List of GM candidates shrinks
10/26/2005
PHOENIX -- It appears the list of candidates to become the next Diamondbacks general manager has been reduced by one.
According to a source, Nationals general manager Jim Bowden, who interviewed a couple of weeks ago for the Arizona job, will sign a six-month extension with the club that will run through April 2006. At that time, the new ownership of the Nationals will decide if it wants to keep Bowden.
With Bowden out of the picture, that leaves Arizona's search down to five known candidates, with Boston assistant GM Josh Byrnes beginning to emerge as the front-runner.
Detroit's Al Avila, White Sox executive David Wilder, San Diego GM Kevin Towers and D-Backs interim GM Bob Gebhard are the other candidates.
With the interview process apparently complete, Arizona officials have huddled over the past couple of days to discuss their options. The club cannot announce their new general manager until the end of the World Series, and it may elect to wait until Brian Cashman's situation with the Yankees and Theo Epstein's situation in Boston are resolved.
MLB.com reported last weekend that the Diamondbacks asked for and were denied permission to speak with Cashman, but his contract expires on Oct. 31, and he would then be free to talk to other teams. Baseball observers, though, expect Cashman to return to the Bronx.
Things aren't as clear with Epstein in Boston. Ironically, if Epstein decides to leave the Red Sox, it could hurt the Diamondbacks chances of landing Byrnes, as he would almost certainly be a candidate to replace Epstein.
Byrnes is highly regarded in baseball circles as being able to blend statistical analysis with that of traditional baseball scouting. He previously worked under John Hart in Cleveland, where he was a scouting director at age 27, before spending three years as the assistant GM in Colorado under Dan O'Dowd.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
PHOENIX -- It appears the list of candidates to become the next Diamondbacks general manager has been reduced by one.
According to a source, Nationals general manager Jim Bowden, who interviewed a couple of weeks ago for the Arizona job, will sign a six-month extension with the club that will run through April 2006. At that time, the new ownership of the Nationals will decide if it wants to keep Bowden.
With Bowden out of the picture, that leaves Arizona's search down to five known candidates, with Boston assistant GM Josh Byrnes beginning to emerge as the front-runner.
Detroit's Al Avila, White Sox executive David Wilder, San Diego GM Kevin Towers and D-Backs interim GM Bob Gebhard are the other candidates.
With the interview process apparently complete, Arizona officials have huddled over the past couple of days to discuss their options. The club cannot announce their new general manager until the end of the World Series, and it may elect to wait until Brian Cashman's situation with the Yankees and Theo Epstein's situation in Boston are resolved.
MLB.com reported last weekend that the Diamondbacks asked for and were denied permission to speak with Cashman, but his contract expires on Oct. 31, and he would then be free to talk to other teams. Baseball observers, though, expect Cashman to return to the Bronx.
Things aren't as clear with Epstein in Boston. Ironically, if Epstein decides to leave the Red Sox, it could hurt the Diamondbacks chances of landing Byrnes, as he would almost certainly be a candidate to replace Epstein.
Byrnes is highly regarded in baseball circles as being able to blend statistical analysis with that of traditional baseball scouting. He previously worked under John Hart in Cleveland, where he was a scouting director at age 27, before spending three years as the assistant GM in Colorado under Dan O'Dowd.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
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