The Front Office

On June 24^th, I wrote about the 29 questions I had at the time for O’s President of Baseball Operations Andy MacPhail:
http://www.orioleshangout.com/blog/chris-corner/290/my-29-questions-for-andy-macphail

In that piece I stated, “I have a lot of respect for what Mr. MacPhail and his family have accomplished in the game. While my questions below illustrate a number of things I believe the organization needs to improve, it is my current preference that after this 2011 season that MacPhail is retained. Organizational continuity is a good thing, and I do not believe a change in leadership is required.”

On July 9^th, I wrote (http://www.orioleshangout.com/blog/chris-corner/300/choose-your-own-adventure-os-edition) that the only way I have seen possible for MacPhail to not return, is if the 2nd half of ’11 is as poor as the 1st half of ’10. With that now seeming possible, I said I thought the O’s should again state publicly (beyond the comments expressed by O’s Majority Owner Peter Angelos in March http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/2011/03/angelos_macphail_isnt_going_an.html) where they stand with MacPhail. It seems like during the All-Star break would have been the appropriate time, but there has been mostly silence from The Warehouse.

If MacPhail does not return for ’12, some of the candidates I would like to see considered are:

Paul DePodesta, Mets Vice President of Player Development & Scouting
Josh Byrnes, Padres Vice President of Baseball Operations
John Coppolella, Braves Director of Baseball Administration
Bob Miller, Reds Vice President and Assistant General Manager
Rich Hahn, White Sox Vice President and Assistant General Manager
Allard Baird, Red Sox Vice President Player Personnel
Charley Kerfeld, Phillies Special Assistant to the General Manager
Logan White, Dodgers Assistant General Manager / Director of Amat. & Intl. Scouting (Former O’s West Coast Supervisor)
Ben Cherington, Red Sox Vice President of Player Personnel
Gord Ash, Brewers Vice President and Assistant General Manager
Tom McNamara, Mariners Director of Amateur Scouting
RJ Harrison, Rays Director of Amateur Scouting
Gerry Hunsicker, Rays Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations
Kim Ng, Major League Baseball Vice President of Baseball Operations
Tyrone Brooks, Pirates Director of Baseball Operations (Maryland native)
Amiel Sawdaye, Red Sox Director of Amateur Scouting (Baltimore native)

Who else would you like to see considered?

On June 24^th, Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun reported (http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/2011/06/orioles_news_notes_and_opinion_5.html#comment-9448934) that current MLB Network commentator John Hart – formerly GM of the Indians, and Rangers (and previous O’s employee) is the name he hears most often as a potential replacement. I’m seeing lots of Orioles fans state they believe that if MacPhail does not return, that they believe Showalter might have a handshake agreement to take on that additional responsibility. Personally, I could see him having further input on personnel, but I don’t seem being formally named to that position if he remains the Field Manager.

Honestly, the ones on the above list I’m most familiar with are DePodesta, Byrnes, and White. The rest are the recommendations I’ve received from people I respect. Coppolella is the name that has come up the most. As having an informed discussion of particular names might not be possible, what is the criteria you would use to judge candidates? Do you want someone who has done the GM job before? Are you willing to give the position to a first-timer? Do you want someone that has come from a Scouting background? Do you want someone that has been outside the game, and is more sabermetrically inclined?

To answer myself, I think someone like DePodesta is more attractive as a candidate now. He had the experience of running his own team in LA for two years, and since that point has worked in San Diego, and with the Mets. He has seen multiple organizations, and probably has a good understanding of what works and what does not. Instead of going through everything for the 1st time as the guy in charge, he could be positioned to make adjustments.

Last off-season the O’s hired former Texas Rangers Scouting Director Ron Hopkins as a Cross Checker. If MacPhail returns, who are some names that you would like to see added to the Baseball Operations Department? Last Summer MacPhail was interviewed by MASN’s Steve Melewski (http://www.masnsports.com/steve_mele…gh-scouts.html). In that interview Mr. Melewski asked MacPhail about employing less scouts than our AL East peers, and MacPhail made points about diminishing returns, noting the difference between ceremonial and full-time Scouts.

