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There is a theme to the external general manager candidates that the Angels have their eyes on. While one of the candidates is the VP of Player Personnel for the Indians, Ross Atkins, the rest are all assistant general managers of American League East teams. The Yankees’ Billy Epler, the Red Sox’s Mike Hazen and the Blue Jays’ Tony LaCava are all (or have all) been interviewed by Los Angeles as they seek to replace Jerry Dipoto, who resigned from the position in early July.
Eppler is considered the favorite for the gig, especially when you consider some of the context surrounding the other candidates. Hazen is also a possibility for the open GM job in Boston, and would be a valuable contributor there as the liaison between new President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski and a Red Sox front office staff that existed before his introduction. LaCava has already turned down a GM job that featured an overbearing owner before, when he avoided taking the Orioles’ job before Dan Duquette was eventually hired. The Angels not only have Arte Moreno to push their GM around, but they also have manager Mike Scioscia.
As for Atkins, with Mark Shapiro headed to the Blue Jays from the Indians, there is room for internal promotion in Cleveland as well. And while that's an unsure thing, at least Atkins (and Hazen, and LaCava) know how the organization they are in works. It will be fascinating to see in the coming weeks (or even months) who is open to working for the Angels in spite of the two powerful reasons for Dipoto's resignation. They might end up having to go the internal route, which they've already interviewed for, if the answer is "no one." This is a GM job, though, and there are only 30 of them, so someone will accept it.
- Gregory Polanco turned this bloop into right field into a 9-3 putout thanks to an impressive throw.
- Matt Harvey's innings limit is getting all the attention, but across town, Yankees' rookie Luis Severino has already blown past his career-high in innings with plenty of season to go.
- Madison Bumgarner pinch-hit for the Giants against Reds' closer Aroldis Chapman, and he drew a walk.
- JON LESTER PICKED OFF A BASERUNNER FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2011!
- Well okay he didn't actually pick him off it was more like Starling Marte got caught in a rundown after Lester hopped off the mound at an awkward time for Marte but still Lester didn't throw the ball into the dugout so it's progress.
- These five MLB teams had offseason holes that they managed to fill in-season either by design or with a little bit of luck.
- The Indians' fireworks manager got a little overzealous and shot them off to celebrate a Royals home run.
- ESPN's Keith Law has named his top minor league players for 2015, and within that list he names College Player of the Year and Red Sox's first-rounder, Andrew Benintendi, as the top debut of this summer's draft class.
- The Yankees have benched Rob Refsnyder due to his inexperience against big league pitching, which is kind of the "You can't apply for this job because you lack the experience" of the baseball world. Granted, the Yankees are chasing a playoff spot, so it's a little different than in business.
- The Blue Jays finally found their excuse to stop using Drew Hutchison in the rotation, and his name is Marcus Stroman.
- Jonathan Papelbon even had some things to say about the bat boy in Philadelphia.
- Bartolo Colon hitting is one of our favorite things -- not just in baseball, but in general -- and now there is a detailed analysis of how he's actually alright at it these days.
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