caulfield12

Nix and Close not the victims here... http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2014/7/19/591...a-victim-piffle

Making Papelbon, Soria and Benoit three of the most sought-after remaining targets.

80 bodies of children, including 3 infants....all will be sweltering in the blistering Ukrainian summer sun for a second day if the militants/separatists don't get out of the way and allow someone with a clue to take over the scene with a professional sense of decency and delicacy.

http://www.astroscounty.com/2014/07/from-o...g97-astros.html These Constable and Cockroach dudes are pretty funny. Can't wait to see his "rant" that he has yet to deliver. He hasn't written it for 5 hours now.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jul 18, 2014 -> 09:13 PM) Yay Sox win. Boo Sox silliness in the 1st on offense 2nd on defense. Yay Q . Boo no decision for Q . Yay bullpen.. Yay Flowers you got a GWRBI with a double. Boo Flowers job is now secure for the rest of the season. Yeah, absolutely no need to force the situation with Eaton's injuries in the 1st half and Abreu coming up as one of the hottest hitters in baseball behind him.

By not signing Aiken, Houston lost not just the amount it offered him, but its entire $7.9 million allotment for the top pick, leaving the team with a bonus pool of just $5.4 million to pay all its other draftees from the first 10 rounds. As in 2012 and '13, the Astros had hoped to use the savings from the below-slot signing of their first pick to increase the bonuses of lower picks — in this year's case, fifth-rounder Jacob Nix and 21st-rounder Mac Marshall, both pitchers. ​That smaller amount left them unable to sign Nix and Marshall, who will now pitch at UCLA and LSU, respectively. All of which suggests that Houston was willing to shoot itself in the foot over a $1.5 million gap between the club and Aiken, an amount that happens to be the annual cost of three minimum-salary major league players. That's mind-boggling given what the team was prepared to spend a month ago. Aiken is committed to UCLA, but it is possible that the NCAA's ridiculous policy regarding "student-athlete" representation could cost him his eligibility. If he attends school in Westwood, he won't be eligible for the draft again until 2017, after his junior year. Aiken could instead go to a junior college for a year and re-enter the draft in 2015. He could also sign with an independent team, as Aaron Crow, Luke Hochevar and Tanner Scheppers have done in recent years, and still be in next year's draft. There's one other, more drastic possibility: Aiken could be declared a free agent if he pursues and wins either a lawsuit in the courts or a grievance through the Major League Baseball Players Association. MLBPA shares some fault in the matter, having agreed to the draft spending limits and the bonus pool system in the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement, but placed the blame for the contract situation on the Astros. In its statement, the MLBPA said that the affected players "should be one step closer to realizing their dreams of becoming Major League ballplayers. Because of the actions of the Houston Astros, they are not." The Astros also released a statement, which read in part: "We are disappointed that we were not able to reach an agreement with Brady Aiken today. ... The Astros' offer to Brady was extremely fair considering all the factors involved in this case. As always, we approached these negotiations in good faith and with the best interests of the Astros' organization in mind, both short-term and long-term. Throughout this entire process, we have absolutely acted within Major League Baseball's rules and guidelines, which MLB has confirmed on numerous occasions." The failure to sign the three picks won’t make Luhnow’s job any easier, as this will likely hurt his standing with many agents. The GM has faced criticism from former players such as Jed Lowrie and Bud Norris over the team’s analytical bent and its connection to contract negotiations. Luhnow has also come under scrutiny over the delay of George Springer’s promotion to the majors due to his unwillingness to agree to a team-friendly, long-term deal. (Not to mention the "insider trade talks" leak...and instead of having three of Buxton, Bryant and Rodon/Kolek/Aiken, Luhnow currently has an injured Correa and a disappointing Appel) http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/07/18/houston-a...ick-brady-aiken

Hopefully Webb's coming around and becoming the pitcher projected of him. Viciedo giveth and taketh away. Who is our closer, by the way? Putnam or Petricka? Are they trying to showcase Putnam for a possible trade? Finally, did anyone think a month ago that DeAza would be worth a lot more than Beckham before July 31st?

