The gap between the executives the A's have reportedly interviewed and the best options available according to rival executives may suggest a deeper problem.
The Athletics have been tied to at least five different candidates for their open GM position already, with a reported hope to fill that vacancy by the end of the season. Among those candidates are former Houston Astros GM James Click and former Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo.
On Thursday, Russell Dorsey of Yahoo! Sports penned an excellent piece, asking front office executives who they consider the top candidates for the open front office leadership positions around the league. The A's, Angels, and Astros are all in the process of looking for a GM at the moment.
While the entire article is terrific, two pieces really stood out to the A's search in particular. After discussing some of the names that should be the most coveted out there, there was also a section about whether some of those people would want the jobs that are currently open.
Dorsey writes that the A's job comes with some uncertainty, given the team's relocation, along with concerns about working for owner John Fisher.
"Things could change when they get to Vegas, but you have to make it to Vegas first," a longtime AL executive said. "And you can make the case that they have the worst owner in the sport. He sucks."
For this piece, all of the executives were kept anonymous, but this is one heck of a quote that could signify some difficulty ahead for the franchise in finding a match with the person that they're really after.
That may be signified by the fact that they haven't been linked publicly to many of the top candidates out there. Executives told Dorsey that former Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels is the best candidate, receiving eight votes. The next-highest vote getters were Los Angeles Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes (5) and five execs tied with four votes. One of those was Click, who has been tied to the A's.
Rizzo received zero votes, despite 40 options being named. There were also reports of the A's talking to Boston Red Sox executives Mike Groopman and Taylor Smith, though it was not said if those were formal interviews. Neither name was mentioned by rival executives.
Former A's GM David Forst received one vote, as did the team's final reported candidate, Billy Owens, who is currently the assistant GM.
In other executives' eyes, Click would be the best general candidate for the A's to hire, but we also have to take into account the undertaking this will be for whoever gets the role. Not only will the front office need to be overhauled with more bodies in the analytics department, but they'll also have to figure out the best skill types to deploy in their new ballpark in Las Vegas — before they play a single game there.
It's not an easy undertaking, and on top of all of that, there will be pressure to win immediately to ensure the Vegas transition is a success. They'll also be dealing with an owner who doesn't have a long track record of spending money to make the job any easier.
The question that needs answering is if the A's are casting a wide net of very different executive prototypes because they want to find the best fit, or because the interest isn't being reciprocated by the top names that are available.
