimore if he had accepted the job, according to Ghiroli. He explained his decision to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.

“This was about the Toronto Blue Jays more than it is anything about the Baltimore Orioles," LaCava said. "The Orioles were classy in everything they did and I think they are going to go down the right path. For me, it was how much I love the Toronto Blue Jays and I really, really treasure my relationship with my general manager, Alex Anthopoulos, and I really want to see this through with him."

LaCava, Toronto's vice president of baseball operations and assistant General Manager, met with Orioles owner Peter Angelos yesterday. LaCava oversees player development and Latin American operations for the Blue Jays and has also worked for the Angels, Braves, Expos and Indians. He interviewed for GM jobs in Pittsburgh and Seattle in the past. For more on LaCava and Watson check out MLBTR's GM Candidate pieces.

A.J. Preller's name has come up in Baltimore, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (on Twitter). MLBTR's Tim Dierkes spoke with the Rangers executive in October.

8:46pm: There's no indication that the Orioles are ready to announce a decision and team officials haven't ruled out interviewing more candidates, according to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun.

2:13pm: Orioles GM candidate Tony LaCava is back in Baltimore today to meet with owner Peter Angelos, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  This will be LaCava's first meeting with Angelos.  Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun writes, "The Orioles are not expected to do a second round of interviews, so the fact that LaCava is back almost certainly means that he and the ownership component of the search committee are discussing the conditions of his employment. It doesn't mean, however, that he has been offered the job officially or will accept it."

Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports that Angelos attended the Orioles' initial interview with De Jon Watson of the Dodgers, but missed LaCava's first meeting with the team (Twitter links).  Kubatko hears that the Orioles won't contact Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine about their job opening.

LaCava is currently the Blue Jays' vice president of baseball operations and assistant General Manager; learn more about him by reading Ben Nicholson-Smith's August interview.