Nearly a month after the Giants fired general manager Bobby Evans in the wake of consecutive losing seasons, two things have become clear:

Team President Larry Baer was not kidding when he said he planned to take his time finding a new head of baseball operations — a “next-gen” executive. Also, while the Giants are not strangers to analytics, they seem to be steering their search toward candidates who work for organizations that have succeeded recently by fully embracing them.

“Sometimes when you see GM searches it’s a little muddy, the type of candidates they’re looking for,” said former Mets general manager and Orioles executive Jim Duquette, who has followed the Giants’ search as a broadcaster for the MLB Network.

“But it’s pretty clear they want to go in the direction that most of these successful teams are, which is a young, sabermetric-minded GM and executive.”

Another big-league front office person concurred, saying, “I don’t know if it’s surprising the way the game is going, but it’s something you haven’t seen in San Francisco.”

That official requested anonymity because he works for another team and did not want to go on the record about a competing club’s business.

Do not expect an announcement soon. Giants spokeswoman Staci Slaughter said Friday the Giants remain “relatively early in the process and not in a rush so that we can find the right candidate.”

Major League Baseball forbids teams from making major announcements during the World Series, which begins Tuesday and could run through Halloween. Nor do the Giants feel they need to have someone in place before the general manager meetings begin the following week.

As Baer has said, the Giants can continue to lean on Brian Sabean, their executive vice president of baseball operations, to run the department. Also, all of the Giants’ potential candidates will be at the meetings gathering intelligence on potential trades and free agents for their existing employers.

The Giants’ direction is evident from the potential candidates who have been or will be interviewed, according to other media outlets and industry sources who have spoken with The Chronicle.

For instance, well-connected Chicago radio reporter Bruce Levine reported — and The Chronicle confirmed — the Giants have interviewed Jason McLeod, the Cubs’ senior vice president of player development and amateur scouting, whom another source views as an appealing choice because he is well-versed in scouting and analytics.

USA Today identified Diamondbacks senior vice president and assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye, who came from the Red Sox and was partly responsible for acquiring the raft of exciting young players who led Boston to the American League pennant this year.

The Giants also have interviewed Rays senior vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, The Chronicle has learned. Bloom is a candidate with for the Mets’ GM opening too. Meanwhile, MLB.com said the Giants planned to interview former Dodgers assistant and current MLB executive Kim Ng.

The Brewers denied the Giants permission to speak to their GM, David Stearns, according to The Athletic, while industry sources told The Chronicle they believe the Indians are trying to finalize an extension with highly regarded Indians GM Mike Chernoff to prevent him from talking to the Giants, Mets and Orioles, who also are looking for new baseball operations chiefs.

Chronicle sources also identified Astros assistant general manager Mike Elias as a candidate, although the Giants have not sought permission to talk to him. The Astros were eliminated from the playoffs Thursday.

The Giants are not believed to be interested in talking to A’s assistant general manager Dan Kantrovitz or Brewers assistant GM Matt Arnold, names that have surfaced in media reports and in industry discussions about potential candidates. Nor are they likely to give the job to one potential in-house candidate, David Bell.

The Giants hired Bell a year ago to modernize and remake their farm system. He has interviewed for several managerial openings this month, and multiple reports say he is the front-runner for the Reds’ opening.

A’s general manager David Forst has been speculated as a candidate, too, although it’s not clear that Oakland’s ownership would allow him to to interview with San Francisco.

Whoever gets the Giants job is expected to face an uphill task. On the to-do list: restock a weak farm system, overcome expensive long-term contracts for aging and declining players, and reverse the club’s fortunes quickly enough to satisfy owners and fans who have come to expect perennial winning baseball — especially as the Giants compete with the Warriors for sales ahead of next year’s Chase Center opening.

The hire also might have to make tough decisions — such as trading Madison Bumgarner — that an entrenched GM might be loath to do.

All of the executives who spoke to The Chronicle believe the Giants job is desirable because of the market and ownership’s willingness to spend money, as the Cubs, Red Sox and Dodgers did to accelerate their rebuilds.

Duquette said many in the industry believe the Giants should have begun this process two years ago.

“Having said that,” Duquette said, “there are so many positive things about the franchise, the leadership at the top. Working for someone like Larry Baer is a huge plus. When they’re ready to win again, they have plenty of resources, too.”

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hschulman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hankschulman