JULY 24: The Padres have interviewed Ng again, the club announced. That would appear to complete the team’s second round of chats.
JULY 23, 8:50pm:Â Taking his second interview today was Eppler, according to a tweet from the San Diego Union Tribune.
11:04am:Â The Padres have completed a second interview with Hazen as well, the team announced (h/t: MLB.com’s Corey Brock on Twitter).
JULY 22: The Padres announced late last night that they have officially completed a second interview with Preller.
JULY 20th: Jim Bowden of ESPN (on Twitter) hears from a league source that Eppler and Preller have moved into the lead.
JULY 17th: The Padres have narrowed their list of candidates for the club’s open GM position with intentions of conducting second interviews next week, reports Scott Miller of Bleacher Report (Twitter links). Among the candidates for the GM office, Red Sox assistant GM Mike Hazen could be the favorite, according to a report from Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
According to Miller, the finalists are Hazen, Rangers assistant GM A.J. Preller, Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler, and MLB executive Kim Ng. It appears from that list that the club has every intention of handing the reins over to a somewhat younger option who has never occupied the head baseball operations role.
Reports have indicated, however, that the club could look to bring back former GM Kevin Towers in a senior adviser role if he is dumped by the D’backs. Click here to read a recent round-up of the San Diego front office search.
Would love to see Kevin back as an advisor as long as he stays away from the draft and player development. He’s great at dumpster diving and has loads of experience.
I’m not sure you can blame KT for bad drafts. He wanted guys like Ellsbury, Drew, and Weaver, but wasn’t given the OK because of the projected cost. That’s not his fault. Ownership was cheap when it came to the draft under KT’s tenure.
There is a lot of truth in that but even his later rounds were suspect as demonstrated over his tenure of practically no MLB players other than soft tossing pitchers. Again … signabilty issues (ownership) but the development and international player selection was non existent.
As a Padre fan I would be alright with any of those 4 finalists. As fans we have to remember Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor is a contending team. The cupboard is by no means bare for this new GM at the major or minor league level, so contrary to popular belief this turn around might not take as long as many think. As long as this trade deadline is not a disaster, the new GM will have some good building blocks in place and hopefully a larger payroll to play with then did his/her predecessor, now that he/she is the owners choice. Go Padres.
$90 million has been the largest Padres payroll so far. The new owners say they are willing to keep it at that level or even increase it if it means bringing on a player that makes a difference. That is good news for any GM in SD.
I’d pick Ng. Her résumé is very impressive. Gender aside, if you are looking for a GM, somebody who spent 13 years as an assistant GM for the Yankees and Dodgers plus four years working high up in the league office is not a bad way to go.
Hi there. I believe that you mean “BILLY EPPLER” is a finalist for the position.
Cody Epply is/was an NYY pitcher for a short time. It seems like you’ve conflated their names.
Eppley. But hey the writer gave us a name from the past to look up. One of those whatever happened to that guy?
It’s time Kim Ng was given a shot.
I totally agree about Kim Ng but I hope that the owners wouldn’t select her because of the pub only … such as auditioning for weeks for a replacement stadium announcer and then the Mansell fiasco. I am still waiting for some “serious grown ups” to operate this franchise.
Makes sense what you say about “serious grownups” taking charge in the franchise, and it could just be that hiring Ng could be a step in that direction – regardless of the underlying motives for bringing her on (it wouldn’t be the first time the right thing happening for the wrong reasons in life).
As for Ng herself, I have been following her career as I can, and from everything I have read, it would seem that she has the chops to build a viable team. In an age where a good chunk of the most foolish stereotypes about who can and can’t achieve things and do various jobs have been proven to be nonsense, her gender shouldn’t be even be a consideration. But of course this is baseball; an industry where many folks still hang onto old outmoded ways of thinking “because it was always that way.” So I hope that having her as a finalist is not just posturing and that she finally does get that shot at righting the ship for you guys. And hey, what better place for her to go than great town like San Diego?
I’m with Beersy on this, can’t really complain about any of the finalists. However, if KT is coming back into the fold I can’t see Ng taking her first gig with muddled circumstances. KTs days are past him and I would prefer to see the new “young gun” be able to navigate their “road map” unimpeded. If KT is in the mix, it is clear why top names have said thanks, but no thanks. Makes me nervous the full scale culture change needed will not happen.
Kim Ng deserves this, she is brilliant. Padres would not only make history, but get the best candidate.
Hopefully it’s based on merit and that Bud Selig doesn’t force them to hire Ng just to get the first minority/female GM on board. I can see him doing this and penalizing the Padres if they don’t hire her.
Yeah, I´m not on the Kim Ng bandwagon. If she´s picked up because she´s the best candidate, I´m perfectly fine with that, but don´t pick her for public relationships because she is a minority (in baseball).
Kim is probably the most experience candidate. Have you looked at her resume. She is by far the most “interviewed” for a GM job. Yet she won’t get it because she is female
A Rangers assistant? I don’t ever since Nolan Ryan left… it’s been downhill for the Rangers. As for the Yankees type, the Padres owners going to spend like the Steinbrenners all of a sudden. That’s how the Yankees do it!
As for me, I would rather have a Billy Beane type or a Mike Arbuckle type.
However, no one listens to me! =P
Kim Ng for MLB Commissioner !
Kim Ng for MLB Commissioner !
Its a shame that Kyle Stark got so much negative press a few years ago for the Pirates “bootcamp” fiasco, because he truly deserved to at least be interviewed for this opening. All things considered, he has done an amaazing job in Pittsburgh and is a picture perfect fit for what the Padres need. He is most certainly a guy that knows how to build and develop a minor league system capable of anchoring and supplementing a major league roster thats on a relatively tight budget. I dont think he would be a good fit for a large market team, but any team in a small market with front office openings would be doing themselves a great disservice by not at least bringing him in for an interview. Im not saying that he is undoubtedly the best guy for the job, but I do believe he is extremely underrated considering what he has been able to accomplished, especially given his resources.
Fowler/Dee have said on several occasions they don’t see the Pads as a small market team and have no issue with getting the payroll into the median level. We will see. As for the hair, the Spicoli look plays well out here. Maybe a different look will bring different results.
Just hire Preller already and let him have a chance at some deadline moves.
A.J. please get a trim before the press conference. 🙂
Help me out here…what EXACTLY has Ng done to make her the best candidate? She’s had some good jobs, but has also failed numerous other GM interviews.
Fair question and I agree. On the flip side has the scouting and development for the Rangers the last 3 plus years been a model to follow? Can Eppler translate his experience? Is NY really touted for recently developing home grown talent and not building through free agency. Where did Hazen actually fall in the Theo tree and what was he responsible for.
The thing that makes me the most nervous is Fowler/Dee will hire not the most qualified but the one that supports their line of of thinking.
I hope Hazen stays in Boston.
especially because if Hazen goes, good chance Lovullo could follow him
I mean who knows, it could open up a position that’s is filled with a better assistant GM but Hazen seems to be pretty good at his job and it would hurt for Cherington to lose his right hand man.
Hopefully Ng gets her second interview tomorrow