PHOENIX — The Diamondbacks’ general manager search kicked into high gear Tuesday, when top candidate Dave Stewart interviewed with D-backs chief baseball officer Tony La Russa and president/CEO Derrick Hall, sources said.

The three met for several hours at Chase Field as the D-backs worked to find a successor for Kevin Towers, a hire they would like to make before the end of the season.

The D-backs’ original candidate list of 10 has dwindled in the last few days — Texas assistant general manager Thad Levine removed his name from consideration on Tuesday, a day after Yankees assistant general manager Billy Eppler removed his.

"I greatly appreciate the opportunity to have had meaningful conversations with two very impressive baseball men with bright futures and respect both of their decisions not to interview with us in order to remain with their current organizations," La Russa said.

La Russa has a deeper relationship with Stewart than any of the other candidates for the job, which could work in Stewart’s favor as the process moves ahead. At the same time, Stewart currently works as a player agent with Sports Management Partners, which he created after leaving the game, and it remains to be seen if the lure of a front-office job — and a possible pay cut — is enough to keep him from changing jobs. Among his clients is Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp.

La Russa and Stewart were key pieces in Oakland’s resurgence during the Bash Brothers era of the late 1980s, and La Russa said Stewart was "one of the first people I thought of" when considering candidates on the day Towers’ reassignment was announced.

Los Angeles Dodgers assistant general manager De Jon Watson also is considered a top candidate.

St. Louis director of player development Gary LaRocque, who also has ties to La Russa from their time together with the Cardinals, also is among the target group. In 2010, LaRocque authored "The Cardinal Way," a handbook for the baseball operations staff in St. Louis. D-backs scouting director Ray Montgomery and Los Angeles Angles director of pro scouting Hal Morris also are among the candidates.

By the end of this week, seven candidates will have met with Hall and La Russa: Allard Baird, Larry Beinfest, LaRocque, Montgomery, Tim Purpura, Stewart and Watson. Beinfest met with Hall earlier this year.

Stewart, 57, has worked as a pitching coach for San Diego, Milwaukee and Toronto. He was an assistant general manager for three years with the Blue Jays, being passed over in favor of J.P. Ricciardi for the Jays’ general manager job in 2001, which led him to resign and accept a pitching coach role with Milwaukee. Stewart was offered the manager’s job in Toronto before the Jays hired Buck Martinez in 2000 but chose to remain in the front office.

La Russa and Stewart arrived in Oakland in 1986, and La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan reached Stewart’s untapped potential after playing him in the starting rotation the following season.

With Stewart as the staff ace, the A’s made three consecutive World Series appearances from 1988-90. Stewart won 84 games from 1987-90, winning at least 20 games every year while anchoring a staff that also included Bob Welch and Mike Moore. Stewart finished third, fourth, second and third in the AL Cy Young voting in that stretch, averaging 36 starts and 265 innings.

The D-backs would like to have a new general manager in place by the end of the regular season so as to make a quick decision of the future of manager Kirk Gibson, who is under contract for one more season.

The D-backs will be active in the offseason trade/free agent market, another reason to have their front-office team in place as soon as feasible.

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