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11233212...ick-brady-aiken Those last comments (from the story) are going to come back to haunt Luhnow a bit unless Aiken's elbow goes out before he makes it to the majors. "Today, two young men should be one step closer to realizing their dreams of becoming Major League ballplayers," union head Tony Clark said in a statement. "Because of the actions of the Houston Astros, they are not. The MLBPA, the players and their advisers are exploring all legal options." Wonder how much more money they'll spend litigating all the cases against them...?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/25-degrees--l...-145803227.html Sale and Abreu also get shout-outs from Jeff Passan for their excellence.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jul 18, 2014 -> 06:37 PM) Can someone please give me a winner in this situation? UCLA I guess? Losers: Lunhow, Aiken, Casey Close, Astros organization, Astros credibility, Cubs, Rangers, Rays, other teams with a chance at a top pick, etc. Luhnow. fwiw, Nix has a 50/50 shot at being declared a free agent and having an open bidding war for his services, which would benefit Close as his agent. Don't count on UCLA getting Aiken either. Read that again. Brady Aiken does not have much of an ulnar collateral ligament, which connects the parts of the elbow to one another. According to our resident Doctor Brooks, this condition might contribute to Aiken's ability to throw 97 mph because there is less mechanical resistance to the moving parts of his arm, but it certainly increases the likelihood of catastrophic injury. Additionally, surgery to add a functional UCL into his arm could very well slow his arm action and reduce his velocity. Incidentally, former Cy Young Winner R.A. Dickey does not have a UCL. But to succeed with his condition after a series of well-publicized struggles to pitch professionally, Dickey had to turn to the knuckleball and was not truly successful until age 34. Not a great comp for a 1-1 draft pick half his age. To me, this is yet another data point to illustrate the risk of drafting a High School pitcher so highly in the draft. At $7 million, you just don't know enough information. It's easy to imagine a scenario where Aiken goes to college, has general soreness, and the rolling-in-money Athletic Department shells out for an MRI that he might never receive from a High School with limited budget. The MRI would uncover the same thing the Astros found, and it probably would become, if not public knowledge, at least common knowledge among professional baseball scouts and front offices. That would severely damage his draft stock. One more conspiratorially-minded wonders if his parents knew about this issue, and that this is why they so carefully monitored his work load in High School, to minimize the chance of injury and maximize his chance of being drafted highly. If so, it worked, because Aiken still stands to make at least 40% of the recommended bonus slot, or $3.2 million. With this information now available (even anonymously sourced), there is no chance that if Aiken chooses College or JuCo to return to the draft at a later date that he will be drafted highly enough to receive even that much money. In other words - it's either take what the Astros offer or make far less later down the road...if his elbow even holds together, which no longer seems like a safe bet. Once again though, the Astros have taken a pounding in the court of public opinion, but have somehow stayed the course by not smearing the Aiken camp in the media or by outing his "representative" Casey Close to the NCAA and thereby preventing Aiken from even having college as an option. In this case, it seems that the Astros could be in the right. In the worst case for them, they will be paying over $3.2 million for a player who has a real chance of not making it to the major leagues at all. http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2014/7/16/590...-comes-to-light

