The Cardinals on Wednesday wrapped up the first, and perhaps only, round of their interview process to find Tony La Russa's successor as manager.

Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg and Cardinals third-base coach Jose Oquendo were interviewed at Busch Stadium as the final two of the six candidates taken under advisement by general manager John Mozeliak and chairman Bill DeWitt Jr.

Mozeliak said Wednesday night that no additional interviews have been scheduled with new candidates, though it is possible there could be follow-up sessions with candidates already in place. Mozeliak will be in Milwaukee for the general managers' meetings at the beginning of the next week. If anything would be done next week, it might be later in the week, though Monday, before Mozeliak would leave, still could be a strong possibility.

"Hopefully, we'll be able to bring this to a conclusion sometime next week," Mozeliak said. "We'll definitely use the weekend to think through this.

"Not tomorrow. Not the next day. Nothing will happen before Monday."

Mozeliak chose not to delve into too many specifics but, after the process was wrapped up, he said, "Obviously, everybody we interviewed we feel is qualified to be a major league manager. We had a diverse group that had different levels of experience, and we thought that was important to give us an idea of ... trying to find the right fit."

After Sandberg had a two-hour plus meeting in the morning, Oquendo had what he estimated to be a 2 1/2-hour session that lasted into the late afternoon.

"I was encouraged," Oquendo said Wednesday night. "I felt like it went pretty smooth. They asked a lot of questions, and it was fun to sit down and talk about it."

Besides Mozeliak and DeWitt Jr., the interviewing team also consisted of assistant general manager Mike Girsch and Mike Jorgensen, a special assistant to the general manager who, in fact, was the last Cardinals manager (as an interim manager) before La Russa in 1995.

The candidates ran the gamut from former Philadelphia and Boston manager Terry Francona, who directed two World Series winners with the Red Sox, to former Cardinals Gold Glove catcher Mike Matheny, who never has managed anywhere but who presented very strongly in his interview.

Oquendo, who in previous years interviewed for managerial vacancies with Seattle, San Diego and the New York Mets, has been the Cardinals' highly respected third-base coach for the past 12 seasons. He said he would like to stay on in that capacity, if the opportunity presented itself.

"Definitely," said Oquendo, who lives in De Soto with his family. "This is home, If nothing works out, hopefully, I can stay around and coach here. Hopefully, they like what I've done in the past.

"Sometimes, a new (manager) might went to bring in a new guy to coach. I'll have to wait and see what decision they make. If I'm not back, then I have to find another way to bring in income."

Oquendo, 48, admitted he had hoped to have a managing job before now, but he said: "Sometimes, it doesn't work out that way. You have to be in the right place at the right time and all that.

"If it's not going to be me, I'm not going to be saying, 'Why not? Why not me?' If it happens, it happens.

"I appreciate (the Cardinals') interest in me and going through the process. Hopefully, I was good enough to get more consideration or maybe I'll get the job. But, if not, I appreciate their consideration."

Sandberg, 52, has managed for the past five seasons in the minor leagues with the Cubs and Phillies, all of which came after he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.

For four of those seasons, he was in the Cubs' organization, spending two seasons at Class A Peoria and one each at Class AA Tennessee and Class AAA Iowa. In 2010 at Iowa, Sandberg managed against many of the younger Cardinals players, including Allen Craig, Daniel Descalso, Jon Jay, Tyler Greene, Fernando Salas and Lance Lynn.

Once Sandberg didn't get the Cubs' major league job, which went to Mike Quade but is open again, he moved last year to the Phillies' system and skippered the Lehigh Valley IronPigs to a divisional title in the International League.

It wasn't lost on the committee that a Hall of Famer such as Sandberg had put in his time in the minors.

"To even be considered by the St. Louis Cardinals, the defending champs, that speaks for itself," Sandberg said. "To have the opportunity for a managerial post like this is a tremendous compliment. I felt comfortable in the interview. I felt it went as well as it could go."

Asked about the seeming incongruous nature of being a Cubs star who might manage their longtime rivals, Sandberg said: "I'm a competitive person. I'm loyal to my uniform. I'm loyal to the organization that is going to give me a shot. If I come into Wrigley Field as an opposing manager, I probably would get an ovation to start, maybe in that first time. But if over time those turn to less of an ovation or boos, then I know that means I'm doing my job as an opponent."

He said during the interview he was told that a Cardinals scout (Jorgensen) saw him manage the Lehigh Valley team late in the season. Jorgensen also apparently saw former Cardinal Joe McEwing, another candidate for the job here, manage the Class AAA Charlotte club for the Chicago White Sox and had several times observed Chris Maloney, another candidate, managing the Cardinals' Memphis team.

Asked about what he would do for a staff, Sandberg told a reporter that he would keep most of that answer "private." But he did praise the 2011 staff, which includes pitching coach Dave Duncan — the only coach signed for next season.

"What I can say — and I told them this — is that any manager who is hired is coming into a situation where they just won a championship and (the coaches) were a big part of that championship," Sandberg said. "That speaks the very highest of the staff — it is a championship staff."

New Cubs president Theo Epstein has said Sandberg isn't a candidate for the opening in Chicago, so the Cardinals' job would seem to be Sandberg's best avenue for a return to the majors next season.

As mentioned, he already knows many of the players from having managed against them for Iowa and, before that, Peoria.

"It does help," said Sandberg. "I've seen some of those players up close. I have an idea of what their organization looks like. I had that time in the Midwest League, so I have some knowledge of even their younger players as well, the ones coming. I've already seen a lot of the young players they're talking about coming back and ... counting on at the major league level."