Article: Updates On The Front Office Search

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'm not shocked.  Neither of them "needed" this job -- they've been there before, presumably they have some money in the bank.  Moreover, reports suggest we didn't reach out to Cherington until recently, when he was already pretty far along with Toronto.

 

I still share some of your worry, though.  Hopefully we don't see a guy like McLeod turn us down, that would be a bad sign.

First paragraph: it seems they may have screwed up with Cherington and that's disturbing. They had plenty of time to contact him and get him into the interview process and if it's true that he declined because he was already in the process of negotiating with Toronto, that's the kind of easily preventable mistake that shouldn't be happening in September of 2016.

 

Second paragraph: huge (and I mean huge) red flags should go up around Twins Territory if McLeod interviews and declines the position. That means ownership is probably broken and non-baseball people are making unreasonable baseball demands upon the future head of their baseball operations.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Sure, the Twins are a bit more of a known commodity but unless those guys know something really damning about Twins ownership, don't you think they'd at least take an interview if they were interested in a POBO position right now?

 

All it requires is one day of their time and zero dollars spent on their part, after which they'd walk away fully comfortable in whatever decision they decide to make.

 

It seems really weird to refuse meeting with someone for a highly sought after position if you're interested in filling that role with one of just 30 teams in the league. The risk is virtually zero to sit down and hear out the other party.

That's fair.  I'm on record as believing neither guy was that interested in this POBO position for a variety of reasons, so I guess it wouldn't have to be anything particularly damning to dissuade them from even a curiosity interview to satisfy mild interest.  Something about their past budgeting, for example.  Or more recently, maybe you hear something from the search firm that suggests the team isn't sure what it wants in POBO, etc.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

That's fair.  I'm on record as believing neither guy was that interested in this POBO position for a variety of reasons, so I guess it wouldn't have to be anything particularly damning to dissuade them from even a curiosity interview to satisfy mild interest.  Something about their past budgeting, for example.  Or more recently, maybe you hear something from the search firm that suggests the team isn't sure what it wants in POBO, etc.

I thought about the search firm thing. It's entirely possible the search firm is outlining a basic list of talking points and one of them is raising a red flag with candidates... For example, "Paul Molitor is our manager in 2017".

 

I doubt that would even be that off-putting - after all, a POBO position is a long-term deal and Molitor is under contract for just one more season - but it's just an example. There could be any number of things that dissuades a candidate from even hearing out the other side.

[Champuckett]

Dave St. Peter is now indicating the search is wrapping up.  The Cubs just clinched the NL Central and McLeod can now be officially interviewed by the Twins.  

 

I don't know the details on hiring restrictions, so if someone can correct me that would be great, but I'm running on the assumption that people that are apart of franchises that are still actively playing in the playoffs cannot be hired mid-playoff run.  Which would mean the better the Cubs do, the less likelihood we have of hiring McLeod as pressure may be mounting to hire the other available options.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Dave St. Peter is now indicating the search is wrapping up.  The Cubs just clinched the NL Central and McLeod can now be officially interviewed by the Twins.  

 

I don't know the details on hiring restrictions, so if someone can correct me that would be great, but I'm running on the assumption that people that are apart of franchises that are still actively playing in the playoffs cannot be hired mid-playoff run.  Which would mean the better the Cubs do, the less likelihood we have of hiring McLeod as pressure may be mounting to hire the other available options.

I believe this is the case but teams are generally open to allowing their candidates to interview and accept higher level positions when offered.

 

Doing otherwise would be very off-putting to the best and brightest candidates. If the smartest person you hire doesn't believe they will have a fair chance to move upward when the opportunity arises, they'll probably accept a position with another team that allows them to do so.

[Vanimal46]

 

I view this as a positive, relatively speaking.

 

If you decline an interview, it's likely you have personal reasons to decline even considering the position. You haven't met with ownership, you don't have a real idea of the inner workings of the company, and you're declining to even learn and consider if the position is right for you. There's something outside the company that is preventing you from meeting with them at all. The reasons for this happening are as long as my arm: family, current positional happiness, general quality of life, etc.

 

If you decline after an interview, that generally means there's something about the company that's wrong and you want no part of it.

 

Who here hasn't taken an interview mostly out of curiosity, only to walk away and say "nopenopenope"? I've done it several times.

