Tampa Bay also named a trio of new vice presidents of baseball operations: Carlos Rodriguez (formerly VP of player development and international operations), Will Cousins (formerly director of baseball R&D), and Chanda Lawdermilk (formerly director of staff development and recruitment). Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times has more on these promotions as well as a host of other promotions on the business side of the organization.

Bendix’s promotion comes just over three months since the team promoted Neander from general manager to president of baseball operations and signed him to a five-year contract extension. With Neander now holding that title and Bendix cemented as the new GM, the Rays have adopted the president/GM hierarchy that continues to be popularized throughout the sport.

Bendix’s promotion to GM notably makes it more difficult for other clubs to lure him away; teams typically only allow executives to interview with other organizations if the position in question would represent a promotion. As such, the only way a rival club could try to pry Bendix from the Rays now would likely be to offer him the top spot on its own baseball hierarchy. (He was reportedly of interest to the Mets as they searched for a new baseball operations leader but remained with Tampa Bay.)

The Rays’ front office and coaching staff are routinely picked over every offseason, as rival clubs continue to be impressed by Tampa Bay’s success in the face of lower revenues and aggressive payroll restrictions from ownership. In the past few years alone, we’ve seen the Red Sox hire Chaim Bloom as chief baseball officer, the Astros hire James Click as GM, the Brewers hire Matt Arnold as assistant GM (later promoted to GM) and the Twins hire Josh Kalk as a senior analyst (later promoted to VP of baseball operations, strategy and innovation). Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, of course, also ran baseball ops for the Rays before being hired away by L.A. in 2014.

As general manager, Bendix will now carry have an “increased emphasis on major-league operations, such as player evaluation and procurement, roster management and the day-to-day functions of the major league club,” per the Rays. He joined the organization as an intern in 2009, working his way up to director of baseball development in 2015 and then vice president of baseball development in 2019.

Tampa Bay also announced that former big league infielder Cole Figueroa, who’d been their assistant director of hitting development, has been promoted to director of baseball operations — a notable progression in his post-playing journey. Figueroa had brief stints with the Rays, Yankees and Pirates from 2014-16, appearing in a total of 48 Major League games in addition to a nine-year minor league career.

OCTOBER 30, 1:23PM: Brewers VP of baseball operations Matt Kleine is another candidate the Mets have discussed, as per Martino (Twitter link).  With both Kleine and Rodriguez, however, the Mets are wary about approaching the Brewers and Rays since both teams have repeatedly denied New York’s requests to interview other front office personnel in the past.  Kleine is believed to be interested, and his hiring could help set the stage for the Mets to land Stearns as a free agent a year from now (or after the 2023 season, depending on the reported vesting option in Stearns’ deal with Milwaukee).

OCTOBER 30, 8:05AM: The Mets’ attempts to hire a new president of baseball operations or general manager has hit its share of roadblocks, and Dodgers assistant GM Jeff Kingston is the latest executive to decline an interview with the team, according to The New York Post’s Mike Puma.  However, several other prospective candidates remain, as it seems as though the Mets now could be specifically looking for a general manager, rather than someone to fully take the entire reigns of the baseball ops department.

To this end, Puma writes Rays VP of player development Carlos Rodriguez, and assistant GMs Daniel Adler (Twins), Randy Flores (Cardinals), and Ben Sestanovich (Braves) are all “on the Mets’ radar” as possible candidates.  The Mets have also asked the Red Sox for permission to speak with assistant GM Raquel Ferreira, SNY’s Andy Martino reports.

Any of these five executives would be a first-time GM, and ostensibly in charge of the baseball operations department even without the official “president” label.  The unusual nature of the Mets’ front office dynamic has led to some questions about how much authority a new GM would have, as team president Sandy Alderson is remaining with the club and has said he’ll be shifting over to focusing on the team’s business matters once a new baseball ops head is in place.

Had Mets owner Steve Cohen been successful in luring one of his big-ticket initial targets (i.e. Billy Beane, Theo Epstein, David Stearns) to New York, it would’ve made for a smoother transition, as any of those execs would’ve been the PBO and had the sway to make their own choice for a general manager to act as their chief lieutenant.  However, it is perhaps understandable why Kingston and others have opted out of what could be considered as something of a glorified one-year trial period.  If the Mets play well in 2022, a newly-hired GM could be entrusted to become the president of baseball operations; if the Mets struggle, Cohen could resume his search for a major name as PBO, leaving the general manager as perhaps something of a lame duck.

Cardinals GM Michael Girsch, Giants GM Scott Harris, newly-promoted Brewers GM Matt Arnold, and another Dodgers assistant in Brandon Gomes have all declined to be considered for the Mets’ job.  For the five names mentioned by Puma and Martino, it is possible any of the Rays, Twins, Cardinals, Braves, or Red Sox could deny New York permission to interview their personnel, though teams usually don’t stand in the way of their executives being offered a promotion.

Kingston technically has experience as a general manager, as he served as the Mariners’ interim GM for the last month-plus of the 2015 season after Jack Zduriencik was fired.  Kingston has worked as an assistant GM for the last six seasons (three with the Mariners, three with the Dodgers) and he has been considered for other front office openings in recent years.  The Phillies and Angels each had interest in Kingston for their most recent GM vacancies, and Kingston was a finalist for the Angels’ position before the team hired Perry Minasian.

Hawkins and Harris both have a hand in building Cleveland’s successful farm system and pitching development team. Hawkins began as an advanced scouting intern back in 2008, elevating to AGM before the 2017 season. Harris is Cleveland’s vice president of player development. Harris actually comes from football, having worked as Chip Kelly’s Chief of Staff when he was head coach of the Eagles.

Zoll is an assistant general manager in Minnesota, focusing on minor league operations. He is a Harvard alum who also worked with the Dodgers and Angels. Exposure to multiple franchises and differing ways of evaluating the game should be a boon to Zoll’s resume. Being a part of Minnesota’s homegrown approach to team-building is also likely viewed as an asset for a Cubs’ team looking to create a better development engine than they’ve had in recent years under Theo Epstein’s reign.

As for Rodriguez, it’s not surprising to see the Cubs explore poaching a Rays’ executive. The Rays have proven adept at building a farm system that should keep Tampa competitive for years to come. Former Rays’ executives hold top positions in Los Angeles, Boston, and Houston, and they’ve proven successful both in and outside of Tampa Bay. Rodriguez is their vice president of player development and international scouting.

For the Cubs, they are desperate to build a development team that can do a better job of sustaining success than their previous efforts. Though the Ricketts Family oversaw unprecedented success in Wrigley Field during the Joe Maddon era, those contenders fizzled out after three consecutive NLCS appearances from 2015 to 2017. Bottoming out with a 91-loss club this year, the Cubs are more-or-less starting from scratch in building a true contender.