As far as De Jon Watson knows, no team that seeks or expects to seek a general manager has asked his employer, the Arizona Diamondbacks, for permission to talk to him about filling its need. Tony La Russa, the Diamondbacks’ chief baseball officer, confirmed Watson’s knowledge Saturday.
Watson, the Diamondbacks’ senior vice president of baseball operations and their third ranking baseball executive, is also their second ranking black baseball executive behind General Manager Dave Stewart.
Given Watson’s vast experience and impressive resume, he should be highly considered for one of the many vacancies Major League Baseball teams have and will have in the next month or so. That Watson has been ignored to this point doesn’t speak well for Commissioner Rob Manfred’s stated effort to enhance minority hiring for decision-making positions.
The Watson situation prompted one executive to speculate on the reason. “Maybe,” he said with a touch of cynicism, “they’re afraid they wouldn’t be able to come up with an excuse not to hire him.”
“He’s at the top of the minority list,” the executive added.
Apparently, though, white guys continue to have an advantage over minorities. While Watson can’t even get an interview, Billy Eppler, the Yankees’ white assistant general manager, is soon to become the Angels’ general manager.
Eppler had interviews with the Angels this year and in 2011 and with the Mariners this year. A major league executive told me Saturday evening Eppler is getting the Angels’ job.
Eppler, in his 16th year in baseball, will replace Bill Stoneman, the Angels’ retired general manager, who returned as interim general manager during the summer after Jerry Dipoto resigned in a power struggle with veteran manager Mike Scioscia.
In an upcoming change, the Athletics plan to elevate celebrity general manager Billy Beane to a loftier titled position while removing assistant from David Forst’s assistant general manager title. The A’s are promoting the pair to avoid losing Forst, who very likely would be in demand elsewhere as general manager.
Beane will very likely be named president of baseball operations, a relatively new title that is held by Theo Epstein of the Cubs, Michael Hill of the Marlins, Andrew Friedman of the Dodgers, Jon Daniels of the Rangers, Mike Rizzo of the Nationals, John Hart of the Braves, Walt Jocketty of the Reds and Dave Dombrowski of the Red Sox.
In reality, the president of baseball operations performs the general manager’s duties while the general manager is essentially the assistant general manager.
In other developments at the top level of baseball’s front offices, Seattle fired Jack Zduriencik, Philadelphia dismissed Ruben Amaro Jr., Ben Cherington either left or was let go by Boston, Doug Melvin is relinquishing his position as baseball operations president with Milwaukee and Jeffrey Loria, the Miami owner, has to decide if Dan Jennings will remain the team’s manager, return to the general manager’s office or leave altogether.
Those vacancies should create enough openings to give owners opportunities to hire an African-American or a Latino, but minorities and advocates of their hiring should not expect such a development. Watson would welcome an opportunity, but he has a different view of the issue as it concerns him.
He said, in a telephone interview Friday, that he is interested in getting a general manager’s job and would “definitely talk” to clubs about it, “but I’m not in pursuit” of it.
Furthermore, Watson said, he doesn’t want to be interviewed just because he is black and would allow a team to fulfill its obligation under the Major League Baseball rule to interview minorities for decision-making positions.
“I don’t want to be that guy,” Watson said. “I don’t see myself as a minority candidate. I consider myself a legitimate candidate.”
Teams don’t always adhere to the rule, but when they do they often conduct sham interviews just to say they met the requirement. I recall that one so-called black candidate was interviewed on the telephone, hardly a meaningful or fair opportunity to get the job.
“If they want to look at a qualified candidate,” Watson said, “I’m that guy. I don’t see myself as a minority candidate. If I weren’t qualified, that would be a different story. Show me a list of candidates and I’ll stand up to any of them.”
Watson, in no way sounding boastful, cited his 30 years in baseball, the first five as a minor league outfielder-first baseman, as evidence that he is well prepared to become a general manager.
He is in his first year with the Diamondbacks, but before that position he worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers for eight years, most recently as vice president for player development, and he also worked for the Indians, the Reds and the Marlins in various scouting capacities.
Watson, however, has not been a hotly pursued candidate for the job of general manager. He said he has had three interviews for that position, two with Arizona, one with Baltimore.
Newspaper and Internet reports have linked Watson’s name to the Red Sox, who have a president of baseball operations but not a general manager. The Red Sox, though, have not sought the OK to talk to Watson so how accurate can those reports be?
La Russa and his general manager, Dave Stewart, have noticed the absence of general manager interest in Watson. “Dave and I met and discussed if it would be proper to make calls on his behalf,” said La Russa, who became impressed with Watson as soon as he met him. “He’s articulate, very impressive and he works hard.”
After he interviewed Watson last year, La Russa said he talked with Ken Kendrick, the Diamondbacks managing partner, and Derrick Hall, the club president, about Watson and said, “We have to figure out how to add him to our organization.”
They added him and there he’ll stay unless he is invited to join another team as general manager.
“I have a job to do here,” the 49-year-old Watson said, declining to dwell on the general manager thing.
The executive who said Watson topped the minority list said, “He’s got a good personality, he’s a real nice guy and well liked. There’s nothing that should keep him from getting a job.”
Nothing but his color apparently.
THE WORD FOR G.M. CANDIDATES IS ANALYTICS
Clubs generally don’t disclose the names of candidates they interview, but some names emerge – accurately or not. Of the names that have emerged in recent weeks, only two presumed candidate are minorities. They are Dana Brown, special assistant to the Toronto general manager, and Tyrone Brooks, the Pirates player personnel director.
The Mariners reportedly interviewed Brown, though he seems to be an unlikely candidate because the team president, Kevin Mather, has said he was looking for a general manager with experience. Brown’s advanced experience is limited to the six years he has been in his present position.
The Brewers’ owner, Mark Attanasio, has said he wants a young general manager who is well versed in analytics. That is the trend in baseball today, and Attanasio aims to ride it all the way to the World Series, with Brooks the engineer if Attanasio decides he’s the right man for the job.
In the great 1967 Dustin Hoffman film “The Graduate” his character Benjamin is embraced by a friend of his parents who wants to give him a piece of priceless advice. It’s one word – plastics. The comparable advice in baseball today is analytics.
If the Mariners and the Brewers, meanwhile, were serious about considering a minority, why would they consider Brown and Brooks and not De Jon Watson? I would guess they would find it easier to reject Brown and Brooks. Talk about sham interviews.
These are names linked to the Mariners’ search: former general managers Jerry Dipoto (Angels), Dan O’Dowd (Rockies), Larry Beinfest (Marlins), Frank Wren (Braves), Ben Cherington (Red Sox); assistant general managers Mike Hazen (Red Sox), Mike Chernoff (Indians), Thad Levine (Rangers), Billy Eppler (Yankees).
Names linked to the Brewers: Hazen, Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, Athletics assistant general manager Dan Kantrovitz, Pirates player personnel director Tyrone Brooks, Brewers vice president for amateur scouting Ray Montgomery.
These names had been linked to the Angels before they decided on Eppler: Bud Black, former Padres’ manager; assistant general managers Hazen, Matt Klentak and Scott Servais (Angels), vice president of player personnel Ross Atkins (Indians).
With the Blue Jays on the verge of making the playoffs, their general manager, Alex Anthopoulos, seems to be safe to remain on the job. In fact, Mark Shapiro, the team’s new president, might have already spread that word privately.
Mike Rizzo, on the other hand, has presided over a disaster in Washington and could be the next general manager to go. If it happens and happens soon enough, Rizzo could join the white crowd competing for the other jobs.