In response, we asked O’s Scouting Director Joe Jordan, “If you had the opportunity to hire 15 Scouts would you decline to do so?” Jordan replied, “I do understand Andy’s point and I agree with him for the most part. Hiring 15 guys would be overkill in my opinion and would in fact confuse the process more than anything. That being said, I believe we should be investing in our baseball operations now more than ever. The number of scouts you have is important as you try to get the most complete coverage possible. You can only be competitive and also prepared by getting your looks at players.”

The net addition to the Department was the hiring of Ron Hopkins as the Cross Checker we mentioned above. Realistically, how many Scouts should be added to the Department?

What other brain power would you like to see added to the Department?  How about a full-time hiring of Dan Szymborski to a position of leadership? Besides being kind enough to answer questions from Orioles Hangout Monthly, Szymborski is a Baltimore native that grew-up as a fan of the O’s. He is the Editor in Chief of Baseball Think Factory, contributes to ESPN, and is the founder of ZiPS (Szymborski Projection System).

I know Tom Tango is employed by a team full-time at this point. We know about Bill James in Boston. Szymborski should be held in a similar esteem.

Some additional information on some of the names mentioned above:

Paul DePodesta, Mets Vice President of Player Development & Scouting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_DePodesta
http://itmightbedangerous.blogspot.com/
http://www.metsblog.com/2011/06/29/recap-paul-depodesta-conf-call-with-bloggers/

Josh Byrnes, Padres Vice President of Baseball Operations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Byrnes
http://www.azsnakepit.com/2009/2/9/751089/the-josh-byrnes-interview
http://www.azsnakepit.com/2009/2/11/755538/the-d-backs-gm-speaks-josh

John Coppolella, Braves Director of Baseball Administration
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10375
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/interview-john-coppolella-of-the-braves/

Bob Miller, Reds Vice President and Assistant General Manager
http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110317&content_id=16992762&vkey=news_cin&c_id=cin

Rich Hahn, White Sox Vice President and Assistant General Manager
http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=29593

Allard Baird, Red Sox Vice President Player Personnel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allard_Baird

Charley Kerfeld, Phillies Special Assistant to the General Manager
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Kerfeld
http://articles.philly.com/2010-03-30/sports/24957050_1_citizens-bank-park-phillies-lefthander-charley-kerfeld

Logan White, Dodgers Assistant General Manager / Director of Amat. & Intl. Scouting (Former O’s West Coast Supervisor)
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/la/community/executives/white.html
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10385
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10388

Ben Cherington, Red Sox Vice President of Player Personnel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Cherington
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7852

Gord Ash, Brewers Vice President and Assistant General Manager
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gord_Ash

Tom McNamara, Mariners Director of Amateur Scouting
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20081110&content_id=3673242&vkey=pr_sea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea

RJ Harrison, Rays Director of Amateur Scouting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._J._Harrison

Gerry Hunsicker, Rays Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations
http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/tb/team/exe_bios/hunsicker_gerry.html
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/gerry-hunsicker/

Kim Ng, Major League Baseball Vice President of Baseball Operations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Ng
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6192991
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgers/2011/03/dodgers-kim-ng-joe-torre-ned-colletti-frank-mccourt-divorce-.html
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2460

Tyrone Brooks, Pirates Director of Baseball Operations (Maryland native)
http://www.sportsinfo101.com/baseball/meet-pittsburgh-pirate-tyrone-brooks
http://www.pressboxonline.com/story.cfm?id=5830
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110209&content_id=16601062&c_id=pit

Amiel Sawdaye, Red Sox Director of Amateur Scouting (Baltimore native)
http://news.soxprospects.com/2010/09/q-with-amiel-sawdaye-red-sox-scouting.html
http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/tag/amiel-sawdaye/