Alex Anthopoulos, the former Blue Jays general manager and current vice president of baseball operations for the Dodgers, is reportedly among several executives generating early consideration for the vacant Minnesota Twins' GM position.

Anthopolous was one of many names mentioned Friday by FanRag's Jon Heyman, who listed the Dodgers' senior VP of baseball operations Josh Byrnes, Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine, and former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington as other rumored candidates.

Major League Baseball executives Peter Woodfork and Kim Ng were also linked to the job previously held by Terry Ryan, the longtime GM who was fired earlier this week amidst another disappointing season for the last-place Twins. Shortly after the news of Ryan's firing, the Twins promoted Rob Antony to interim GM.

Twins owner Jim Pohlad said Tuesday that the club will look extensively at external options for the position, the search for which is already underway.

"If I had to pick one requirement for somebody going forward, it's someone that's lovable," Pohlad told reporters Monday, according to MinnPost's Pat Borzi. "The only way you can be loved is if you’re lovable. We want someone that can ultimately be loved."

Antony, another long-tenured member of the Twins' front office, and Ryan's former special assistant Wayne Krivsky, are among the internal candidates expected to receive consideration.

Anthopoulos and Cherington both held GM positions as recently as last season, when the former led the Blue Jays to their first playoff berth in 22 years and the latter resigned from Toronto's division rival Red Sox after the hiring of Dave Dombrowski. Cherington is currently a member of Columbia's Sports Management faculty.