The Red Sox have started looking for a new front office boss, and a familiar face might be on their radar since ESPN’s Buster Olney (X link) reports that Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen “is one of the names discussed” as a potential candidate. Hazen is a Massachusetts native and he previously worked for the Sox from 2006-16, including a stint as the club’s general manager during the 2016 season. Hazen was the top lieutenant under president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski that year before Arizona hired him away to lead their front office.
Hazen’s time in the desert has included the lows of two brutal seasons in 2020-21, and the highs of a playoff appearance in 2017, three winning records in six full seasons, and a club that is fighting for another postseason berth with a 79-72 record this year. Between this season’s success and the wealth of quality young talent in Arizona’s farm system, Hazen might not necessarily be too eager to consider a job change, especially considering that the D’Backs have him under contract through the 2024 season (with a club option for 2025).
As Olney notes, Hazen could potentially leverage any interest from the Red Sox into a new extension from the D’Backs, though one would imagine that Arizona was already looking to retain an executive who has seemingly gotten the team back on track. Since the Diamondbacks would have to give permission for Hazen to be interviewed by another club, it’s possible Boston’s interest might go unexplored if the D’Backs aren’t willing to give that consent. It also isn’t known if Hazen is seen as a prime candidate for the Sox, or if they were doing some natural due diligence early in their front office search on an experienced executive with many past Boston ties.
More from around the NL West…
- Alex Cobb recently revealed that he has been pitching through hip discomfort for over three months, though he has still posted a respectable 4.20 ERA over his last 13 starts and 70 2/3 innings pitched. The Giants have been trying to manage the injury with a cortisone shot and some extra rest, as Cobb had eight days between his most recent two starts, and will be working on eight more days of rest when he is scheduled to take the mound Tuesday for a big game with the Diamondbacks. Cobb underwent hip surgery in 2019, though he told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he doesn’t believe he’ll need another procedure to address his current impingement (which is in his left hip, whereas his right hip previously received the surgical repair). However, Cobb did add “I should get more clarity on it, honestly,” which is something of an ominous admission for the veteran hurler. Trying to tough it out carries some extra risk for Cobb since he technically isn’t under contract for 2024 — San Francisco holds a $10MM club option ($2MM buyout) on his services for next year.
- The Rockies placed left-hander Kyle Freeland on the 15-day injured list today due to a right oblique strain, so Freeland won’t pitch again during the 2023 season. The oblique injury forced Freeland to make an early exit from Saturday’s game, and continued the season-long string of pitching injuries that has devastated the Rockies’ staff. It was a frustrating year overall for the veteran southpaw, who posted a 5.03 ERA and one of the sport’s lowest strikeout rates (13.9%) over 155 2/3 innings.
Arizona would have to give consent if the Red Sox are interested in giving Hazen the POBO position, as it would be a promotion.
Also I wouldn’t hold 2020-2021 against Hazen considering what he was going through with his wife.
Great insight , I learned about it I think because she had passed and they dedicated something at a game but other than that I wasn’t aware as an out of towner. One note to mention is that the rule of thumb is that baseball teams don’t block anyone from getting a promotion, lateral moves are a different story and likely almost the entire reason the pobo position exists today.
With the increase of analytics and social media personnel, some GM’s are hands-off in those departments and only take feedback.
Maybe a deal? Casas and Bello for Hazen. Then they trade Rafaela to the Dodgers for Kike. Oh, this is all lockin’ in!
Milt – that would certainly be the ‘cora as gm’ methodology of trading….
GASox – If I said Bogaerts and Chris Carpenter were sent from the Cubs to the Red Sox for Theo Epstein, would you think I’m crazy? LOL
If anything is wrong with Cobb the Giants’ small chances of anything happening in the playoffs would be reduced to zero.
it has been falling apart here for a bit –
I would love to see the giants get in just to get some facetime but I honestly don’t see any way they go deep in a playoff run
The epitome of mediocrity. A whelming candidate for any front office job.
I think Hazen has Arizona on a winning path.
You can say that NOW but would you say that a year ago, two years ago, three years ago? Recency bias.
Recency bias? Maybe for the unknowledgeable fans; the knowledgeable fans knew that the farm system he was building would take time, and he’s done a pretty good job the entire time.
There were some bad trades/signings, but there were also very strong trades/signings.
Did Hazen ask Olney to write this so he could “leverage any interest from the Red Sox into a new extension from the D’Backs”?
Yeah, the timing is so weird. Like Hazen and his agent are putting out feelers coming off the sweep of the Cubs and the Diamondbacks postseason chances looking good.
Or the Red Sox have legitimate interest in a guy who has ties to the team while showing he is capable of running an organization well. He has the Diamondbacks in great shape. They are primed to be competitive for years to come.
Yeah, you can say that NOW during this season, but they’ve looked bad just as often as they’ve looked good if not more in Hazen’s tenure.
Yeah. I’m just joking. The Red Sox probably do have some interest.
@changed- Right, but they were rebuilding to get to this point. Hazen had to implement his plan. Too often people want instant results without recognizing a situation in which groundwork needs to be laid. He got the D-backs to a competitive level last season and now they should be competitive for years to come.
