Ng Won't Be Sleepless in Seattle

The Seattle Mariners have chosen Jack Zduriencik of Milwaukee as their new general manager over the Dodgers' Kim Ng and others.

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Check out the Sons of Steve Garvey 2008 Dodgers Yearbook.

Comments

[PalmdaleSteve1]

1.  That's bad for Kim Ng, but good for the Dodgers. Does anyone think that San Fran Nick will be around much longer than one more season?

The Dodgers will need a new GM sooner rather than later.

[ToyCannon]

2.  Feel sorry for Kim, it would have been a great story. I wonder how Dodger upper management can work together with a common purpose when Logan and Ng know the only way they have a shot at Ned's job is if he fails and their flak jackets defray the blame game. I know people are supposed to be bigger then that but hey they are human.

[Eric Enders]

3.  That's awesome. I guess I should feel bad for Kim Ng, but I have bigger plans for her. Like GM of the Dodgers.

Plus I don't trust Colletti to be able to figure out what to do about his 12 free agents (or whatever it is) this offseason without help.

[Tripon]

4.  has co-GMs ever worked out for anybody?

[Eric Enders]

5.  4- Not that I know of. I guess the Red Sox did OK with it for a few months before they coaxed Epstein back.

[Tripon]

6.  http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/10/schilling-rips.html

Meanwhile Schilling rips Manny again for... threatening not to play for the Red Sox if they didn't trade him. If this is true, why the heck is it coming out now and not then?

[68elcamino427]

7.  4
Yeah - whomever is the "holds" the title of GM with the Dodgers will always do as Mr. McCourt decrees.

[Eric Enders]

8.  Well, I guess if anyone's an expert on not playing for the Red Sox, it's Schilling.

[underdog]

9.  Why is Manny considered tiresome by the media but Schilling's constant, repetitive rants are okey-dokey again?

[adrian beltre]

10.  as keith law said, i can think of one difference between the two that might be a reason.

[regfairfield]

11.  Schilling is a gamer, that's why.

[Tripon]

12.  10 Schilling is a pitcher, and Manny is a left fielder?

[Humma Kavula]

13.  11 Schilling most certainly is a gamer.

http://www.multimanpublishing.com/index1.php

http://www.multimanpublishing.com/about.php

[underdog]

14.  11 That's one word for it...

10 Indeed.

[Eric Stephen]

15.  Random Thought of the Day...

The Dodgers have never played a game on October 22.

In 1988, the final game of the World Series was October 20.

The only year in which the Dodgers played a game later than October 22 was 1981. The Dodgers won the final four games of the series on October 23-25 & 28.

[cargill06]

16.  Tigers want pitching, and they're willing to give up Mags. Penny for Mags, done and done.

[cargill06]

17.  The Jays have money to spend and while it could go to A.J. Burnett, they could shift their focus from Burnett to a hitter if the pitcher doesn't re-sign -- and make a serious run at Rafael Furcal, who could be a perfect fit for them in many ways. The Royals are also considering Furcal.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=olney_buster

[Eric Stephen]

18.  Assuming draft & signs (like Victorino) count, I can't find a World Series with more former Dodgers than the 5 that could appear in this series.

2008: Aybar, Jackson, Navarro, Victorino, Werth
2000: Cook, Harris, Piazza, Vizcaino, Zeile
1990: Duncan, Honeycutt, Randolph, Stewart, Welch

Bad news for the Rays: in each of the previous two times, the team with more former Dodgers lost the series.

[superbas]

19.  17 furcal's back wouldn't last on astro-turf.

i can think of a perfect fit for kim ng to be the gm in '10.

[Tripon]

20.  Want to make the world series? Try to sign or trade for former Dodgers.

Want to make sure you miss the world series?

Try to sign sign or trade for former Cubs.

[Indiana Jon]

21.  18 All those former players, but it's the two that were drafted and got away that really hurt (Utley and Price).

[Eric Enders]

22.  18 If Victorino counts, then so does John Franco, who pitched for the Mets in the 2000 Series.

Any chance Ruggiano makes TB's World Series roster?

[bluegold]

23.  Signing Pierre as a centerfielder, and then signing Jones to make up for Pierre's lack of a throwing arm and batting power? Would Ng as GM ever do something like that? Would any GM ever do that?

Ng would make a fine next Dodger GM.

[wronghanded]

24.  According to mlbtraderumors.com we have about $48 million coming off the books in '09 (most $$$ in the league). I know its a pipe dream but would Sabathia, Manny and Furcal be attainable next year? CC would basically replace Lowe and our playoff team would stay intact.

