McAdam: A look at the Red Sox' GM search

Soon, the Red Sox will be hiring their fourth (full-time) chief baseball executive in the last eight years.

On paper, it should be an attractive job. In reality, it may be somewhat less.

Any interested candidates will know that the position offers little in the way of job security -- at least if recent past history is any indication. The last two to fill the position -- Ben Cherington and Dave Dombrowski -- were each fired less than two years after winning a World Series. In Dombrowski's case, the honeymoon lasted a mere 11 months.

The perception around the game is that the Red Sox are beset with dysfunction at the ownership level, and that, too, will have to be overcome.

But there are, undeniably, positives. The franchise offers great resources, even as this search begins with the knowledge that the team must get its payroll under control in the near future.

The job comes with expectations and pressures, yes, but also plenty of money to spend, a strong baseball infrastructure, tradition and a devoted, passionate following.

One baseball source predicted that the team's search will begin with an effort to lure some of the biggest names in the game.

"They've got a wish list,'' said a baseball source,



"and they're going to aim high. If none of those work out, they'll start working their way down.''

According to someone familiar with the team's plans, team president and CEO Sam Kennedy will be in charge of the search process and will vet candidates before making his final recommendation to ownership.

According to one industry source, the structure of the new front office will likely depend on who comes aboard. If the team succeeds in landing one of its "big fish,'' that person will, by necessity, be given the title of president of baseball operations, the title given to Dombrowski when he came on board in August of 2015. A lesser experienced executive could then be brought in -- or possibly promoted from within -- to serve as GM.

If, on the other hand, the Sox fail to land one of the marquee names, they may just appoint the new hire to the role of general manager.

One baseball source believes the Sox may have trouble attracting a younger candidate "because the way the game is now, everyone is so risk averse. But these jobs don't become available when everything is going well, so they have to accept that.''

Because the clear goal of the organization is to hire a proven executive from outside the organization, a number of otherwise viable in-house candidates will not be listed here.

THE BIG FISH

1-Theo Epstein.

This has virtually no chance of succeeding, but it won't stop the Red Sox from trying. Epstein has two years remaining on his deal with the Cubs, so merely extricating him from that would be a task in itself. Moreover, Epstein feels a loyalty to the Cubs to finish the job he began. But there's no harm in trying to lure back the GM who ended the Sox' 86-year World Series drought, then ended a longer one in Chicago. Perhaps enticing him with an ownership stake? Still, this feels like a very, very long shot.

2-Jeff Luhnow

Luhnow is regarded as one of the game's best executives and given his slavish devotion to data, perhaps the modern face of the front office. After overseeing the Houston Astros rebuild, he's won a World Series and taken his team to the ALCS over the last two seasons. He's also regarded as one of the foremost executives when it comes to incorporating analytics into the job. He's seen as somewhat totalitarian at a time when the Sox want someone to be more collaborative, and almost certainly wouldn't be allowed to leave by the Astros.

3-Andrew Friedman.

Friedman has unfinished business with the Dodgers, who have won the last seven division titles, gone to the last two World Series, but have yet to win it all. Surely, Friedman will want to finish what he started. He's been successful with the ultimate small-market franchise (Tampa Bay) and the ultimate big market team (Dodgers), too. But even if he could be pried loose, are the Red Sox willing to make one of top two highest-paid executives (earning $7.5 million annually) even richer?

NEXT-LEVEL STAR QUALITY

4-Chris Antonetti

Antonetti recently signed an extension with the Indians, an organization he has been with for 20 years. Beyond the contractual issues and the Indians' desire to retain him, there's the matter of his interest. He does have New England roots, growing up in Connecticut and attending UMass. There's little doubting his qualifications. The Red Sox would be impressed with the fact that he's helped build an organization that has enjoyed sustained success, and more specifically, that the Indians have had a knack for developing homegrown starting pitching, or at the very least, uncovering it elsewhere (Trevor Bauer, Corey Kluber).

5-Jed Hoyer

Forever linked to Epstein, with whom he's worked for all but two seasons since 2002. His title of general manager in Chicago could offer the Red Sox an opening to pry him away from the Cubs, by making him the Sox' President of Baseball Operations. Philosophically aligned with Epstein, he would bring a more "macro'' view of the organization and there are those current holdovers in Baseball Ops who would welcome his return. But by some accounts, Hoyer might be reluctant to rejoin an organization that has churned through three chief baseball executives in the last nine years. He's settled in Chicago with a young family and may want to see that assignment through.

6-Mike Hazen

Other than Epstein, he's the only one who has already been GM of the Red Sox, though, under Dombrowski, the position didn't hold much power. He's earned plaudits for the job he's done in Arizona, where he's managed an on-the-fly rebuild (dealing away cornerstones Paul Goldschmidt and Zack Greinke) while still remaining in contention for a playoff spot. According to a source, Hazen would be "torn'' about the prospect of returning. On one hand, the challenge is enticing and both he and his wife are from Massachusetts. On the other hand, Hazen feels some loyalty to his hand-picked manager, Torey Lovullo, and to the D'backs for giving him his big opportunity. What's more, Arizona ownership has already signaled that it won't allow Hazen to leave.

RISING YOUNG EXECUTIVES WITH (SOME) NEW ENGLAND ROOTS

7. Chaim Bloom 

Bloom has spent 15 years with the Rays, fulfilling every role imaginable. Together with Eric Neander, he's put together a highly competitive club which has is on its way to a second straight 90-win season, in a division dominated by two financial behemoths. He's consistently demonstrated an ability to do less with more and has had plenty of experience on the player development side. Like Epstein, he's a graduate of Yale University, though he grew up in Philadelphia.

8. Derek Falvey

A native of Lynn, Ma. and a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Falvey, like many modern baseball executives, got his start in the Indians organization, working under Antonetti and Mark Shapiro. He's in his third year as GM of the Minnesota Twins, who have executed a dramatic turnaround and appear on their way to an AL Central division title. As GM, he could be potentially be lured with the President of Baseball Operations title, but like others, he may not be ready to move on from his current challenge, even if it does offer a chance to return home.

9.Tim Naehring

Naehring, who played eight seasons with the Red Sox, has served as the most trusted advisor in the Yankees organization to GM Brian Cashman and Cashman has labeled Naehring the best talent evaluator he's ever known. That's something, considering that Cashman cut his teeth with Gene Michael, another expert evaluator. There are two obstacles, however: Naehring has a heavy scouting background at a time when executive leadership is highly valued. Secondly, he has young teenage children who live in Cincinnati and may not be ready to commit the time, travel and energy needed.

FORMER SOX EMPLOYEES WHO'VE GONE ELSEWHERE:

10-11 Amiel Sawdaye, Jared Porter

Sawdaye was the Red Sox' scouting director, on whose watch the Red Sox drafted Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Matt Barnes, Travis Shaw and others, is Hazen's assistant GM in Arizona. Like so many others on the list, he's part of the Epstein Tree, and as such, would have the same organizational and philosophical beliefs. He would require no re-introduction to Boston or the organization. Porter has more of a pro scouting background, but in recent seasons, has also had front office experience, named, like Sawdaye, as an assistant GM.

The question is, however, would the Sox hire someone who hadn't run a front office before? Yes, both Sawdaye and Porter are well known to Sox ownership and Porter, in particular, is said be very highly thought of by Kennedy.

Still, it would represent a risk at a time when the team may want more of a sure thing.

"And if they do that,'' predicted someone in the industry, "they'll lose Eddie (Romero, current assistant GM, who would feel passed over in favor of someone without much -- if any -- more experience than he has).''