Maybe AA and Cherington checked out the glassdoor reviews online for the Twins and said "nopenopenope"

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Maybe AA and Cherington checked out the glassdoor reviews online for the Twins and said "nopenopenope"

We know for sure they scanned the media guide.

[PseudoSABR]

Ken Rosenthal

Sources: #Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom among candidates for #Twins’ leadership position.

 

More info on Bloom from mlbtraderumors

Edited September 16, 2016 by PseudoSABR

[markos]

 

Dave St. Peter is now indicating the search is wrapping up.  The Cubs just clinched the NL Central and McLeod can now be officially interviewed by the Twins.  

 

I don't know the details on hiring restrictions, so if someone can correct me that would be great, but I'm running on the assumption that people that are apart of franchises that are still actively playing in the playoffs cannot be hired mid-playoff run.  Which would mean the better the Cubs do, the less likelihood we have of hiring McLeod as pressure may be mounting to hire the other available options.

There were two recent examples from last fall. David Stearns left the Astros at the end of September even though they were still in the middle of the playoff race. And Billy Eppler left the Yankees in the beginning of October just before their playoff game. In both cases, they left for clear promotions. Echoing what Brock said, I also believe that lateral moves are discouraged while a person is still under contract.

[beckmt]

Cherington and AA would both have know TR and maybe have access to him.  Maybe they reached out to TR and found issues they did not know existed and backed out of the interview process early.

[Vanimal46]

 

Ken Rosenthal

Sources: #Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom among candidates for #Twins’ leadership position.

 

More info on Bloom from mlbtraderumors

Nice! Wow that guy is extremely young, 33 years old. 

"Bloom’s background with the Rays is multi-faceted but involves working with the team’s player development department, contract negotiations, player evaluation and international scouting."

I'm very intrigued with this guy. 

[PseudoSABR]

 

Nice! Wow that guy is extremely young, 33 years old. 

Derek Falvey, who Passan tweeted was finalist yesterday, is also similarly young at 33.

 

(Looks like I'm too old for the job. Oh well.  Resume withdrawn.)

Edited September 16, 2016 by PseudoSABR

[Willihammer]

These are the exact sort of people I'd hoped they'd target. I'm encouraged.

[Eris]

Early on in the process a list (put together by national media types) of top candidates included Kim Ng.  I am somewhat disappointed that her name has not been mentioned recently.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Ng

 

http://sonsofsamhorn.com/baseball/majorleaguebaseball/al-east/boston-red-sox/kim-ng-for-red-sox-gm/

 

I thought she was considered for the Padres and Red Sox GM positions in the past but I can not find any information on that. 

[Deduno Abides]

Perhaps this is wishful thinking, but if they come out of this with McCleod and Bloom that would be an outstanding result.

 

P.S. Straight up, I'd rather have them than Cherington and Anthropoulos.

[brvama]

That would preclude you from trusting nearly every piece of confidential news. Pretty high standard...

Mike, i didn't say I don't trust those news sources. I just have a bit of skepticism towards them

[bird]

 

 Look at it this way - if you asked girls to the prom by starting with the most desirable and moving down you would face a lot of rejection before you hit the right level or at least I would have. 

 

 

 

Speak for yourself.

 

Never mind, you did.

[USAFChief]

 

   We're playing with the big boys now and rejection is part of the game. Look at it this way - if you asked girls to the prom by starting with the most desirable and moving down you would face a lot of rejection before you hit the right level.  

 

 

I started with the least desirable and moved up.  Still a lot of rejection, and never did hit the right level.

[Kwak]

 

Piggy-backing on diehardtwinsfan, I am definitely adjusting my priors based on the past few weeks of rumors. At the start of this process, I felt very strongly that:

 

1) There are only 30 jobs available, so almost by definition this position would be desirable. 

2) I didn't expect that many candidates would turn the position down, and I didn't think anyone who wasn't currently a GM or POBO would decline to be interviewed.

3) I thought that the vote of confidence for Molitor in 2017 was essentially meaningless and at worse an extremely minor point. 

 

I am starting to seriously doubt all three.

 

I am shocked - SHOCKED! - that both Cherrington and AA not just turned down the position but declined to even be interviewed. Individually they are kind of understandable - Cherrington more so - but I'm still very surprised. 