[Eric Enders]

25.  The issue with Manny is not going to be his salary, but the length of the contract. We certainly have more than enough room for him on next year's payroll. The question is whether we want to be paying him $25 million to suck in 2013.

[Tripon]

26.  24 There's a $5 million dollar bonus to Furcal coming to him in Jan. 09. We really have $43 million.

[regfairfield]

27.  Kim Ng's one move as Dodger GM was signing Jose Cruz Jr. for four million dollars.

Just saying.

[Eric Enders]

28.  27 A guy who switch-hit .251/.366/.478 for $4 million? Sign me up.

[bigcpa]

29.  24 If mgmt was even remotely contemplating that, I would lock up Manny early and use him to recruit CC. Then he gets run support to go with his 70+ ab's and SoCal address. The Angels can only offer him one of those 3.

[bhsportsguy]

30.  27 As Asst. GM, she was creditied for the deal for Marlon Anderson.

28 Maybe that was Depo's plan too. :)

[JoeyP]

31.  Thats too bad for Kim Ng.

And an even worse choice for the Mariners.
Wow, just terrible.

If they wanted to keep an old school scouting based GM, they should have just kept Bavasi.

[superbas]

32.  can we convince manny to go the andruw route and take 2/50-60mil instead of a 4-5 year deal for 80-100mil? after the 2 years he can go to the al and be a dh. that seems more realistic than outbidding the yankees for cc.

[regfairfield]

33.  31 He was the first ever non-GM named executive of the year by Baseball America and is pretty much responsible for the Brewers' organization. The guy has way more credentials than Ng.

[bluegold]

34.  25. If with Manny we win one WS between 2009-2012, then YES he should be paid 25million to suck in 2013.

[Jon Weisman]

35.  28 - I wonder if they ever found Cruz's brother. I don't recall any resolution to that story.

[Eric Enders]

36.  The Mariners probably did OK. Jack Z is the guy who acquired the likes of Fielder, Weeks, Braun, Hart, and Gallardo for Milwaukee. It's sort of akin to hiring Logan White. There's no reason to believe he'll be an "old school" GM.

[JoeyP]

37.  Why is Manny considered tiresome by the media but Schilling's constant, repetitive rants are okey-dokey again?

Manny loafs in the OF from time to time?
Schilling doesnt?

It has to do with their on the field player (and Manny's perceived loafing in the OF), than anything else.

[Bob Timmermann]

38.  35
One of baseball's unsolved mysteries. Just like trying to figure out why Chris Brown died of burns suffered in an unoccupied home.

[bhsportsguy]

39.  22 We know Joel Guzman won't be on it.

[bhsportsguy]

40.  39 That was a bit snarky for me to say, sorry JTD.

[Eric Enders]

41.  35 , 38 Do all of baseball's unsolved mysteries happen in Houston?

The Chris Brown thing was really weird. I guess there was never any resolution to that?

[cargill06]

42.  Frank McCourt will be on 710 in 15 minutes. It'll be up to you to figure out if he's on his way to Long Beach or will be on the radio.

[bhsportsguy]

43.  33 He was also the head of international scouting for the Dodgers in 1999.

[Jon Weisman]

44.  42 -

American Airlines flight 710 goes from Dallas to New York City (LaGuardia).

United flight 710 goes from San Francisco to Reno.

Delta #710 goes from Atlanta to Boston.

Continental does not have a flight 710. Dun dun dunnnnn.

[regfairfield]

45.  43 International guys we got around then: Kuo, Willy Aybar, Chin Feng Chen, Franquelis Osoria

Not a bad track record.

[regfairfield]

46.  43 According to BA he worked for the Mets that year.

[bhsportsguy]

47.  This is not our Bob.

http://tinyurl.com/5ptbbs

[Eric Enders]

48.  "Chen was scouted by Jack Zduriencik, the team's director of international operations, and Asian scout Acey Kohrogi. Other teams were hot on Chen's trail and it cost the Dodgers $680,000 to sign him."

LAT 9/26/99 p.D5

[bhsportsguy]

49.  A veteran of 24 years in professional baseball, Zduriencik has worked with four Major League organizations. Prior to joining the Brewers, he was Director of International Scouting and Special Assistant to the General Manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1999.

[regfairfield]

50.  I blame this:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=exec&eid=zdurija01

[Kevin Lewis]

51.  47

That guys wife is incredibly understanding.

[Humma Kavula]

52.  47 / 51 I was just gonna say -- not our Bob? That Bob is lucky that he's ANYBODY's Bob.