Brady Aiken vs. the Astros: Top overall pick fails to sign with Houston By David Coleman  @MDavidColeman on Jul 18 2014, 4:49p 334 Rich Schultz It happened. And not in a good way.  TWEET (12) SHARE (9)  SHARE 334 COMMENTS ⋆ REC 1 Do you know what happens when a front office who has never won anything gets a reputation as being arrogant? Do you know what happens when any front office gets that reputation? People enjoy seeing them fail. Doesn't matter what they fail at. It could be their manager not knowing the rules. It could be getting their private communication system breached. Or, it could happen when a team fails to sign the No. 1 overall pick for the third time in baseball history. On Friday, the MLB deadline for draft picks to sign with teams came and went without Houston reaching a deal with either No. 1 overall pick Brady Aiken or fifth-round pick Jacob Nix. Word was that the Astros attempted to negotiate with Aiken's agent, Casey Close, throughout the day Friday, but were rebuffed. Reportedly, the offer reached as high as $5 million, but Houston couldn't get the Aiken camp to engage. For his part, Astros GM Jeff Luhnow says his team did nothing wrong: But, facts are facts. Houston failed to sign the top overall player in the 2014 draft. Brady Aiken was the consensus best talent in the draft, even before his smaller-than-normal UCL was reportedly discovered in medical exams last month. In not signing Aiken, Houston also missed out on talented prep pitcher Jacob Nix, who had reportedly reached an agreement with the team for $1.5 milllion and passed his physical. But, signing Nix would have forced the Astros to exceed their bonus pool by 17 percent and meant they'd give up a first and a second round pick next season. Where do the Astros go from here? By offering Aiken $3.1 million previously, the Astros gain the right to the No. 2 pick in next year's draft for failing to sign Aiken. What's unclear at this point is whether the union will file a grievance on behalf of Jacob Nix. There is a small chance the Astros could be forced to sign him, but a more likely scenario will be that an independent arbitrator rules that Nix can become a free agent and sign with any team. Also watch for talk about Aiken's eligibility. If his camp wants to see an unfeeling, heartless, cold and calculating organization, try dealing with the NCAA. The fact that the Astros contacted Close numerous times Friday (which became public knowledge) very likely means the NCAA will shut down Aiken's eligibility even if the Astros don't file the paperwork like the Phillies did with Ben Wexler. Which means Aiken could go to junior college and become a top pick in next year's draft. Just don't bet on the Astros taking him again. For that to happen, Aiken would have to sign a waiver saying he accepts being drafted again by the Astros. With the way things played out Friday, it sounds like Aiken made the business personal, dug in his heels and refused to negotiate at all with the Astros. Bottom line: Astros fans lose. The team has been mocked mercilessly on Twitter by everyone involved. There could be union action against them and the front office's job security just got much more unstable. TGIF, everyone.

Luhnow: “We did nothing unethical, we did nothing disingenuous. We tried to sign good players at the appropriate values” — Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) July 18, 2014 What the Astros found in his physical created enough discord that major league baseball’s draft system could be altered after the 2016 season, when the CBA expires. The slotting system, which attaches a dollar value to every pick in the first 10 rounds, effectively keeps teams from treating individual picks as individual picks, making them pieces of the puzzle instead. The Astros will receive the second pick in the 2015 draft as compensation for not reaching a deal with Aiken. “It’s disappointing. I’m not going to say it isn’t. we’ll just regroup,” Jim Crane said. — Jose de Jesus Ortiz (@OrtizKicks) July 18, 2014 For Aiken, he can fulfill his commitment to UCLA and be eligible for the draft after three seasons or go to a junior college and be eligible for the 2015 draft. www.houstonchronicle.com/sports Astros looking even dumber releasing the "insider" information that they re-upped their offer at the last minute and an amateur player turned down $5 or $5.1 million...shows just how much distaste they (Aiken/Close/Nix) had for the organization, as well as the possibility of a lawsuit/appeal/grievance in the works going forward. Two years ago, they had a shot at Buxton and passed. Then Bryant. So they've lost out on Buxton, Bryant and Aiken/Kolek/Rodon and have Correa (injured), Appel (injured/under-performing) and nothing else to show for it. So much for their 2017 World Series win over the Cubs. SI JINX!

Begin Again....nifty little indie film. With Kiera Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine (Maroon 5) and Catherine Keener, Hailee Stanfield of True Grit fame By the way, Ms. Knightley can really sing quite well...I thought it was dubbed over until I read more about it. Check out her six songs at youtube.com. Sitting at a 80% approval rating at rottentomatoes.com

