LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers plan to hire a general manager to work with new president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, with Josh Byrnes emerging as a leading candidate per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Byrnes is a candidate along with Bryan Minniti, Billy Eppler and Red Sox assistant general manager Mike Hazen, per Heyman, with Byrnes in the lead reportedly because of a prior relationship with Friedman.

Friedman said he would definitely hire a general manager, but would only say that he has spoken with several people, an answer he gave several times. He said he wasn't sure if the new GM would be in place by the GM meetings in Phoenix from Nov. 10-12.

The general manager will technically report to Friedman, though he stressed a group effort.

"It's still pretty recent. As far as specifics, we don't know yet. But we're going to embrace the dynamic people that are already in place, and also bring people in from the outside," Friedman explained. "We're going to work together. I'm a big believer in process, and being collaborative."

Byrnes is unique in that he was fired by a pair of division rivals in San Diego and Arizona, most recently let go by the Padres in June. The more amazing fact, as reminded by Heyman, is that Byrnes still has two years remaining on his contract with the Diamondbacks, even though he was fired in 2010 - he signed an eight-year extension in 2008.

Byrnes, 44, started in the Indians system and was assistant GM with both the Rockies and Red Sox before getting hired as GM in Arizona in 2005. He joined the Padres in December 2010 as vice president of baseball operations, in a similar collaborative role with GM Jed Hoyer. When Hoyer left to join Theo Epstein in Chicago in October 2011, Byrnes was named GM in San Diego.

Asked directly if he talked to Byrnes about the Dodgers GM role, Friedman offered a familiar response.

"I've talked to a lot of people about a lot of things," Friedman said.