Rick Hahn will interview for the New York Mets' general manager vacancy next week, and SNY.tv called me up to ask me about him:
The Mets and Sox are in similar positions -- the second team of a major market with a good TV deal and a budget that seems lower than it should be (the Wilpons have constraints for vastly different reasons). I don't think the market size would get to Hahn, since he's the more public face of the White Sox front office. We grilled him about the Mark Teahen and Scott Linebrink contracts early in the season, too.
However, ownership meddling is a major fault line under the Mets' franchise, which seemed to have a too-many-chefs-in-the-kitchen problem in the previous regime. Omar Minaya was the GM, but he didn't have the final word in decision-making. That's a vastly different situation from the White Sox, where Jerry Reinsdorf gives Kenny Williams a lot of leeway for risk-taking, letting them work their way into and out of problems.
That may or may not be beneficial for the White Sox on the field, but it's certainly a different way to run a team. Hahn has learned under Williams, who is universally recognized as possessing the largest set of any GM. Reinsdorf's certainty in his guys gives him that room to operate. As far as anybody can tell, that wouldn't be the case under Jeff Wilpon in New York.
The New York Post states it thusly:
AnAL executive: “This is not an attractive job unless you want the money.The only person with a worse reputation then Jeff Wilpon in the game is[Marlins president] David Samson.
I guess the McCourts [Dodgersowners] also are in that conversation. Jeff’s reputation is not good inthe industry. The perception is that behind the scenes he will throwpeople under the bus rather than take responsibility.”
I don't think any vacant position is an ideal fit for a first-time GM unless he's being promoted within the organization after a retirement. After all, there's a reason the previous guy was fired. Plus, it takes time to learn how to run a show, and how to do it with an unfamiliar organization. It's just hard to see him having the kind of autonomy he has seen in Chicago.
And no, I'm not trying to talk Hahn or the Mets out of this job at all. Nope. Not here. Whistling. Etc.
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Christian Marrero Reading Room:
*Don't forget to vote for the pitchers in the South Side Satisfaction Survey. I'll post the results tomorrow night.
*The Minnesota Twins are one loss away from calling it a season, as Carl Pavano is no Cliff Lee. Twins fan Mike Nelson of MST3K fame was on a roll last night. This was my favorite:
New lyrics to the "Twin's Fight Song": We're gonna win, Twins! We're gonna score! Does not apply to the Yankees! But thanks for showing up!
Michael J Nelson
michaeljnelson
*White Sox Examiner keeps rolling along with a 2010 review for Mark Kotsay.
*White Sox Observer is starting with the pitching: Jeff Marquez and Matt Thornton, and Bobby Jenks.