Seems the lesser-touted Fedde (compared to Hoffman) is going to receive $2.5-2.6 million...who fits in line with their previous Giolito signing at what most consider a huge discount/value Nats Nearing Deal With Fedde, Won’t Sign Suarez By Steve Adams [July 18, 2014 at 2:22pm CDT] 2:22pm: The team’s second-round pick, Andrew Suarez, has announced that he will return to the University of Miami rather than sign via his Instagram account. The Hurricanes also tweeted an announcement that the left-hander will be returning. MLB.com’s Jim Callis tweets that with the Nats not signing Suarez or ninth-round pick Austin Byler, the max amount they can give Fedde without losing a first-round pick is $2,511,100. 2:08pm: Fedde’s signing bonus will be between $2.5MM and $2.6MM, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter). 1:32pm: The Nationals are nearing a deal with first-rounder Erick Fedde, reports Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (on Twitter). A deal between the two sides will “almost certainly” get done in advance of today’s signing deadline, which is just two and a half hours away. Fedde was projected as a potential top 10 pick in the draft before the difficult news that he would require Tommy John surgery caused him to slide. The Nationals, never ones to let an injury scare prevent them from drafting a high-end talent (they also selected Lucas Giolito in the first round in 2012), snatched the UNLV ace up with the 18th overall pick, which carries a slot value of $2,145,600. As Kilgore noted in a previous piece, there were teams in the late first round that had expressed interest in going as high as $3MM on a signing bonus for Fedde, making his negotiations with the Nats complicated, to say the least. Fedde’s operation caused him to slide down pre-draft rankings. Keith Law ranked him 27th at ESPN.com, while Baseball America had him ranked 24th, and MLB.com’s duo of Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo ranked him 33rd.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/18/world/eu....html?hpt=hp_t1 Apparently a BUK (surface-to-air/SAM) system, and there's also video footage of a battery being brought back across the Russian border.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jul 18, 2014 -> 11:05 AM) This will be an interesting situation. If the Astros fabricated the injury, they may not be entitled to a compensation pick next season, and if they are forced to honor Nix's contract, they could be forced to surrender next years first round pick as well. They are taking a big gamble on classifying this as an injury, when there have been multiple experts, including world renowned UCL expert Dr. James Andrews weigh in to say that there is no injury and that his condition does not correlate to an increased chance of injury in the future. I think the Astros are going to get dinged on this, and an arbitrator will end up declaring Aiken a FA if the Astros aren't willing to come up to the range of his original offer. http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2014/7/17/591...out-legal-basis Here's one lawyer's thoughts on this... We have arrived at my area of expertise. I am a lawyer. Not a sports agent, not a contracts specialist, just a general practitioner. But, this stuff is basic first year law school contracts law. If an offer is contingent upon an event occurring, and both parties know it's contingent upon an event occurring; if the event does not occur, the offer is null and void. The issue is not whether it's an offer in writing, or a verbal agreement. Keith (Law) is right in saying verbal agreements can be enforceable, and the Statute of Frauds is the correct area of law to be examined in that regard. But that is the red herring, because that is not at all what is important here. What is important here is that no one is disputing (at least to my current knowledge at 4:00 a.m. writing this piece), that the Nix offer was contingent upon Aiken signing a below slot deal. Thus, it will be extremely hard for anyone to say that the Astros will be forced to sign Nix, even if they miss on Aiken.

QUOTE (peavy44 @ Jul 18, 2014 -> 11:04 AM) If we thought about trading sale all 20 teams be line up bidding on him 29

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 18, 2014 -> 11:02 AM) Danks for Chance Sisco (minor league catcher) and another prospect or two. But I would love to build a deal around Sisco. Hopefully no relation to former Royal/Sox Andrew or The Sisco Kid.

UPDATE 12:00pm: No Must suck for Astros' fans. 4 hours to go.

ROSS DELLENGER rdellenger@theadvocate.com July 18, 2014 0 COMMENTS Have the Houston Astros contacted Mac Marshall? He won’t say. Marshall, the headliner to LSU’s star-studded signing class, declined comment on Friday when asked if the Astros had made contact with him over the last couple of days. Earlier this week, Marshall said the Astros had not contacted him since the draft in early June. MLB teams have until 4 p.m. to sign draftees. A source inside the LSU baseball program said that Marshall’s situation is “50-50.” A power left-handed pitcher from Georgia, Marshall turned down nearly $1 million on draft week, opting for school instead of the pros. Thus his draft spot fell. Houston picked him in the 21st round. Marshall is enrolled at LSU and has been a part of LSU’s summer workout program in Baton Rouge. He’s been adamant that he’s committed to LSU and plans to play for the Tigers. Marshall, though, admits that his situation with Houston is tied to that of the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Brady Aiken, who the Astros have yet to sign. Aiken and the team are at somewhat of an impasse in contract talks. Marshall’s situation could also be affected by the Astros fifth-round pick, Jacob Nix. Slot value rules can get confusing, but the situation isn’t. According to coach Paul Mainieri and reports from Baseball America and FoxSports.com, if the Astros sign Aiken for a low amount of $5 million or less – which they’re trying to do – they’ll have more bonus money to woo Marshall away from Baton Rouge. “They could make a serious offer for Mac,” Mainieri said. Marshall’s asking price is $1.5 million, multiple sources told The Advocate. If the Astros don’t sign Aiken, they’ll completely lose their first-round slot money (nearly $8 million), leaving them with nothing to offer Marshall and rescinding a previous offer of $1.5 million to Nix. Aiken and the Astros originally agreed on a deal worth $6.5 million, but the team uncovered an elbow injury during a physical with Aiken and has since backed away from that number. Responding to a message Friday morning, Marshall said, “I’m sorry. I have no comment.”