[bhsportsguy]

53.  Kuo was signed in June 1999. Aybar in January 2000.

[Bob Timmermann]

54.  52
You know. I actually go out and socialize with other human beings. I even talk to people when I keep score.

I don't score at home.

[regfairfield]

55.  53 I don't know the exact dates he worked, so he might not have been responsible for either.

[Samhain]

56.  Logan White publicly said he was okay with including Santana in the Blake trade, and now White is a non-person here?

I'd say HE remains the heir-apparent Dodger GM, not Kim Ng.

For what it's worth, I'd say Ng signed off on the Blake trade too; so why isn't she tarred with the same brush as Logan White?

[Eric Enders]

57.  55 "Before Jack Zduriencik left the Dodgers to become the Brewers' scouting director, one of his last significant moves was to sign Kuo for $1.25 million."

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/columnists/askba05june.html

[cargill06]

58.  56 That was the first I heard about that about White in the Santana deal. In the 3 months since the trade went down I haven't seen one post criticizing White for this.

[bhsportsguy]

59.  55 He was hired by Milwaukee almost 9 years ago.

http://tinyurl.com/6fkrds

I am sure he was there for Chen and Kuo.

[JoeyP]

60.  For all of the top 10 picks the Brewers have had over the last decade, it doesnt appear as if Jack Zduriencik did all that much better than another GM could have done.

Its almost as if the worse the MLB team does, the better the scouting director will look over time.

[bhsportsguy]

61.  60 Well you could look down south.

[Jon Weisman]

62.  There is one vehemently anti-Logan poster here that I know of, but that's it I believe.

[Eric Enders]

63.  58 "That was the first I heard about that about White in the Santana deal. In the 3 months since the trade went down I haven't seen one post criticizing White for this."

Probably because nobody really knows whether he approved of the deal. I mean, if he likes his job, obviously he was going to say he approved of the trade whether he actually did or not.

[regfairfield]

64.  60 He got Hart, Hardy, Gallardo, Hall, and Parra outside of the first round.

Considering how many blown picks there are, you have to give a guy credit when they pan out.

[cargill06]

65.  63 Did you really have to go and re-post my bad english?

[Eric Enders]

66.  60 "For all of the top 10 picks the Brewers have had over the last decade, it doesnt appear as if Jack Zduriencik did all that much better than another GM could have done."

This is... well... extremely false. Extremely false.

Let's compare the the Brewers' recent top-ten choices with the guys who were drafted immediately before & after

2002
Zack Greinke
Prince Fielder
Scott Moore

2003
Delmon Young
Rickie Weeks
Kyle Sleeth

2004
Jeff Niemann
Mark Rogers
Jeremy Sowers

2005
Ryan Zimmerman
Ryan Braun
Ricardo Romero

2006
none

2007
Ross Detwiler
Matt LaPorta
Casey Weathers

--

In each case, Milwaukee got the best of the three players, except for Mark Rogers who hurt his arm almost immediately.

You can get all the top 10 picks in the world, but it still takes a lot of skill to take advantage of them as Milwaukee has. And that's before even considering steals like Gallardo in the 2nd round and Hart in the 11th.

[ToyCannon]

67.  I don't see how any of upper management should be taking a bullet for the Blake / Santana deal. They were under orders to upgrade the team without adding salary. To do so they had to kick in some talent. It was the cost of doing business in 2009 at the trading deadline with an owner reluctant to add salary.

Now if you want to tar Ned because the budget was bloated with non performing players and that is why Frank could not add salary that is a different animal.

[bhsportsguy]

68.  63 I just recall his remark after the Manny deal.

I thought there was some talk that the Dodgers thought that Santana was not going to be a catcher around the time of the trade but I don't recall any comments by Logan White specifically about that deal.

56 I have been saying the same thing for months, maybe not the tarring part but basically that this team has all of their fingerprints on it.

[ToyCannon]

69.  66
He whiffed on Rogers that is enough for the nay sayers.

[ToyCannon]

70.  Just an FYI but based on the information I've gleaned from John Sickels Minor League Blog and the rating of prospects in the different minor leagues by BA it looks like Carlos Santana would have been our top rated prospect if he was still in the organization.

I can't recall a time where a player was not in the top 20, was not drafted that year and shot up to the number one slot.

[Samhain]

71.  My point about White vs. Ng--which I could have been clearer about--was that for most of the year, when so many assumed Colletti was a goner, the majority of posters here who aired opinions on Colletti's replacement talked about White as the probable next GM; given that Ng's forte was apparently contract negotiations, and Logan White was the assessor of baseball talent.

Now for no additional reason I can see, Ng seems to be widely assumed by many here to be the obvious pick for next Dodger GM. (At least today, White was hardly mentioned, if at all.)

