Ricketts' List of GM Candidates (Chicago Tribune)

[MrCub14]

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-08-20/sports/ct-spt-0821-next-gm-cubs-future-chica20110821_1_tom-ricketts-white-sox-assistant-gm-rick-hahn

 

Make no mistake, Ricketts knows the backgrounds of those who are out there. He obviously has been preparing for this since before he notified Hendry of his pending dismissal in July and, sources say, his is not a long list.

 

No one knows that list, but here's one that includes the pluses and minuses of those believed to be serious candidates from Ricketts' known preferences and sources on the inside of front offices in no specific order:

 

Cashman: Overseer of four World Series champions, Cashman, 44, is not under contract for next year and may be ready to move on. He is highly respected in baseball circles and has fought adamantly, at least in recent years, to keep homegrown talent.

 

Friedman: Just 34 years old and with a business background, Friedman first served as director of development for the Rays before compiling a World Series entrant in his second year at the helm. His name has been mentioned in his hometown of Houston as the Astros also are looking for a GM. Friedman could be the "hot" name this offseason.

 

Josh Byrnes: The 41-year-old Padres' head of baseball operations was a finalist for the Mets job last winter before joining old Red Sox buddy Jed Hoyer in San Diego. But Byrnes could be a hard sell, considering the Diamondbacks fired him from from his first GM job. He held that position for five years (including in 2007 when they eliminated the Cubs in a division series). Still, the Diamondbacks are seeing success now, partly because of pieces he put in place. And he has that Red Sox pedigree.

 

Hahn: He's bright, overly educated and more than qualified to take the next step — and the 40-year-old from Winnetka grew up a Cubs fan. Ricketts knows all this, of course, and thinks highly of him, according to one baseball source. Hahn's only drawback would be that he hasn't sat in the big chair. But don't dismiss him.

 

Chicago connection: That would be Ned Colletti, 56, presently GM of the Dodgers, and Mike Rizzo, 51, presently GM of the Nationals. Neither appears to be near the top of Ricketts' list and may not even be on it.

 

Interesting names: That would be Ben Cherington, 37,who is Epstein's right hand for the Red Sox, and Kim Ng, 42, who started a front office career with the White Sox in 1991 and is now senior VP at MLB. Both are well-versed in front-office workings but neither seems to be what Ricketts wants right now. Cherington, however, is a name to remember, just in case. He has a strong background in player development and actually was co-GM (with Hoyer) for the Red Sox when Epstein left for a short time.

[rocket]

the mere fact that these are the names floating around is a nice change of pace from recent times.

[Guest]

I'd be perfectly fine with any of the top 4 names there, plus Cherington.

 

Friedman would be a dream come true, though.

[MrCub14]

the mere fact that these are the names floating around is a nice change of pace from recent times.

 

+1!

 

Who all are your favorites for the job? Personally I like most of the options. But Cashman would be awesome. Can't go wrong with Friedman or Hahn either.

[rocket]

friedman is my #1 choice

[MrCub14]

I'd be perfectly fine with any of the top 4 names there, plus Cherington.

 

Friedman would be a dream come true, though.

 

Couldn't agree more with this. The top 4 plus Cherington would be the perfect list. Or Ned Colleti if we could get him back. I love that Ricketts model for the team is after the Red Sox. I personally think that Theo Epstein in the best GM in baseball. I really want an experienced guy, but I wouldn't be upset with Kahn or Cherington.

[Guest]

I'd be perfectly fine with any of the top 4 names there, plus Cherington.

 

Friedman would be a dream come true, though.

 

Couldn't agree more with this. The top 4 plus Cherington would be the perfect list. Or Ned Colleti if we could get him back. I love that Ricketts model for the team is after the Red Sox. I personally think that Theo Epstein in the best GM in baseball. I really want an experienced guy, but I wouldn't be upset with Kahn or Cherington.

You had me until Ned Coletti, who I don't even want using the troughs.

[MrCub14]

I'd be perfectly fine with any of the top 4 names there, plus Cherington.

 

Friedman would be a dream come true, though.

 

Couldn't agree more with this. The top 4 plus Cherington would be the perfect list. Or Ned Colleti if we could get him back. I love that Ricketts model for the team is after the Red Sox. I personally think that Theo Epstein in the best GM in baseball. I really want an experienced guy, but I wouldn't be upset with Kahn or Cherington.

