Avila could be the mandatory interview...

Adam Rubin in several tweets tonight reported that the Mets are still awaiting permission to interview several other candidates.  It was initially reported ( by other sources not Rubin) that the Mets had an outstanding track record of minority hirings from Willie, Omar and Jerry, so they wouldn't have to hold a minority interview unless,of course, they were interested in one of the candidates.  However, in a tweet tonight Rubin disputes that and mentioned Al Avila's name as a possible candidate...

The Mets are not exempt from MLB's requirement to consider a minority candidate, even with their diversity history with Omar, Jerry & Willie

On my original list, I mentioned Detroit Tigers assistant GM Al Avila as a potential interviewee. source Adam Rubin ESPN NY twitter

Because of Alderson's candidacy I would call any other interview part of the process but under other circumstances Avila should be taken seriously.  The former catcher of Hispanic decent is a front office lifer who has served in numerous roles and been close to running his own team several times.  Al is the son of the former Dodgers president Ralph and his own son Alex is a catcher with the Tigers.  After a minor league career in the Dodgers organization as a catcher and a masters degree in sports admin. he started as a mgr. in the minors in 1987. 

From 1988-1992 he was the AD and coach of the St. Thomas (FL) University team.  In 1992-1994 he worked for the Marlins in the Latin American scouting dept and then in 1998 he was promoted to director of scouting.  For the Marlins on the international side he was credited for finding Livan Hernandez, Miguel Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, Alex Gonzalez and Louis Castillo. Then his scouting dept. drafted Josh Beckett, Nate Robertson, and  Adrian Gonzalez.

2001 he served as the Marlins Vice President and Asst. GM, then was the interim GM going into the winter.  After nine seasons in Florida he spent the 2002 season with the Pirates as an advisor before moving to the Tigers where he's been ever since.  In Detroit he was initially in the scouting dept. where he was involved in the Bonderman trade.  He now serves on the major league side assisting with the day-to-day operations as an asst. GM. ( source of bio info Tigers.com)

For an interesting read on scouting see this interview of Avila by a High School Baseball when Avila was the Marlins Scouting director. As far as what his true potential to be a GM, AOL fanhouse ranked him one of the top candidates earlier this year.  Heyman at the end of the season ranked him #12 with the following comments;

12. Al Avila, Tigers. A big part of the Tigers turnaround (with Scott Reid and John Westhoff ) before injuries derailed them this year. The good times should be back next year in Detroit, with $50 million coming off the books. Once came close to getting the Mariners GM job. source Heyman SI.com