[bhsportsguy]

72.  70 Part of that has to be that BA and Sickels have never been that high on McDonald.

[bhsportsguy]

73.  71 I usually you read those posts with a sense of wishful thinking on the writer's part.

I don't think there have been that many posts today about Ng or White replacing Ned.

[Jon Weisman]

74.  71 - White wasn't just turned down for a job. I think that's why he wasn't prominent in today's conversation.

[Tripon]

75.  68 Actually, I think the remarks were that Ned Coletti said that White agreed on putting Santana in the deal.

White did go on record on the Andy LaRoche-Manny trade that he liked it.

[bhsportsguy]

76.  74 Do you find at all interesting that the Mariners did not ask for permission to speak to Logan White for the job?

[Eric Stephen]

77.  Since I did this for the Dodgers a while back, I thought it would be fun to look at how the Rays were built. Here is how their current 40-man roster came about:

1996
1) Mar 14: Signed Victor Zambrano as a FA; & Aug 15: Signed Bartolome Fortunato as an amateur FA. Both traded to the Mets on 7/30/04 for Scott Kazmir and Jose Diaz.

1997
2&3) Drafted Toby Hall (Rd 9). Traded with Mark Hendrickson to the Dodgers on 6/27/06 for Dioner Navarro, Justin Ruggiano, and Jae Seo.

1998
4&5)Drafted Aubrey Huff (Rd 5). Traded to Astros on 7/12/06 for Mitch Talbot & Ben Zobrist
2&3) Drafted Joe Kennedy (Rd 8). Traded to Rockies as part of a 3-team trade on 12/14/03, with the Rays receiving Mark Hendrickson. See #2&3 above.
6) Jul 8: Signed Juan Salas as an amateur FA

1999
7) Drafted Carl Crawford (Rd 2)
8) Drafted Seth McClung (Rd 5). Traded to the Brewers on 7/28/07 for Grant Balfour
9) Drafted Jeff Ridgway (Rd 14). Traded to the Braves on 1/17/08 for Willy Aybar & Chase Fontaine.

2000
10) Drafted Rocco Baldelli (#6 overall)
11) Drafted James Shields (Rd 16)
12) Drafted Shawn Riggans (Rd 24)

2001
13) Drafted Fernando Cortez (Rd 9) & Joey Gathright (Rd 31). Both traded on 6/20/06 to the Royals for J.P. Howell.
14) Drafted Jonny Gomes (Rd 18)

2002
15) Jan 11: Signed Lance Carter as a FA. Traded with Danys Baez to the Dodgers on 1/14/06 for Edwin Jackson & Chuck Tiffany
16) Drafted B.J. Upton (#2 overall; thanks Pittsburgh!)
17&18) Drafted Jason Pridie (Rd 2). Traded with Brendan Harris & Delmon Young to the Twins on 11/28/07 for Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, and Eduardo Morlan
19) Drafted Jason Hammel (Rd 10)
20) Jun 29: signed Elliot Johnson as an undrafted FA

2003
17&18) Drafted Delmon Young (#1 overall). See #17&18 above
21) Drafted James Houser (Rd 2)
22) Drafted John Jaso (Rd 12)
23) Drafted Chad Orvella (Rd 13) -- on 60-Day DL

2004
15) Jan 6: Signed Danys Baez as a FA. See #15 above
24) Drafted Jeff Niemann (#4 overall)
25) Drafted Reid Brignac (Rd 2)
26) Drafted Fernando Perez (Rd 7)
27) Drafted Andy Sonnanstine (Rd 13)

2005
28) Drafted Greg Reinhard (Rd 6) & Andrew Lopez (Rd 8). Both traded to the Cubs on 2/13/07 for Jae Kuk Ryu

2006
29) Jan 10: signed Ty Wigginton as a FA. Traded to Houston on 7/28/07 for Dan Wheeler
30) Drafted Evan Longoria (#3 overall)
31) Drafted Josh Butler (Rd 2). Traded to Brewers on 4/22/08 for Gabe Gross
32) Dec 15: signed Akinori Iwamura as a FA.

2007
33) Feb 1: Signed Carlos Peña as a minor league FA
34) Drafted David Price (#1 overall)
35) Nov 30: Signed Troy Percival as a FA
36) Dec 14: Signed Cliff Floyd as a FA

2008
37) Feb 6: Signed Trever Miller as a FA
38) Feb 7: Signed Eric Hinske as a minor league FA
39) Apr 18: Claimed Dan Johnson off waivers from the Athletics
40) Aug 7: Acquired Chad Bradford from the Orioles for a PTBNL (will be named before winter meetings)
41) Aug 31: Acquired Michel Hernandez from the Pirates for straight cash homey.

