Pirates/MLB
Pittsburgh Pirates
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The Pittsburgh Pirates search for a new General Manager is starting to reach the final stages and movement has the Pirates expecting to introduce a new General Manager before the end of next week.
The Three finalists:
Former Boston Red Sox GM Ben Cherington
Milwaukee Brewers Assistant GM Matt Arnold
Pirates Interim GM Kevan Graves
Cherington has been a favorite among the search firm hired by the Pirates as Cherington has close ties to the firm which has raised some eyebrows. Cherington who will have another interview with the club on Thursday, has great interest in the job because of an understanding throughout the process that the incoming General Manager will have full say and power on day-to-day baseball decisions.
The scuttlebutt in MLB circles is the Pirates hiring of Travis Williams as Team President was strictly for the business side of the organization, a message that’s been relayed to candidates in that they will have full say on baseball decisions.
That’s been a positive in the process which has led to the opening being somewhat of a coveted job, despite having to work for an owner who never spend to consistently win.
Whispers are candidates have viewed Williams as someone who will be trustworthy to work under and will not be power hungry Team President in trying to step on a GM’s toes with key baseball decisions, a knock on Frank Coonelly once his tenure as Team President grew.
That has put Matt Arnold, a fan favorite for the job, in play where some are not certain that Arnold is a 100% lock to accept the job, but the talk on Arnold is that Arnold and Williams are closely aligned in a direction for the franchise.
Meanwhile, the wild card in all of this is interim GM Kevan Graves. Baseball folks have told Williams since he got the job that he had to consider Graves for the position and the more homework Williams has done on Graves, To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
