Today is not the day for Kim Ng, as the Dodgers go old school by hiring Giants Assistant GM Ned Colletti.
Colletti was chosen over Kim Ng, the Dodger assistant general manager of four years and one of two women in the major leagues to hold a high-level baseball operations position.
A previous address in Northern California, however, might be the only similarity between Colletti and DePodesta.
Colletti, 50, has a reputation of being an old-school executive, having learned the trade under hard-bitten Giant General Manager Brian Sabean. DePodesta, 32, represented the trend of young Ivy League-educated executives who are making their way into front offices.
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It is unclear whether Colletti plans to retain Ng or vice president of player development Roy Smith, who have been running the Dodger front office since DePodesta was fired.
Ng survived the transition between former general manager Dan Evans and DePodesta and knows the intricacies of Dodger baseball operations as well as anyone. Ng and Smith, who was hired by DePodesta, have three years left on their contracts.
I have no doubt that if Ng and the Dodgers part ways, there will be multiple clubs lining up to interview her for something. The real question is whether she’ll get this kind of consideration for the next vacant GM positions, now that she’s already been a serious candidate once. We’ll see.
As for Colletti, Dodger bloggers aren’t so sanguine. Jon Weisman says “On paper, I don’t see what Colletti offered that Kim Ng does not”, though he vows to “give Colletti the chance that many did not give Paul DePodesta”. 6-4-2 was not impressed with Colletti when he became the frontrunner, and he’s still not impressed. Linkmeister? You’re the resident Dodger Blue patron around here. What do you think?
Dodger THOUGHTS patron, Kuff. Not Dodger Blue, which is a haven for the younger set. 😉
I don’t know what to think. The guy comes from the Giants, which is a strike against him already (I kid!). He knows Kent and he knows the division, which are plusses. I’m disappointed in McCourt, which isn’t new; he could have made a statement by promoting Ng, something the Dodgers have done before with Jackie Robinson, and he didn’t do it.
I thought McCourt made a mistake in firing DePodesta only 20 months into his term; I think he got stampeded by a bad season and an unrelentingly bad press, which is no way to run a business.
I guess benefit of the doubt is warranted, but so is skepticism.