Tigers VP Littlefield latest Met candidate

LOS ANGELES — The Mets have another veteran executive with previous general manager’s experience on their radar to become the team’s next head of baseball operations.

Dave Littlefield, the vice president of player development for the Tigers, has interviewed with Mets officials for the position, an industry source confirmed. The Athletic first reported the 58-year-old Littlefield was a candidate.

Littlefield joins Brewers senior adviser Doug Melvin, Cardinals director of player development Gary LaRocque, MLB executive Kim Ng, Nationals special assistant De Jon Watson and Rays senior vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom among the known candidates for the position.

Those who have declined to be interviewed include former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington, Twins GM Thad Levine and Indians GM Mike Chernoff.

Littlefield has previous GM experience with the Pirates and the kind of deep background in scouting and player development that could make him an attractive candidate to Mets owner Fred Wilpon, who sources say is unlikely to hire a purely analytics-driven GM.

“There is not a guy in the building who doesn’t know Dave really well,” a source said, referring to the Mets front office.

The Mets expect to continue first-round interviews — conducted by COO Jeff Wilpon and assistant GM John Ricco — through this week. Callback interviews, which would include Fred Wilpon, could begin next week.

The 65-year-old LaRocque, a former scouting director for the Mets, is among those expected to receive a second interview, but a source cautioned against labeling him as the favorite based on relationships that might have been strained when he previously departed the organization. LaRocque’s backers include Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, who recently told The Post he reached out to a Mets person involved in the search and recommended LaRocque for the job.

Former Mets manager Terry Collins, who is serving as a special assistant and has input in the process, has a relationship with LaRocque from the 1980s when they both worked in the Dodgers farm system.

The 66-year-old Melvin, the former Rangers and Brewers GM, was recommended by special assistant Omar Minaya, according to sources. Minaya and Melvin worked together in Texas.

The 35-year-old Bloom is the youngest known candidate for the job, and his deep analytics background may work against him in this search.