It’s just an assumption at this point, they’ve been good for parts of this year but they’ve had a lot of stops and starts during his tenure. He’s been there for over 7 years. No guarantee they can maintain this type of level.
Yes, but again, if you’re acknowledging the “stops and starts,” then (if you’re being fair to him) you’ll acknowledge this occurred because he wasn’t immediately able to implement his plan. He tried to win by building off of the mess Dave Stewart left and seeing if he could salvage anything. It didn’t work so they entered a rebuild and here we are now seeing the fruits of that rebuild after a promising 2022.
Sure, there’s no guarantee, but I don’t know how anyone can say it doesn’t look promising.
No he’s genuinely a hot commodity in front office circles, among the hottest in fact.
He is NOW, never heard him mentioned when the Diamondbacks looked awful for the last few years.
Ok Len Kendrick we get it, your trying to simmer down interest in him to leverage in up coming contact talks.
If the Red Sox want Hazen they are seriously going to have to over pay the man. He’s got the potential NL rookie of the year in Corbin and Arizona is in the wild card hunt. I doubt Arizona is going to give permission, I’m sure that alone will have to be compensated.
Dbacks have to give permission. Not literally but in practice. Compensation if required will be minimal. Only way to keep him if the Sox offer is to create a PBO position and put him in it, so it’s not a promotion. If they just say no without promoting him he’ll leave next year.
@Seamaholic, The Sox don’t need to create the position. They are hiring Bloom’s replacement. Bloom was the PoBO, not the GM
I think he was saying the Dbacks will have to create the POBO position not the Red sox
mgauthier – I agree, he used “offer” as a verb not a noun.
This is why English is truly one of the hardest languages to learn, and I respect every person who learns it as a second language.
Oh. My bad lol.
The source is Olney. So it’s a guess, an attempt at scooping guys like Rosenthal Verducci and others.
He’s a qualified choice but getting an interview or being asked to interview can be spun into a number of misrepresentations of what is going to happen. Let things develop a bit more and NEVER, NEVER trust a guy like Olney or Rosenthal!! They are in a cut throat business and guess far to often. In fact, they prefer to make the news by floating rumors rather than reporting the news.
All he said is “one of the names discussed” is Hazen. I’m sure that’s 100% accurate. Also true that it will never be confirmed unless he gets an offer and takes it.
Seamaholic – I hope the comment was a FACT but I highly doubt it. Reporters can say anything they want because the standards in journalism are different today. We have no idea if “one of the names discussed” actually was Hazen. If you are Olney and have such a scoop why not detail the facts more? Simple answer….. Because the reporter is guessing in an attempt to make news and scoop the competition. Olney and Rosenthal have done this often in the past and it bit Rosenthal in the rear end at least once.
There is NO INTEGRITY CHECK when it comes to reporting baseball news. Sometimes the rumors happen and sometimes they don’t. Sometime people are mentioned when there is no evidence and sometimes there is evidence.
For all we know Olney created the story because it’s logical since he was with Boston before. Or maybe it could be that his cousin told him because their neighbor knows a guy who lives on the same block with an intern for the Red Sox and that’s how the name got floated. Either way. It’s premature speculation and needs to be taken with an entire vat of Morton’s salt.
So tell me how you can guarantee that it’s 100% accurate? Were you speaking directly with people in the Red Sox front office? If so, please tell us all who it was so we can contact them and validate your source. Sounds overwhelming but that used to be how information was validated in the old days. It wasn’t good enough to simply state something it had to be corroborated by two sources.
Heck now guys that report don’t even know the word corroborate!!!
Do you know Cora? Did hit the can a certain number of times to indicate it was Hazen that was being discussed since you are 100% sure?
No offense Seamaholic, but you don’t have any idea about how this all works.
It will be made public when Boston’s front office wants to make it public knowledge whether an offer is extended or not and long before he needs to accept it. It all comes down to how clandestine the meetings are. If Boston invites him to interview at a public location where the press can see him heading into the meeting, then it’s factual. Until then, it’s speculation unless a valid representative of the Red Sox confirms it publicly to the news services.
There is NO INTEGRITY CHECK when it comes to reporting baseball news.
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Just a couple of thoughts.
There are no integrity checks because baseball news is a little like Hollywood news. Interesting, but not important.
I’d also add that probably no one objects to it. The writers make up stories about signings and trades that they would like to make, if they were GMs, and print it as a “verified” rumor. It gets clicks, it gets publicity for the team, and it gives fans hope.
In this case, everyone one of us can probably probably come up with a few names of GMs or assistant GMs, especially if they have a RS history, and say that person is interested/interesting. And it is probably true. The RS are probably looking at 10-20 names.
Joe – Baseball news isn’t important so it’ doesn’t need to be reported with integrity? Interesting perspective.
Think about what you just wrote. It brought to mind a certain manager of the Red Sox and his rationalization for cheating. “It’s fine to cheat because it’s really not that important.!!”
Why not state that you heard or created a rumor that something happened so nobody takes it seriously?