[JRSarno]

78.  Heyman has an article on a Manny deal being at 2 years, reportedly at or even above ARods' 27.5M mark. McCourt was just on 710 ESPN radio and was referring to Manny exclusively in the past tense.

Interesting.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/10/22/heyman.manny/index.html

[regfairfield]

79.  So basically, the Rays traded Delmon Young and nothing of consequence for most of their good players.

[Tripon]

80.  Joe Crawford did not make the Lakers team this year as he was waived.

Coby Karl did however make it.

[Jon Weisman]

81.  76 - I don't know. White interviewed for a job in Houston that Ng didn't. Is it relevant? I imagine the interviewers are trying to get a spectrum of candidates and the mix-and-match of that spectrum will differ from team to team.

That being said, do we know that the Mariners didn't ask for permission to talk to White? I mean, I'm assuming they didn't, but it's not impossible that they did.

[Jon Weisman]

82.  78 - "Heyman has an article on a Manny deal being at 2 years, reportedly at or even above ARods' 27.5M mark."

That's kind of a misleading way to summarize that article. What it's saying - citing as a source "One person who's spoken to Dodgers people" - is that the team is considering proposing such a deal.

As usual, Heyman is just passing along complete speculation.

[bhsportsguy]

83.  81 I don't know, there were a lot of leaks about who they were asking permission to talk to.

79 They did dump Aubrey Huff during their salary purge and I may be the only one that thinks this but to me, the Julio Lugo deal was basically the same (salary dump) though the Dodgers still have two pitchers and the Rays have an extra outfielder from that deal.

[bhsportsguy]

84.  82 You are not saying that unnamed sources are not reliable?

[Bob Timmermann]

85.  I thought Joey Crawford worked for the Lakers.

That's what people in Sacramento say.

[dsfan]

86.  Can see why Ng and her supporters are bummed, but she still has a great job. Seems to me the Brewers' guy is a good talent evaluator. Another thing about his drafts: He very seldom had any extra picks and I doubt the Brewers were known for busting slot, either. So there was a lot of pressure on him to hit with his picks, yet he still plucked a lot of talent. Glad to see him get the job. As for the comparison to Bavasi, not a good one. Bavasi was a farm director, not a guy charged with figuring out which high school and college players should get a lot of money. Big difference.

[Jon Weisman]

87.  Farewell, Rudy Lugo. He was from my era covering high school sports.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-me-lugo23-2008oct23,0,844897.column?track=rss

[Humma Kavula]

88.  Is it possible that Kim Ng fulfilled a responsibility to interview minority candidates for managerial positions?

Caveats:

1) I don't know if such a responsibility exists for GM positions.

2) I don't know the races of the other candidates.

[dsfan]

89.  As for Heyman and Manny, Heyman strikes me as a mouthpiece for Boras so there may be truth in what he writes but it may be agenda driven.

[bhsportsguy]

90.  88 As far as I know, unlike the NFL, MLB does not have those rules in place.

[dsfan]

91.  I'm for making a big-dollar, two-year offer to Manny. Keep him hungry. If he says no, give White the two picks.

[bhsportsguy]

92.  88 She would be a minority regardless of the other candidates.

[Eric Stephen]

93.  77
I forgot to include that on 1/2/07, the Rays acquired Brendan Harris for what turned out to be cash. He was part of #17&18 above.

[regfairfield]

94.  92 I don't know if someone that's part of 50% of the population counts as a minority.

[JRSarno]

95.  82 - I figured you'd have some sematic quibble with the articulation of the info. As a lawyer, I'll be more careful next time with my diction.

[JRSarno]

96.  semantic that is... see, I just write too fast on this thing. Get too excited that I'm not actually writing legalese for once.

[Humma Kavula]

97.  92 Of course. By my caveat #2, I was saying that if such a responsibility exists, and it might not, the Mariners may have been covered already if one of the other candidates happened to be, say, African-American.

[bhsportsguy]

98.  90 I take it back, the Dodgers had to go to MLB last year for a special exception to not interviewing minority candidates (or any other candidates) for their managerial job, one reason it was granted was the diversity amongst their front office.

[silverwidow]

99.  It was said that Colletti dispatched White for a "last minute evaluation" on Santana and that Logan "gave his blessing" to make the trade.

[Bob Timmermann]

100.  94
There are 97 men for every 100 women in the United States, according to the Census Bureau.

There is a margin for error of 0.1 either way.

Women live longer and are less likely to do things like shoot each other.