Thanks to Astros owner, Aiken's UCLA bridge may be burned By Evan Drellich July 17, 2014 | Updated: July 17, 2014 11:41pm Ever since Brady Aiken received a congratulatory call telling him he was the draft's No. 1 pick, his dealings with the Astros have become less pleasant. Hayne Palmour IV, MBR If top draft pick Brady Aiken doesn't sign with the Astros by Friday's 4 p.m. deadline, he has a commitment to UCLA. But even that could be in question. If top draft pick Brady Aiken doesn’t sign with the Astros by Friday’s 4 p.m. deadline, he has a commitment to UCLA. But even that could be in question. If Aiken, whose signing with the Astros has been slowed by a lower contract offer in the wake of medical reports of ligament problems in his pitching elbow, wants to get back in the draft for 2015, a year at a junior college instead of UCLA could be the route. If he goes through with his commitment to UCLA, he would not be eligible for the draft for three years. That’s assuming, of course, he remains healthy. Waiting three years to re-enter the draft, as Aiken would have to do at a four-year school like UCLA, is a risk. But so is passing on a scholarship offer from a top-tier school that would put him in the best position for success outside baseball. “The only thing they said all season long – and this was all before the draft ever happened – is that they have a fantastic option of going to UCLA, and that was before the reality of being picked No. 1 overall came forward,” said Aiken’s high school coach, Gary Remiker. “Their opinion the whole way around was – all pre-draft before he was picked – is that right now their only option is UCLA because nothing else has happened. Once they got picked, they said, ‘Well, now we have two options.’ “I think the assumption, when you get picked No. 1, is that they’re going to sign, it’s going to be relatively easy to get them signed with the slotting system that’s going on now, and he’d be off in short season getting his five starts or whatever they wanted him to get.” Whether Aiken even can play baseball for an NCAA Division I school such as UCLA is in question. On July 7 in Arlington, Astros owner Jim Crane said general manager Jeff Luhnow was negotiating with Aiken’s agent. The NCAA forbids an adviser from talking to the team on an eligible player’s behalf. “We have no comment on the No. 1 pick,” Crane said. “We’re still negotiating with him. … I’ve got no comment on any of it at this point. We’re just working with the agent. Jeff’s working with the agent to try to get something done.” Luhnow said the same day that he had talked only to the family. “The conversation’s with the family,” Luhnow said. “Whether or not the player has an adviser and to what capacity, that’s not my (subject to comment on). … Eligibility is at risk if they have an agent. You can have an adviser, yeah. Certain behaviors might constitute one versus the other. We don’t comment on conversations. Our conversations are all with the families – the player or the families. In the case of an underage player, the family’s important.” Clarification by NCAA Casey Close, who represents Derek Jeter, is Aiken’s family adviser. It’s common practice in baseball for agents of high school players to be in touch with teams, one of the many wink-and-nod rule-skirting elements of the game. But in a case as high profile as Aiken’s, would a wink and a nod be enough? His leverage isn’t helped if he can’t go to an NCAA Division I school – and the Astros won’t look good if their owner’s words end up hurting Aiken’s eligibility. In February, reports came out that the Philadelphia Phillies told the NCAA last year that their 2013 fifth-round draft pick, pitcher Ben Wetzler, had violated the no-agent rule. Wetzler didn’t sign with the Phillies, but he was able to pitch for Oregon State. The Miami Marlins drafted him in the ninth round this year. In a memorandum issued last March, the NCAA said: “In order to maintain your eligibility at an NCAA school, however, this adviser may not serve as a link between you and the professional sports team. Rather, you must view the adviser as an extension of your own interests and not as a source to contact a professional team. If the adviser has direct contact with a professional team regarding you or your status, whether independently or per your request or direction, the adviser shall be considered an agent, and you will have jeopardized your eligibility at an NCAA school. “For example, an adviser may not be present during the discussions of a contract offer with a professional team or have any direct contact (including, but not limited to, in person, by telephone, text message, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, email or mail) with the professional sports team on your behalf.” Is Close too close? Close’s decision to speak to foxsports.com in such detail about the Astros’ handling of Aiken – as well as another Astros draftee committed to UCLA, Jacob Nix – doesn’t dispel the idea Close could be acting in a way the NCAA would find impermissible. Close, as one of the game’s best agents, presumably knew what risk was involved. “Being a high school coach for years, every major league prospect that’s come to San Diego has had a quote-unquote adviser,” Remiker said. “And what the difference is between the person being an adviser and being an agent, I have no idea.” Remiker has been watching the events unfold from San Diego, but he has given Aiken and his family space. “I haven’t heard anything from their party, from the Aiken family or anything about their opinion about what’s going on,” Remiker said. “I haven’t heard from them all. All I’ve done is just send him a text, just keeping my fingers crossed that everything works out for him here. … I’m more hoping that I’ll click on one of these times and see that they’ve come to an agreement.” http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2014/...&25194101=0

