The D-Backs' hiring of new GM Dave Stewart is a "move that bucks several trends, though one that offers no guarantees of returning" the club to contention in the NL West, according to Jay Jaffe of SI.com. In an age when GMs "usually come to the job either as career minor leaguers who rose through the player development ranks or as young (often Ivy League) college graduates with no experience in organized baseball but a fluency in statistical analysis as well as familiarity with the scouting side, Stewart becomes [one] of just four" former MLBers in that post. Stewart also becomes "one of just three current minority GMs" in MLB -- alongside the Phillies' Ruben Amaro Jr. and Astros' Jeff Luhnow -- while also becoming "just the sixth African-American GM" in MLB history. Former MLBer Eric Chavez was Stewart's "first big-name client" when he founded a player representation firm in '02. Stewart went on to "represent more than 20 major and minor league players," including Dodgers P Chad Billingsley, Astros DH Chris Carter and Dodgers CF Matt Kemp. In taking the D-Backs' job, Stewart will "turn his agency over" to his partner and former MLBer Dave Henderson. Meanwhile, Stewart "inherits a roster" that has $67.25M "committed to nine players for next year." Stewart's hiring marks D-Backs Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa's "first real chance to put his stamp on the organization beyond wielding an axe," as he has "gone out on a limb to tab a first-time GM." Jaffe: "Stewart is set up for success, because for a team that's slipped to the very bottom, there's nowhere to go but up" (SI.com, 9/26).
UNCONVENTIONAL WISDOM? In Phoenix, Dan Bickley wrote La Russa's choice of Stewart is "uncomfortably unconventional, and the team has been cindered by these kind of choices in the past." Just because Stewart "deserves a shot doesn't mean he's the best fit" for a club that "needs going forward." GMs today are "mostly data nerds who work indoors, and only a handful can say they wore the uniform." Bickley: "Like it or not, that's the trend." That is the game the D-Backs "need to start playing" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 9/27). Also in Phoenix, Zach Buchanan notes it is "unusual" for the D-Backs to "make a big hire without Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick there to unveil it, but that was the case" when the club introduced Stewart on Friday. D-Backs President & CEO Derrick Hall said that it "shouldn't be taken as a sign of Kendrick's diminished involvement in the franchise." Hall: "He's still going to be as involved as he always has been." If Kendrick was "less involved this time around, Hall said it's circumstantial." Kendrick "usually summers in Aspen, but didn't arrive there until late in the summer after his wife underwent knee surgery in Dallas" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 9/29).
NUMBERS NEVER LIE: In Phoenix, Nick Piecoro reported the club "expects to retain" Scouting Dir Ray Montgomery and Dir of Player Development Mike Bell. The team also "plans to add to the front office, including by creating an analytics department." Stewart "made a point of saying the organization needed to use metrics more effectively." He said that the club "won't skew heavily toward metrics but that he wants the club to dig deeper in statistical analysis." Essentially, there is La Russa at the top, followed by Stewart and Senior VP/Baseball Operations De Jon Watson, with Stewart "focusing on the major-league club and perhaps Triple-A, and Watson on scouting and player development." But La Russa stressed that decisions "will be reached through collaboration" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 9/27). FOXSPORTSARIZONA.com's Jack Magruder reported former GM Kevin Towers on Saturday "agreed to remain in the organization after a meeting" with Stewart. Towers' title "wasn't announced but he is expected to do professional scouting and perhaps some amateur scouting in his new position." The D-backs "were not shy in wanting Towers to stay" (FOXSPORTSARIZONA.com, 9/27).
