LAT: 5 candidates Angels could consider for new GM, including some with Dodgers ties

[Dollar Bill]

https://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/story/2020-09-28/angels-general-manager-candidates-josh-byrnes-dave-dombrowski-logan-white-de-jon-watson-dodgers

[ukyah]

don't subscribe to LAT. someone want to break it down?

[Second Base]

Judging by the link, Josh Byrnes, Dave Dombrowski, Logan White, De Jon Watson and someone else.

[ukyah]

33 minutes ago, Second Base said:

Judging by the link, Josh Byrnes, Dave Dombrowski, Logan White, De Jon Watson and someone else.

if i could i'd slap you from across the internet.

[Angel Oracle]

Dombrowski/White ticket, come on down!

 

[Warfarin]

Honestly, I would LOVE to see Byrnes hired.  He's worked under Friedman since 2014, and I have to imagine he'd bring a lot of the same concepts over here.  I do think it's likely Dombrowski, but if Dombrowski declines or Arte surprises us and goes a different direction, Byrnes would be at the top of my list.  It's hard to argue with their success.

[Angel Oracle]

Of course!

Byrnes as VP of baseball ops and White as GM!

They worked together in SD in 2014.

[Warfarin]

1 minute ago, Angel Oracle said:

Of course!

Byrnes as VP of baseball ops and White as GM!

They worked together in SD in 2014.

Yep!  That works.  They have experience working together and Byres has been a GM before (DBacks + Padres), so he's very experienced in terms of running an organization.  He's never had the chance to be a GM/President of an organization that has a lot of cash, though.  I imagine utilizing his experience with Friedman, along with his experience in charge of two organizations, should bode very well for his ability to serve as a good president.

He's my new #1 choice to run the show.  Bring White along, and fill out the department with Dodgers + Rays executives, along with some from the Padres (White's connections), too.

[Second Base]

My vote would be Dombrowski. He got a bad rap in Boston, but they're spoiled. Fact is he delivered a championship. He brought Detroit to the brink a couple of times and constructed two World Series winners in Florida. 

He wins wherever he goes. He's built top farms before (and traded them away too) and he's made the bold moves to bring in elite talent. And he's worked with high payrolls and meddling owners before too. 

Dombrowski perfectly fits the Angels needs right now.

[Warfarin]

What are the odds that Arte, prior to officially firing Eppler, has probably already had conversations with Dombrowski (or whomever his preferred President/GM choice is) and knows he'll get who he wants?

I felt that Maddon was probably already "in the bag" when we fired Ausmus.  

[DMVol]

3 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

What are the odds that Arte, prior to officially firing Eppler, has probably already had conversations with Dombrowski (or whomever his preferred President/GM choice is) and knows he'll get who he wants?

I felt that Maddon was probably already "in the bag" when we fired Ausmus.  

[DCAngelsFan]

18 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

What are the odds that Arte, prior to officially firing Eppler, has probably already had conversations with Dombrowski (or whomever his preferred President/GM choice is) and knows he'll get who he wants?

I felt that Maddon was probably already "in the bag" when we fired Ausmus.  

Good point - it's possible it's a "clean slate" situation, but I think he probably had some discussions at least through intermediaries.

How stupid would Arte look if, having fired Eppler, found the only person willing to work for him as a GM is the Dodgers bat boy?

Anyway, a Byrnes / White combo hire would get definitely alleviate my concerns - the hiring is a two-way street, they have good positions and reputations - they don't "need" jobs - so they probably wouldn't come here unless they were convinced they could succeed and could fix/improve all of the nuts-and-bolts non-sexy things that I think Arte ignores.  

That said, "Dombrowski" - for some reason - sounds more like an Arte choice to me.  

 

[Junkballer]

A caveat to Dombrowski is that Boston had an upper tier farm system, I wanna say like top-5, when he came on board, and now they are bottom-5.  I think it is a mistake to see the Angels as a comparison to Boston that would benefit his all-in, high-risk/reward approach.  Also, the RSox wallet far more open than what he would have to deal with here.  At the end of the day, the Angels tradeable big-league and farm assets are fairly limited, needing careful cultivating and before starting an all-in push and Arte still claims to firmly tie payroll to revenue.  Dombrowski's not the right guy at the right time with the right operational balance, and Arte doesn't need someone in his ear telling him that they are one or two big moves away from winning it all.  Also, I still don't know what his level of involvement with their cheating was.  He brought in Cora and is ultimately where the buck stops.

I thought this article was useful in looking at his Boston tenure:

 https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/08/11/dave-dombrowskis-best-and-worst-moves-with-the-red-sox/ 

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, Junkballer said:

A caveat to Dombrowski is that Boston had an upper tier farm system, I wanna say like top-5, when he came on board, and now they are bottom-5.  I think it is a mistake to see the Angels as a comparison to Boston, would benefit his all-in high-risk/reward approach.  Also, the RSox wallet far more open than what he would have to deal with here.  At the end of the day, the Angels tradeable big-league and farm assets are fairly limited, needing careful cultivating and before starting an all-in push and Arte still claims to firmly tie payroll to revenue.  Dombrowski's not the right guy at the right time with the right operational balance, and Arte doesn't need someone in his ear telling him that they are one or two big moves away from winning it all.  Also, I still don't know what his level of involvement with their cheating was.  He brought in Cora and is ultimately where the buck stops.