Have the Astros signed Brady Aiken yet? The deadline to let the Commissioner's office know that teams have signed their draft picks is at 4pm Central. Here is a running update of updates. UPDATE 11:22am: No 11:00am: No 10:30am: No 10:00am: No 9:30am: No 9:00am: No 8:30am: No 8:00am: No Thought this was pretty funny. from baseballamerica.com The Astros are the only ones, however, with access to their medical reports, and multiple sources Baseball America has spoken to off the record in the industry say they want to give the Astros the benefit of the doubt. The No. 1 overall pick has went unsigned only in twice in draft history; righthander Tim Belcher (1983) and catcher Danny Goodwin (1971).

On a plus note, he lost his starter's job in 2013-14 but ended up the season back in the mid 90's, so he's got a shot... Whitson holds no ill will against the Padres. He understands why people wonder why he didn’t sign when he had $2.1 million reasons to do so. But he wanted to etch his own path, and that road begins in Gainesville, Fla., not in the Padres' farm system. "I would tell any kid out of high school they better be comfortable with going pro, because once you make that decision, you're 100 percent into that level of baseball," he said. "It's a grind and some players just aren't fully ready for it." Once at Florida, it took Whitson just a week to realize that he had work to do, and it reinforced his decision to spurn the Padres. "Mentally and physically, I thought I'd be ready for pro ball, but then I get here to Florida and I hardly could walk after just a week of workouts," he said. While I don't buy a single word of the "I wasn't ready for the minors" bulls***, the article included a smattering of legit introspection (keep in mind, this was 3.5 years ago):http://sonsofsamhorn.net/topic/83795-karsten-whitson-rhp-2014-mlb-draft-11th-round/ Quote "There are some things I can improve on,” he said. “Throwing my changeup for a strike was a big emphasis for me during fall workouts. I will continue working on that. I also want to improve my fastball command on both sides of the plate."

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 18, 2014 -> 09:02 AM) HOF voters loves playoff success and awesome as 2005 was, other than that he was one inning of relief and one bad start to show for on his playoff resume, that's it. 2008? Did he pitch at all in the 2000 post-season? Can't remember. For some reason, Bradford comes to mind more than Mark.

Padres GM Finalists Are Preller, Hazen, Eppler, Ng By Jeff Todd [July 17, 2014 at 3:39pm CDT] The Padres have narrowed their list of candidates for the club’s open GM position with intentions of conducting second interviews next week, reports Scott Miller of Bleacher Report (Twitter links). Among the candidates for the GM office, Red Sox assistant GM Mike Hazen could be the favorite, according to a report from Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (via Twitter). According to Miller, the finalists are Hazen, Rangers assistant GM A.J. Preller, Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler, and MLB executive Kim Ng. It appears from that list that the club has every intention of handing the reins over to a somewhat younger option who has never occupied the head baseball operations role. Reports have indicated, however, that the club could look to bring back former GM Kevin Towers in a senior adviser role if he is dumped by the D’backs. Click here to read a recent round-up of the San Diego front office search. Former White Sox front office exec Kim Ng in final four in SD...would be first female, and pretty sure the first Asian as well to be a GM...hope they're really giving her a legit shot at the job