Cubs interview former catcher Ausmus

The list of candidates the Cubs will interview or have interviewed has grown to seven.

The team confirmed that it was interviewing former big-league catcher Brad Ausmus Friday. Also on the upcoming docket will be Torey Lovullo, the Boston Red Sox bench coach, who is fresh off a world-championship celebration.

Ausmus is an intriguing candidate. He has been a special assistant with the San Diego Padres, and he also managed Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic.

During an 18-year major-league playing career, he won three Gold Gloves and appeared in 1,971 games, with San Diego, Detroit (twice), Houston (twice) and the Dodgers. He was a considered a cerebral player and a good handler of pitchers.

The Cubs missed out on a possible chance to hire Joe Girardi, who decided to stay in New York and continue managing the Yankees. They’ve interviewed A.J Hinch, Manny Acta, Eric Wedge, Dave Martinez and Rick Renteria.

Cubs president Theo Epstein, who has not talked about the managerial situation since Sept. 30, said then that he’d like to have the new man in place by the general managers meetings, which begin Nov. 11.