You had me until Ned Coletti, who I don't even want using the troughs.

 

Coletti would definitely be at the bottom of my list with Byrnes. I just like him as a back-up option because of his experience. But he might be a little too similar to Jim Hendry for me. And I like that we are looking at younger guys. My short list would be :

 

1. Cashman

2. Friedman

3. Hahn

 

I'd be really happy with any of the 3. Cherington, Byrnes, and Colleti would be decent back-up options. But I really won't be happy unless we land one of those guys on my short list.

[Guest]

The fact that there are a lot of reasons that Friedman could be very interested in the job(former Finance guy like Ricketts, expiring contract, more resources, weaker division, a raise, Houston unappealing outside of roots) makes it very difficult to keep from getting very, very excited. I really hope if it's not to be, that Friedman shoots it down quickly.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

I'm firmly in the Cashman camp, but by firmly I mean I don't care as long as the guy/girl doesn't have the same rep as Hendry (scouting guy, old school, guts, instinct, personality, etc). I usually love those kind of people and the world definitely needs more people like that, but baseball's going to the suits now.

 

I actually think my second option would be Cherington, which might be sacrilege with the Friedman hype machine chugging along.

[davell]

I guess Friedman is my absolute favorite out of these guys but Cashman is a close second since he has experience operating on a larger budget. Much of what Friedman has turned into an artform could be gone soon with draft pick compensation being one of the main agendas for the next CBA.

[Guest]

I'd be perfectly fine with any of the top 4 names there, plus Cherington.

 

Friedman would be a dream come true, though.

 

Couldn't agree more with this. The top 4 plus Cherington would be the perfect list. Or Ned Colleti if we could get him back. I love that Ricketts model for the team is after the Red Sox. I personally think that Theo Epstein in the best GM in baseball. I really want an experienced guy, but I wouldn't be upset with Kahn or Cherington.

You had me until Ned Coletti, who I don't even want using the troughs.

 

My thoughts on that post exactly.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I'd love Cashman, but I think he's just as much a pipe dream as stealing away Sabathia or Girardi from the Yanks. Id love any of the other candidates with the exception of Colletti.

[Mark Priors Calves]

Hahn: He's bright, overly educated and more than qualified to take the next step — and the 40-year-old from Winnetka grew up a Cubs fan. Ricketts knows all this, of course, and thinks highly of him, according to one baseball source. Hahn's only drawback would be that he hasn't sat in the big chair. But don't dismiss him.

Overly educated? What the hell does that mean? More anti-intellectual garbage from "baseball men"? I'd hope that a GM of our team held an advanced degree or at least a bachelor's degree (in finance, business, economics, etc.) from a top tier university.

[MrCub14]

Maybe some of the older guys around here can enlighten me to what is bad about Ned Colletti. All I know is what I've read, or seen him do with the Dodgers and Giants. I wasn't even born yet when he was last with the Cubs. Given his experience and Chicago / Cubs ties, I just thought he would be a solid back-up plan if we can't land one of the big dogs. But the more research I've done, the more comparisons I've seen to Jim Hendry. Or hearing "cut from the same cloth as Hendry", which totally killed that idea for me. I don't want somebody that will be anything like Jim Hendry.

[MrCub14]

Hahn: He's bright, overly educated and more than qualified to take the next step — and the 40-year-old from Winnetka grew up a Cubs fan. Ricketts knows all this, of course, and thinks highly of him, according to one baseball source. Hahn's only drawback would be that he hasn't sat in the big chair. But don't dismiss him.

Overly educated? What the hell does that mean? More anti-intellectual garbage from "baseball men"? I'd hope that a GM of our team held an advanced degree or at least a bachelor's degree (in finance, business, economics, etc.) from a top tier university.

 

I'd hope so too! And Hahn definitely qualifies. Hahn is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Harvard Law School and Kellogg Graduate School of Management (Northwestern University). You can't really have a more impressive education than that.

[PackLandVA]

What is it about Hahn's background that makes him such a desirable candidate? I don't know much about him other than his ties to the White Sox.

 

As someone else pointed out in another thread, he's never been a GM, and the one he currently works for hasn't done much to build a farm system, and hasn't really been a huge success as far as free agency/trades go. KW has made some good ones (in both categories) but he's also crapped the bed on just as many. I know the got the WS in '05, but is that the overriding factor.

