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Saturday, November 26, 2005

The Doomsday List

At Matt's suggestion, here's a list of all the hirings, firings, resignations, interviews, and rebuffs (i.e., individuals who refused, for whatever reason, to talk to the Dodgers about open positions with the team, or declined to accept such positions once they had been interviewed) that have gone down at Dodger Stadium since McCourt "bought" the team. Dates are the days the stories appeared in the Times, which is to say, the day after the event. Not included are any appointments or advancements of anyone with the McCourt surname, coaches or managers at the minor league level, or internal interviews for promotion (Kim Ng).

Who (Title)StatusWhenComments
Billy Beane (GM, A's)No interview2/5/04Then-owner Steve Schott refused to let Beane interview. Beane instead suggests DePodesta.
Ruben Amoro (AGM, Phillies)Interviewed2/11/04Rejected shortly thereafter for Paul DePodesta.
Pat Gillick (consultant, Mariners)Interviewed?2/14/04Giants AGM Ned Colletti said "If it's not going to be Dan Evans, I have no doubt that Pat Gillick would be the best guy for that job." Changed his mind after expressing a lack of interest in the position on 2/4/04.
Dan Evans (GM)Fired2/17/04Fired after being allowed to "interview" for the job he already had.
Paul DePodesta (AGM, A's)Hired2/17/04"I spoke with some very capable candidates, all of whom would have been valuable to the Dodger organization," McCourt said during a news conference in the Dodger Stadium Dugout Club. "But during the search, there was one person who stood out to me and my wife [Jamie], and that was Paul DePodesta....

"He loves the game, he's a student of the game, and he's a hard worker. He said he doesn't have all the answers, but he's willing to ask all the questions. He's a very bright man who has a strong desire to win.... In the end, I found this to be a clear choice, if not an easy one."

Bob Graziano (President)Resigned3/5/04"I met with Frank and Jamie at the beginning of February, at which time we decided that would be an appropriate course of action because we had decided to go our separate ways."
Kris Rone (VP Business)Resigned3/5/04
Mike Dee (VP Business Affairs, Red Sox)Interviewed, rebuffed3/7/04Turned down the Dodgers after extensive negotiations.
Derek Hall (VP Communications)Resigned3/14/04Left due to "philosophical differences", as did Kris Rone and Bob Graziano. The McCourts asked him to reconsider after Jamie embarrassed herself to the press.
David Walkley (VP Human Resources)Resigned10/21/04Due to a change in responsibilities.
John Boles (senior advisor)Resigned10/21/04Boles was a senior advisor to Dan Evans; along with Jeff Schugel, Matt Slater and Mark Weidemaier, all resigned at the end of their contracts.
Jeff Schugel (?)Resigned10/21/04
Matt Slater (?)Resigned10/21/04
Mark Wedemaier (?)Resigned10/21/04
Doug Duennes (VP stadium operations)Fired4/30/05Then-team spokeswoman Kelly Mullins denied he was fired over complaints about the stadium renovations. He was replaced by Lon Rosen.
Ross Porter (Radio broadcaster)Non-tendered10/22/04Porter's contract expired and was not renewed.
Charlie Steiner (Broadcaster)Hired10/22/04For the love of God, it's "Encarnacion", Charlie, not "Encanarcion".
Al Downing (Radio broadcaster)Hired10/22/04
Steve Lyons (Broadcaster)Hired10/22/04
Lon Rosen (XVP and chief marketing officer)Fired4/2/05
Gary Miraneau (VP communications)Fired4/2/05
Jim Tracy (Manager)Released10/4/05Tracy "was not fired."
Paul DePodesta (GM)Fired10/29/2005
Jim Colborn (Pitching Coach)Non-tendered10/5/05
Jim Lett (Bench Coach)Non-tendered10/5/05?Along with Colborn, hired by Jim Tracy after the Pirates hired Tracy.
Pat Gillick (consultant, Mariners)Rebuffed11/1/05Ultimately signed with the Phillies.
Jim Bowden (GM, Nationals)Never interviewed-
Theo Epstein (erst-GM, Red Sox)Rebuffed-Epstein remains without a position, but never signaled any interest in joining the Dodgers.
Gerry Hunsicker (former GM, Astros)Rebuffed11/2/05Reported to have accepted Tampa Bay's GM position on this date; officially announced November 3.
Rene Francisco (director of international scouting)Resigned11/6/05Now with the Atlanta Braves in the same position.
Bobby Valentine (manager, Chiba Lotte Marines)Rebuffed11/10/05Friend-of-Tommy's Valentine signed a deal with his Japanese league club and is out of the running.
John Hart (ex-GM, Rangers, Indians)Rebuffed11/14/05Hart decided to stay within the Rangers organization, shutting the Dodgers out.
John Olguin (VP Public Relations)Fired11/14/05
Chris Gutierrez (baseball information coordinator)Fired11/14/05
Paul Gomez (broadcast publications supervisor)Fired11/14/05
Camille Johnston (VP Public Relations)Hired11/14/05
Ned Colletti (AGM, Giants)Hired11/15/05
Orel Hershiser (pitching coach, Rangers)Rebuffed11/18/05Hershiser accepted a promotion within the organization, taking him off the table.
Jim Fregosi (special assignment scout, Braves, former Angels manager)Interviewed11/18/05Still waiting on an answer, but doesn't meet the requirements of "knowing how to win" and "being a Dodger".
Lou Piniella (manager, Devil Rays)Rebuffed11/20/05
Bud Black (pitching coach, Angels)Rebuffed11/22/05Immediately said "no", then did a 180, saying he'd sleep on it, and then said "no" again.
John McLaren (bench coach, Devil Rays)-11/25/05So far, only an announcement that the Dodgers are interested.

As always, if there are any omissions or corrections anyone wishes to offer, please do so in the comments below. It's getting to be quite a list.


Comments:
I think you have the wrong job action for Camille Johnston. You have "fired" on the day she was "hired".

Or maybe she was fired.

I've lost track. I'm amazed you got all these other names straight.
 
wasn't hunsicker a gm candidate?
 
Wow, quite a list. The McCourts may well have surpassed FOX in total damage to the organization.
 
shouldn't ross porter and john boles be on the list? they're at least recognizable names...
 
Thanks for the comments everyone. I've incorporated those suggestions into the list.
 
Is Rene "director of international scouting" Francisco a big enough name to put on the list? I don't know if his leaving the org had anything to do with the dodgers closing down one of their 2 DR fields.
 
Re Rene Francisco, his exit probably had something to do with the shutdown, which I'm sure he knew about in advance.

Bee-ranom -- you're thinking about Doug Duennes. I'll annotate his entry.
 
I thought Ross Porter wasn't fired, just didn't get his contract renewed.
 
I believe you're right.
 
How does your list jive with Plaschke's comments from his column on Sunday (11/27) regarding Paul DePodesta -
"Colletti would have had a veteran baseball advisor to help with trades. He would have had a veteran coaching staff to help with direction.
Now he has neither, as DePodesta alienated, lost or fired the best major league minds in the organization, from the major league staff to his super scouts like John Boles."
 

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