I thought this article was useful in looking at his Boston tenure:

 https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/08/11/dave-dombrowskis-best-and-worst-moves-with-the-red-sox/ 

In addition to what he traded from their farm, which was substantial to get Chris Sale, they have also graduated from their farm Devers, Benitendi and Boegarts during that time.  All seem to perform pretty well.  When you graduate players the farm takes a hit.

[Warfarin]

2 minutes ago, DCAngelsFan said:

Good point - it's possible it's a "clean slate" situation, but I think he probably had some discussions at least through intermediaries.

How stupid would Arte look if, having fired Eppler, found the only person willing to work for him as a GM is the Dodgers bat boy?

Anyway, a Byrnes / White combo hire would get definitely alleviate my concerns - the hiring is a two-way street, they have good positions and reputations - they don't "need" jobs - so they probably wouldn't come here unless they were convinced they could succeed and could fix/improve all of the nuts-and-bolts non-sexy things that I think Arte ignores.  

That said, "Dombrowski" - for some reason - sounds more like an Arte choice to me.  

 

100% agreed.

A Byres/White combo would be my top choice for sure.  Their pedigrees are incredible, and they come from fantastic, forward-thinking teams.

Dombrowski would be okay.  I just hope he picks a top farm guy to be his GM.

[Stradling]

I think most of us have resigned ourselves to Dombrowski being hired.  Do we even know if he is interested in the job?  He currently is part of an initiative to bring baseball to Nashville.  Maybe he wants to see that through in hopes of being the president of that team.  Just a thought.  

[Lou]

30 minutes ago, DCAngelsFan said:

That said, "Dombrowski" - for some reason - sounds more like an Arte choice to me.  

Based on his previous GM hirings, Dombrowski seems to be the exact opposite of an Arte choice to me. 

[DMVol]

5 minutes ago, Lou said:

Based on his previous GM hirings, Dombrowski seems to be the exact opposite of an Arte choice to me. 

^^^   Three straight young, first time GM's does not sound like Dombrowski....

[Junkballer]

19 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I think most of us have resigned ourselves to Dombrowski being hired.  Do we even know if he is interested in the job?  He currently is part of an initiative to bring baseball to Nashville.  Maybe he wants to see that through in hopes of being the president of that team.  Just a thought.  

Interesting that LaRussa is also part of that group.  Probably a couple years off though, especially considering the pandemic financial uncertainty.

[DCAngelsFan]

20 minutes ago, Lou said:

Based on his previous GM hirings, Dombrowski seems to be the exact opposite of an Arte choice to me. 

Right - based on his previous, unsuccessful hirings, I'm sure he's thinking "you know, those worked out *so* well, I'm gonna do it again ..." 

Point being, he's more likely to pick someone "safe" - is my guess.  And that's all it is, a guess.

 

[Warfarin]

22 minutes ago, DCAngelsFan said:

Right - based on his previous, unsuccessful hirings, I'm sure he's thinking "you know, those worked out *so* well, I'm gonna do it again ..." 

Point being, he's more likely to pick someone "safe" - is my guess.  And that's all it is, a guess.

 

I'd also look to his recent quick pivot from Ausmus to Maddon as an indication of his future GM choice, too.  Arte, perhaps very tired of losing by now, went with the "proven winner" in Maddon.  Perhaps now, after trying to work with several first-time GMs, he has grown impatient and wants to go with someone who has built a winner.

Still, in that regard, I'd like to think that Byres would be a consideration - while he is not the architect of the Dodgers, he is effectively one of their top executives and has played a significant role in building a ridiculous juggernaut that is likely going to be in contention for a very, very long time.

[BTH]

La Russa plays a critical role in the Dombrowski speculation. He has a voice in Arte's ear, and he's likely pushing for Dombrowski. Conversely, if Arte wants Dombrowski, La Russa is probably gonna be used to help convince Dombrowski.

If Arte wants Dombrowski, he's getting Dombrowski. We saw it last year with Maddon.

[Docwaukee]

I'm not sure why people think that Dobrowski would do things exactly how he did them in Boston.  Or Detroit and Florida either for that matter.   He did it a bit differently in all three places and had success.  

Frankly, I would assume that he's gonna come in and evaluate current and future talent, short and long goals, payroll limitations and options.  Taking into account what Arte's expectations are of course.  Then putting together a realistic plan for success.  

He's got experience.  He knows what it takes to create a winner.  He's also probably very well versed in understanding expectations.  For instance, Arte could easily tell him that he wants a winner within the next couple of years.  Ok, then we'll need to do two things like gut the farm and increase payroll.  Or he has an idea of how he can get the team in a stronger position to with and make it sustainable.  

I have to believe that Arte's best time as owner was the 5 playoff appearances over 6 years.  I also want to believe he's not going to force anyone to completely decimate the franchise for 1-2 really good years.  

[DMVol]

11 minutes ago, Trendon said:

....If Arte wants Dombrowski, he's getting Dombrowski. We saw it last year with Maddon.

If Dombrowski wants a GM job, he'll likely take it, if it is offered....it's not likely there will be a ton of other GM jobs available.  Maybe the Phiillies?  

[Slegnaac]

5 hours ago, Lou said:

Based on his previous GM hirings, Dombrowski seems to be the exact opposite of an Arte choice to me. 

So maybe Arte will go a different direction this time.