As the Mariners search for a general manager, the four men who built the teams now playing in the League Championship Series should remind Seattle and its fans that there is no one kind of candidate to fill the job.

Take a look at the GMs whose teams are now four wins away from a World Series and it would be difficult to get four more diverse.

Pat Gillick is 71 years old, and stepping down in Philadelphia on Oct. 31 – the day after Game 7 of the World Series would be played. Among his first moves with the Phillies was trading away Jim Thome and saying, in 2006, that the team likely wouldn’t be a legitimate contender until 2008.

Andrew Friedman is 31, but was just 28 when the Tampa Bay Rays named him GM. His background? He’d spent two years working for Bear Stearns before leaving the banking industry to try baseball.

Ned Colletti is 53, and was a San Francisco Giants assistant when hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005. A lifetime baseball man, he began his career in public relations with the Cubs in 1982

Theo Epstein is 34, but was 28 when the Red Sox hired him. Like Colletti, Epstein’s baseball career began in the public relations department, although within three years he’d moved up in the Padres’ organization and become San Diego’s director of player personnel.

Two young turks, untested when hired. One elder statesman, a veteran of three previous teams with two World Series rings. One middle-aged executive who’d never been given the chance to run a franchise.

The secret is getting the right man, not finding one who fits the mold.

If you could land the clone of any of these four GMs, which man would you copy?