 

There has been a lot of rumors from various media sources that have really muddled the idea of what the position will actually be. Some have indicated that the new POBO would report to Dave St. Peter. Maybe the reason so many qualified candidates are declining the position early in the process is because the role being presented is very different than what the title would indicate. Similarly, the obsession with Molitor has made me wonder if the expectation is that the manager would have more voice in the player acquisition/development process than most organizations currently employ (and this would play into my own suspicions that Gardy had significant sway in decisions when Bill Smith was GM). 

 

In all, this is starting to feel a bit like the Angels GM position last year, where it was very clear to everyone that the new GM would be limited by a meddlesome owner and a powerful manager. 

Gardy did have significant sway. I recall these two instances: "Nick Punto is the #1 priority to re-sign this off-season" and after the loss of Nathan to injury, "I can't manage...[without a closer]" with the subsequent acquisition of Capps when the negotiation for Cliff Lee failed. I am convinced that there are more cases.

 

First paragraph: it seems they may have screwed up with Cherington and that's disturbing. They had plenty of time to contact him and get him into the interview process and if it's true that he declined because he was already in the process of negotiating with Toronto, that's the kind of easily preventable mistake that shouldn't be happening in September of 2016.
 
Second paragraph: huge (and I mean huge) red flags should go up around Twins Territory if McLeod interviews and declines the position. That means ownership is probably broken and non-baseball people are making unreasonable baseball demands upon the future head of their baseball operations.

I recall that initially the Twins stated they were searching to fill Ryan's GM position. It was sometime later that it was announced that the Twins were creating the position of President of Baseball Operations. That may have been caused by Cherington's refusal to interview, if Cherington was seeking a "higher position" than General Manager and Vice President.

[Champuckett]

Good news Twins fans, according to La Velle E. Neal, Rob Antony has been interviewed by the Twins for the job.

 

Any tension, concern, or extreme anxiety over whether or not we would get around to interviewing this man can now officially be alleviated.

[HitInAPinch]

By LEN III's count:

 

J.J. Picollo, Derek Falvey and Jason McLeod and now Chaim Bloom and Rob Antony as known candidates.  Nice list.  Need more.

[beckmt]

I still would like to see the Twins name McLeod to the top job.  Then let him pick the GM under him.  McLeod has the background of finding talent, that is something that cannot be overestimated.  Any of the rest would be fine for GM(maybe not Antony). This would be promotions for all.

[PseudoSABR]

Some hopeful news from Buster Olney

@Buster_ESPN

Sources: Cubs VP Jason McLeod has done well in Twins' interview process, and is said to be well-regarded, well-positioned in MIN discussions,

 

[Vanimal46]

Glad to hear it. McLeod at the top with one of the younger candidates taking the GM role would be a great start to this off-season. 

[Mike Sixel]

the olney podcast with KLAW yesterday or today supposedly contains much Twins FO talk... though I have not listened to it yet.

[wsnydes]

 

My brother went to four different high schools, one year apiece.  He didn't enjoy it one bit. it likely cost him a full baseball scholarship.

I moved 10 times by the time I was 10.  I was young enough not to really know any different, but it was tough meeting new friends and joining a different school every year.  There are some positives to it that emerge as an adult, but there are negatives as well.  

[nicksaviking]

 

I moved 10 times by the time I was 10.  I was young enough not to really know any different, but it was tough meeting new friends and joining a different school every year.  There are some positives to it that emerge as an adult, but there are negatives as well.  

 

Where does "ending up a Twins fan" fall on your Pro/Con list?

[PseudoSABR]

 

though I have not listened to it yet.

We expect a summary by the end of the day. 

[sthpstm]

 

Some hopeful news from Buster Olney

@Buster_ESPN

I think I have more reasons to cheer for the Cubs to win the World Series. I like McLeod. The Dodgers will become more desperate and may make a trade favorable to us depending on what weaknesses show up in their post season performance.

[wsnydes]

 

Where does "ending up a Twins fan" fall on your Pro/Con list?

Let's see, game was rained out last night so they didn't lose.  Pro.

 

Double header today means they could will likely lose twice in one day.  Con.

 

Depends on the day really.  My dad grew up a Cardinals fan and I latched on as well, so I have that going for me I guess.