January 31, 2006
Searching for a General Manager
By
Amanda
Posted at 10:07 pm
The Reds began interviewing General Manager candidates today and continue all this week. The list of candidates is up to seven:
- Brad Kullman, Reds interim GM and Director of Baseball Operations
- Johnny Almarez, Reds Director of International Scouting
- Leland Maddox, Reds Special Assistance to the General Manager
- Jim Beattie, recently-hired Special Advisor to Bob Castellini
- Wayne Krivsky, Assistant GM for the Minnesota Twins
- John Mozeliak, Assistant GM for the St. Louis Cardinals
- Mike Arbuckle, Assistant GM for the Philadelphia Phillies
I'd like to give more information on these guys, but I just don't know it and I'm running out of time to do research before the decision is made. Nevertheless, I'm sure it'll be an exciting contest.
UPDATE 2/1/2006: I purposely delayed putting up this post in hopes that the public list would be stable, so now they've added a new name:
- Frank Wren, Assistant GM for the Atlanta Braves
Are you trying to meet some kind of quota tonight? You need to pace yourself or you’ll get burned out quickly. Learn from those around you, kid. Nothing’s sadder than a blogger who can’t get it done anymore.
I appreciate your concern, Joel. Thanks for looking out for me. You really are a considerate fellow. 🙂
I stopped by [url=http://bellyitcher.blogspot.com/2006/01/good-riddance.html]Bellyitcher[/url] to ask her opinion of Mozeliak and she pointed me to [url=http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/972DCC27659DF67E862571060022867A?OpenDocument]this article[/url] on STLtoday.com. I bet this will carry some weight:
[i]Jocketty has actively endorsed the candidacy of Mozeliak, his 37-year-old understudy for much of the past 10 years.
“He’s been exposed to just about everything he would need,” Jocketty said shortly before attending Sunday night’s Baseball Writers Association of America banquet in New York. “He’s had some experience in different areas. He’s prepared to make decisions. It’s great to have experience in different areas to make intelligent decisions. ‘Mo’ certainly is very qualified to handle that.”
[/i]
I’ve thought Mozeliak was the best candidate since he was announced, but with Wren in the picture, I’m not sure that’s true anymore. He’s a Schuerholz flunky, which can’t be a bad thing, and he’s from Hamilton like myself. He could hook me up with a job, since we’re practically brothers.
Or something like that.
You could be an in with the new GM, huh? I’d better start kissing up now.
I think Wren is your best bet. He’s been able to watch Schuerloz put together 14 division titles.
It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
Welcome! Everyone, meet RainDelay. He’s got a Braves blog at [url=http://raindelay.typepad.com/]http://raindelay.typepad.com/[/url] and has come by to share his first-hand opinions on our GM candidate from the Atlanta.
Are you shocked that he’s in favor of Wren? I’m not. It seems to be going around these days.
Hey, if we don’t get Wren then the new GM won’t be my homey G dawg, yo. We could hire Wren and then somehow pry Jim Tracy from the Pirates, who is also from my town and went to my high school. I’d have undeniable connections!
(I’m gangsta.)
Allow me:
1. Wilder interviewed for the Red Sox GM job during Epstein’s departure period. He would be entering his third season working for the ChiSox and is responsible for overseeing the Minor League system, player development staff and Latin American operations. Before that he worked for the Brewers as a special assignment scout, and as VP of player personnel. In 2000, he worked for USA Baseball’s selection committee and helped assemble the team that won the gold at Sydney. He worked for the Cubs as farm director and later as assistant GM. He spent 1991 to 1995 working for the Braves organization. As a player, he played in the minors for 7 years with the Athletics and Cubs – he was an outfielder – retiring in 1989.
2, Kullman had the title of director of baseball operations before being tapped to serve as the interim GM. He also served as interim GM when Jim Bowden was fired in July 2003.
3. Almaraz. I must confess that I don’t know much about this guy other than that he’s a long-time scout, probably best known for his program with Latin American players.
4. Beattie. A college basketball star at Dartmouth, he pitched for the Yankees and Mariners and threw the first one-hitter in Mariners history. He also surrendered Carl Yastrezemski’s 3,000th hit. After retiring he went on to serve as GM of the Expos and Executive VP of the Orioles. He was removed in Baltimore after the 2005 season, and when he arrived home, the phone was ringing – it was Castellini, who hired him as a special advisor.
5. Maddox. Before the Red Sox hired Theo Epstein, Maddox was identified as a candidate for that job. He was with the Pirates as as special assistant to the GM and then as scouting director before coming to the Reds.
(Continued)
6. Krivsky was the other finalist in 2003 when they ended up hiring O’Brien (apparently everybody in the organization except Lindner wanted him for the job). He worked for the Rangers as an administrative assistant, assistant to the GM, and finally as assistant GM before becoming the Twins’ assistant GM.
7. Arbuckle is another guy who was a candidate for in Boston before the BoSox hired Theo Epstein. He’s been with the Phillies since 1993, serving as director of scouting, then as assistant GM, scouting/player development. He began his full-time career in baseball with the Braves in 1980. After the Phillies fired Ed Wade in October, he was interviewed before Philly hired Pat Gillick. He’s also been a member of the USA Baseball steering committee.
8. Wren’s worked for the Expos as assistant director, scouting, Marlins as assistant GM and as VP and Assistant GM), Orioles GM, and has been the Braves’ VP / Assistant GM since 2000.
9. Mozeliak has been with the Cardinals since 1997 and has held a variety of titles including Assistant Director of Scouting, Director of Scouting, Director of Baseball Operations, and assistant GM. He also has the St. Louis connection to Castellini for whatever that’s worth. He also has a Cinci connection since his wife, Julie, grew up here and graduated from Indian Hill High School. He got his start in baseball with the Rockies in 1993.
And it’s Krivsky.