Padres' new top exec is Sandy Alderson (with poll)

by MJB on Apr 18, 2005 8:49 PM PDT

The Padres just announced they have hired Sandy Alderson as their "chief executive officer", according to this San Diego U-T article:

Alderson is to become San Diego's chief executive officer, giving him all authority beneath that of club chairman John Moores. President and CEO Dick Freeman and General Manager Kevin Towers are to remain in the organization, with Freeman's title changing to president and chief operating officer.

Official announcement will be made on Tuesday...

Alderson has turned down other clubs that sought him, but is to arrive in San Diego Tuesday for a news conference introducing him as a Padres executive.

"This is a unique opportunity for Sandy to be running the show," said a person close to Alderson. "This gives him another set of challenges."

Surprise to me. Sandy has been out of it for a while and I thought he went to the MLB offices because he was tired of running a team.

Take the poll.

Update [2005-4-19 0:29:7 by MJB]: Another article on Alderson's new gig is now up on mlb.com:

Alderson will immediately leave his post as Major League Baseball's executive vice president in charge of baseball operations to take over the day-to-day operations of the Padres.

Alderson had previously been with the Oakland A's from 1981 until he left for MLB in 1998, holding the positions of general counsel, general manager and president. His Oakland tenure included the A's most recent era as a powerhouse when they won three consecutive American League pennants from 1988-90 and the World Series in 1989.

"For me this is the last piece of a complicated puzzle that involved building a ballpark and redeveloping San Diego," Moores said on Monday before the Giants played the Padres at PETCO Park. "It's time to build a competitive team and it allows us to significantly strengthen our management team.

"I think this is our most significant signing in the 11 years I've owned the team."

Poll

Biggest change in Padres under Alderson?

Dump blue and "sand" colors for green and gold

9 votes

Fill the front office with ex-Athletics guys

27 votes

Replace Bruce Bochy with Tony LaRussa

13 votes

Bring Jose Canseco out of retirement

12 votes

No significant changes

31 votes

92 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

What about his position with the league?

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE YELLING ABOUT!!!" -Brick Tamland, Anchorman

by secret ASian man on Apr 18, 2005 8:51 PM PDT reply actions

his dream of being commish ended

with the steroid stuff...

by xbhaskarx on Apr 19, 2005 12:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Hope

Hope he doesn't convince Beane to let go of his share of the A's so he can work close to home under his mentor!

Fearing Mecir since 2000.

by salb918 on Apr 18, 2005 8:53 PM PDT reply actions

Say what?

Alderson sees Beane getting notoriety and credit that far outshines what he received-- even though his teams won a WS and 3 pennants

BB gets a lot of credit and deservedly so, but Alderson got tons of credit, and deservedly so, for the late '80s/early '90s teams.

Even today, when memories are short and faded, knowledgeable baseball people would hold Alderson's tenure with the A's to be the equal of Beane's, at least. BB would be the first to agree with that.

MJB

by MJB on Apr 18, 2005 9:00 PM PDT up reply actions

Don't think so

Beane has received more notoriety because of the 'net and "Moneyball". But real baseball people, as opposed to, say, guys who spend much more time reading stats and Baseball Prospectus than watching actual baseball games, know how much Alderson accomplished in the Haas era.

As for the 'Roid Brothers -- yeah, maybe that's left a bad taste in Sandy's mouth, and maybe he wants another shot in San Diego. Not that he'll be able to do that full-scale, assuming he's going to keep Towers and the current hierarchy intact.

Beane might want to outdistance Alderson, but he's got a long way to go before you can make that Coach K/Bobby Knight comparison. Coach K has a lot more Final Four teams than Knight, so he has done it. Alderson still has three more pennants than Beane even though Sandy has been out of it for several years.

MJB

by MJB on Apr 18, 2005 9:11 PM PDT up reply actions

Comparisons Difficult

Sandy didn't have to live in a completely limited budgetary enviromnent during his tenure here. Whe the A's were winning under Sandy they had a owner willing to lose money for a championship. Billy has not had that luxary.

Jim

by jarforcefatherofforce on Apr 18, 2005 10:23 PM PDT up reply actions

GM

I don't imagine he'd be looking to make a change at General Manager. Kevin Towers is very highly regarded.

by andeux on Apr 18, 2005 9:02 PM PDT up reply actions

Oh yeah

I was being a little facetious. But you're right, KT is very well regarded as someone who is into performance analysis but not quite so much as BB. If BB weren't the GM of my team, JP, DePo, or KT would be next on my list.

Fearing Mecir since 2000.

by salb918 on Apr 18, 2005 9:26 PM PDT up reply actions

I think it has more to do with the commish job

I've heard that Alderson was being groomed to become the next commissioner after Selig left/died/whatever. Now that it seems the next commish may be George W. Bush after 2008, Alderson could have seen the glass ceiling in New York, and decided he wanted a fresh challenge to sink his teeth into. What better than a team with a very good GM, a young up-and-coming roster, a new ballpark, and two rivals with better revenue streams?

by vertig0 on Apr 18, 2005 9:45 PM PDT reply actions

dubya would suck

why would we want that idiotic liar to be commish? bush as commish might be the one thing that makes me turn away from baseball. absolute disaster. i'm sure i'm not the only one who would feel that way.

by danh on Apr 18, 2005 11:12 PM PDT up reply actions

Politics aside...

Dubya would be a perfect commish from the owners' point of view. He's already been part of the club, is not likely to enact any kind of radical, game-changing agenda, and has much more PR value than any commish since Bart Giamatti. Would it be good for the game? Probably not, since the game truly needs an independent commissioner.

by vertig0 on Apr 18, 2005 11:20 PM PDT up reply actions

Peter Gammons for Commish!

Or somebody neutral. Nothing gets done between the owners and players b/c there is no trust. There is no trust b/c the commish is seen as an owner and out to help the owners and not the game of baseball.

Too bad you can't buy a voodoo globe so that you could make the earth spin real fast and freak everybody out. - Jack Handy

by Awesomus on Apr 19, 2005 7:25 AM PDT up reply actions