Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports on the latest with Tim Wallach, the Dodgers’ AAA manager at Albuquerque. The bottom line is this: Wallach has a contract in place that puts him on the Dodger coaching staff next year – either as bench coach or third-base coach (but not as hitting coach) – if he isn’t hired to manage other team. But there are hints that Wallach hasn’t stopped looking for a managerial job.

… Reached on his cell phone Sunday, Wallach declined to confirm or deny that he has signed such a contract and declined to comment at all on the matter, referring all questions to Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti. Colletti, who has been tight-lipped about the process of filling new manager Don Mattingly’s first coaching staff, didn’t immediately return a voice mail from ESPNLosAngeles.com.

There still is no guarantee, however, that Wallach will remain with the organization. He has made no secret of his desire to manage in the majors, and at least one team has asked the Dodgers for permission to interview him for its managerial vacancy. Such permission is customarily granted in baseball whenever an individual has a chance to interview for a job that would be viewed as a promotion from his current position.

There presently are eight major league clubs with managerial vacancies. Wallach, who spent much of his playing career with the old Montreal Expos, was thought to be a leading candidate in Toronto, where Cito Gaston is retiring. But the Toronto Sun reported last week that Wallach is no longer under consideration by the Blue Jays. …

Perhaps we’ll find out soon that Wallach has committed to the Dodgers for 2011, but for now, with no official word from anyone involved, this is not case closed.