The trend of rationalizing lying seems to be much more acceptable than I think it should be. Why not report with integrity even if it’s “only a sport”. Who gets to decide what’s important enough to not lie in the media?
When you write the RS are probably looking at 10-20 names everyone understands that you don’t have a clue and they don’t take it seriously. When the media states a specific name, people consider it gospel when it’s not. That’s the problem.
We now have at least one generation of people who are so accustomed to the media lying that they expect it while those of us that are old enough to remember there used to be integrity in the media still can’t believe the world has changed to the point that integrity means nothing.
If integrity still meant something CORA would be out of baseball.
James Click?
YBC – Great minds think alike, he is my top choice too.
If the Giants make the playoffs, Gabe Kapler should be NL Manager of the Year. He’s kept the Giants in the race with a roster that resembles a triage scene from an episode of M*A*S*H, only without the laugh track.
Elsewhere, looks like the Cubbies are doing an el-foldo and there will be no October tailgating on the North Side.
And how about those Marlins? I guess nobody told them they ain’t supposed to be in the playoff hunt.
Hazen should decline. The Sox already dismissed Hazen by ranking him beneath Dombrowski. Not critical of the move, but Hazen should say ‘you had your chance.’ Go get Brian Sabean.
Just to throw on the wet towel, AZ’s run differential is only #19. Just quick & dirty draft analysis:
2017-Odd picking a 1B with the overall #7, but most of the players drafted after him weren’t anything special. And scored with his 3rd rounder Varsho.
2018-Unfortunately, he couldn’t sign his over #27 (McLain), but scored with is 1S and #2 with McCarthy and Thomas.
2019-Big score with Carroll and a couple of others that might still be players.
And it is probably too early to tell on other drafts.
Bad signing on Bumgarner.
Good trade for Gallen. Not so much that Gallen is that much better than Chisholm, but more that it was a trade that made sense for both teams.
Same with the Moreno trade. It wasn’t so much the talent, but the fact that they had OF depth, needed a catcher, and TO had extra catchers. That’s how you get your best value.
And Moreno is making that trade look good for his team. Arizona is 52-32 when he starts behind the plate and he’s got the potential to be an All-Star backstop.
Joe – Agreed. Trades to maximize value and to fill needs are necessary. I support many of Bloom’s moves (Betts was ownership’s move not his), Abreu and Valdez were a steal for 2 months of Vazquez…., but the last two trading deadlines were an F. Bloom could have gotten under the CBT in 2022 by trading JD Martinez, in 2023 he could have traded Chris Sale with the other team picking up 100% of pay, and he could have traded Verdugo. Bloom’s inactivity is what doomed him.
Just like the three bears… Dombrowski was too ‘hot’ (hot to trot – spending more than he needed to on players and giving away more than needed), Bloom too ‘cold’ (trading paralysis – could not pull the trigger on many moves that needed to be done – RF in 2022 – starting pitching in 2023). Hopefully after too hot and too cold, the next GM will be in the middle.
Amanda – Small correction. First base and DH. Also, the existing contracts like Kenley, Martin etc. But you are right, take away the massive over-pays for Devers, Yoshida and Story and the new GM has carte blanche spending opportunities.
That’s why Ohtani is not off the table nor Yamamoto or Snell or any other free agent that would fill the huge number of holes we have. I hope the new GM slots the youngsters into the future outfield because they look like a modern day version of homegrown outfields from the past.
The big needs should be addressed first so top of the rotation pitchers should be on the new GMs menu at the top!!
@Amanda Ticket pricing have little correlation to actual team payroll. It’s based on supply and demand and to maximize profits. It sucks for the middle- and lower-income class who get priced out of attending ballgames. The people who can afford going to games will keep buying tickets even at an increase in pricing.
Yankee – Never assume all clubs behave the same. A big market team has many high producing sources of revenue and one of them is ticket sales. Smaller markets have fewer and less robust sources of revenue so ticket prices have a bigger impact on profitability.
The correlation you mention is reversely proportional to market size. The smaller the market the higher the correlation of ticket prices to payroll. If you had said the Yankees for instance you would be right in saying NO correlation. In Boston the situation is similar to New York. KC and Cincinnati are two at the other end of the spectrum.
Baseball seating used to reflect society with the great seats being for the 1 percenters and the bleachers for the average to lower income folks. Now, there is no section for those average or lower income folks. They need to pool their money and attend ONE game rather than many during the summer.
That’s one of the worse developments in baseball and unfortunately with the Commissioner ONLY accountable to the owners it’s going to keep getting worse. I’ve suggested many times that the structure of baseball be changed to return it to a very lucrative game not a business but the impact would be greatest on the big market teams so it will never happen. I believe the game should be controlled by a triumvirate of decision makers representing Owners, Players and Fans. The fans foot the bill yet have next to no say in the direction of baseball. That seems like a strategy that will eventually backfire once the fans get dissatisfied enough to reduce the profitability of the industry.
It would be great to see an owner led movement to open up large sections of each stadium for the common man but I don’t see it happening any time soon.