LOS ANGELES (AP) - Kim Ng, a vice president and assistant general manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers the past four years, became the first candidate to interview for the team's vacant GM job.

Team spokesman Josh Rawitch said Ng was interviewed Saturday. If hired to succeed Paul DePodesta, she would become major league baseball's first female GM.

Before joining the Dodgers, the 36-year-old Ng served as vice president and assistant general manager for the New York Yankees from 1998-2001.

Ng and Roy Smith, vice president of player development, are handling front-office duties for the Dodgers until a general manager is hired, and will represent the team at the GM meetings, which begin Tuesday in Palm Springs.

The Dodgers received permission last week to interview former Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers GM John Hart. Rawitch said he didn't know when that interview would take place.

Hart resigned as general manager of the Rangers on Oct. 4 and was succeeded by assistant GM Jon Daniels. Hart remains under contract with Texas as a consultant.

Among other possible candidates are former Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, Washington Nationals GM Jim Bowden and Chicago White Sox special assistant Dennis Gilbert.

The Dodgers' job became vacant Oct. 29 when DePodesta was fired after less than two years on the job. DePodesta signed a five-year contract in February 2004, shortly after Frank McCourt purchased the team from News Corp.

The Dodgers are also without a manager. McCourt said at the time of DePodesta's firing that the search to replace Jim Tracy would be on hold until a GM is in place.

The Dodgers had a 71-91 record this year - their worst since 1992 and second-poorest since the franchise moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.