The Nationals have hired former Reds executive Bob Miller to serve as a vice president and assistant general manager, reports Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (Twitter link). Kilgore first mentioned Miller as a speculative replacement for departed AGM Bryan Minniti a couple of weeks ago. Miller will bring more than 30 years of experience to the Nationals’ front office and has previously worked with GM Mike Rizzo while with the D’Backs. He’s previously specialized in salary arbitration and contractual matters, per Kilgore.
Here are a few more front office notes from around the game…
- The Tigers have added Alan Trammell to their front office as a special assistant to GM Dave Dombrowski, reports Tom Gage of the Detroit News (on Twitter). Trammell, of course, spent three seasons as the team’s manager from 2003-05 and has served as a bench coach for the Cubs and D’Backs. He also spent his entire 20-year playing career with the Tigers as a shortstop, hitting .285/.352/.415, making six All-Star appearances and winning four Gold Gloves and three Silver Sluggers.
- The Dodgers have spoken to well-regarded Athletics assistant GM Farhan Zaidi about a role in their front office, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). It’s far from a given that Zaidi would leave the A’s and GM Billy Beane to work alongside Andrew Friedman in L.A., Rosenthal notes, though I’d imagine the Dodgers could benefit from flexing their financial muscle, as they did to acquire Friedman in the first place. Zaidi and colleague David Forst are two of the game’s most respected assistant general managers.
I really hope zaidi doesn’t go. He’s been a huge part of the a’s turnaround. His most obvious part is bringing in moss and getting beane and forst to call him up. With their loss of Sam geaney the a’s really need to keep the rest of their front office intact
Interesting that Trammell is going back to Detroit where he was fired “Renteria-Style” almost a decade ago.
Whether you agree with the firing or not, it wasn’t Renteria style. He got three seasons and in those three seasons, he had a record of 186-300 (.383). You can blame the roster, but I can’t think of many managers who wouldn’t get the axe after that.
It was “Renteria-style” in the sense that no one expected Trammell to be fired until Dombrowski realized he could get Leyland and fired Trammell to make room for Leyland, hiring him the very next day. But Detroit had stagnated that season after making a lot of progress in ’04, so it’s not quite the same thing. Renteria only got one year, and he deserved to keep his job just for fixing Castro and Rizzo.
I do have to wonder about this, though. There’s been talk about Trammell getting another chance for years, and there were all sorts of rumblings that the team wasn’t happy with the job Brad Ausmus did. Could he be a manager in waiting there?
His last 2 years (2004-05) Dombrowski had brought in a number of free agents (including Ivan) and some of the young players in DD’s watch were beginning to matriculate onto the major league roster. In 2004 (Trammels 2nd year) the Tigers improved 29 games to 72-90, and with more free agents signed for 2004 (Ordonez and Percival) they expected continued improvement. They were doing well most of the season but fell apart in the stretch run and finished 71-91. Additionally the clubhouse was a mess.
I’d guess that Mr. Renteria will have another ML managers position within the next 2 years. He did a fine job, and will be attractive to any team trying tro bring along good young players.