 

I'm not knocking Hahn, but what are his credentials? His advanced degrees make him seem more suited for Crane Kenney's job.

[Outshined_One]

I'm not knocking Hahn, but what are his credentials? His advanced degrees make him seem more suited for Crane Kenney's job.

 

Harvard Law, Kellogg MBA, worked for a sports agency for a few years prior to joining the White Sox. Fantastic reputation as a negotiator. Basically, he's the kind of guy who seems like he won't overbid or overpay for a player. He has a really strong grasp on the business side of baseball, which I agree would suit him for Kenney's job, but considering he also has training as far as asset valuation, risk assessment, and structuring complicated transactions go, he has more than enough training and experience take on a GM role. Supposedly he also is a believer in advanced sabremetrics.

 

Evaluating Hahn based on the White Sox notoriously thin farm system is not something I'd really recommend. The White Sox have spent the least on draft bonuses of any team in MLB over the past five years (I linked an article in this thread a few pages back) and they've also clamped down significantly on their international signings ever since their bonus skimming scandal a few years back. Plus, even when KW gets prospects, he's been more likely to trade them than bring them up with the team.

 

The knock on Hahn has been a lack of experience talent evaluation/scouting. However, if he's brought on board as GM, I have no doubt he'd bring in people who could fill that void.

[CubInOK]

Buster Olney just dropped Billy Beane's name on Baseball Tonight. I don't know how seriously to take that, but it's another name no one here should mind.

[dew1679666265]

Maybe some of the older guys around here can enlighten me to what is bad about Ned Colletti. All I know is what I've read, or seen him do with the Dodgers and Giants. I wasn't even born yet when he was last with the Cubs. Given his experience and Chicago / Cubs ties, I just thought he would be a solid back-up plan if we can't land one of the big dogs. But the more research I've done, the more comparisons I've seen to Jim Hendry. Or hearing "cut from the same cloth as Hendry", which totally killed that idea for me. I don't want somebody that will be anything like Jim Hendry.

 

I know Colletti threw huge contracts to Jason Schmidt, Juan Pierre, and Andruw Jones. He's also got the strong reputation of being a primarily scouting guy and not much into statistical analysis.

[PackLandVA]

I get the business side of it regarding contracts. And I get that he's probably smart enough to know his shortcomings, assuming he believes he is not overly qualified regarding the evaluation of amateur talent, and the need to bring in scouts for minor league building.

 

But isn't a huge part of being a GM also is recognizing major league talent with regard to the free agent market and trades? I mean, sure, he may not dole out bad contracts, but I want t GM to know when to buy and when to sell. And if he's learning this from Kenny Williams, I'm not sold.

 

Also, do we really want to hand over the baseball side of the operation to a guy filling the role of GM for the first time? I trust Rickett's will make a well thought out choice. Hope it's a good one, because it's gonna determine the next decade or more of Cubs' success.

[Banedon]

Supposedly gonna talk to Ricketts during the Cubs game tonight on ESPN. I'm not gonna be able to pay full attention, so someone post something here if he says anything interesting, so I don't have to wade through the game thread.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

Hahn: He's bright, overly educated and more than qualified to take the next step — and the 40-year-old from Winnetka grew up a Cubs fan. Ricketts knows all this, of course, and thinks highly of him, according to one baseball source. Hahn's only drawback would be that he hasn't sat in the big chair. But don't dismiss him.

Overly educated? What the hell does that mean? More anti-intellectual garbage from "baseball men"? I'd hope that a GM of our team held an advanced degree or at least a bachelor's degree (in finance, business, economics, etc.) from a top tier university.

 

You realize, I hope, how much that actually sucks?

[SouthSideRyan]

Who cares about Ricketts's list, all that matters is who Kenney wants.

[SouthSideRyan]

I'd be perfectly fine with any of the top 4 names there, plus Cherington.

 

Friedman would be a dream come true, though.

 

Couldn't agree more with this. The top 4 plus Cherington would be the perfect list. Or Ned Colleti if we could get him back. I love that Ricketts model for the team is after the Red Sox. I personally think that Theo Epstein in the best GM in baseball. I really want an experienced guy, but I wouldn't be upset with Kahn or Cherington.

You had me until Ned Coletti, who I don't even want using the troughs.

 

I'd support him cleaning the troughs. With his tongue.