Matt Arnold, 40, worked with the Rays before joining the Brewers following the 2015 season. A former director of player personnel with the Rays, Arnold has been working with Brewers GM David Stearns in his current role since October of 2015. He's a round-rounded guy, having spent time with scouting, arbitration, and player biomechanics. Arnold checks all the boxes - young, tech savvy, and used to working within tight fiscal parameters. He seems to be the lead horse so far in this race, though not a shoo-in.
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| Matt Arnold - photo MLB.com |
Cherington, 45, was the BoSox GM from 2011-2015. He left after Beantown hired Dave Dombrowski as the head of baseball operations over him, and has been the Blue Jays’ VP of baseball operations since 2016. He has an up-and-down track record and is used to more financial resources than the Pirates will shell out, but has cachet and is a member of the MLB suit club.
Not mentioned by Sherman but thought to be in play is Dan Duquette, 61, who was GM for Montreal and Boston before he became GM of the Baltimore Orioles in November 2011 and led the Birds to their first playoff appearance since 1997. Times change, and the O's fired Duquette in October 2018 after two consecutive losing seasons, including the worst record in franchise history (47-115) in 2018. Duquette was named Baseball America’s Major League Executive of the Year in 2014. He's well respected around the league, a fan of using analytics to build rosters and may be the mystery third man.
The locals said to be in the mix are:
Kevan Graves, 38, who has been in the Pirates’ baseball operations department for the past 11 years, and spent the last four campaigns as Ass't GM, with the Buccos being the only organization he's worked for. Graves was considered Neil Huntington's right hand man; that may be a double-edged sword. He drew some interest from the Giants earlier, but lost out on that gig. If Duquette isn't the third man, Graves is the likeliest suspect.
Tyrone Brooks, 47, is the Director of the Diversity Pipeline Program for MLB. Brooks previously was the Pirates Director of Player Personnel, so he's strong on scouting, and was with the Bucs from 2009-16. Before that, he started out with the Bravos from 1996-2006, then was with the Indians from 2006-09. So diving into the Pirates pool wouldn't be a splash into uncharted waters for him.
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| Tony LaCava - Chris Young/Canadian Press |
Tony LaCava, 58, is a Central Catholic grad. He was heavily involved in scouting and player development, and is also a fan of data-driven decisions. After working for the Angels, Braves, Expos and Indians, LaCava joined Toronto, where he was promoted to senior vice president of baseball operations and assistant general manager after briefly serving as Toronto's interim GM.
A couple of more logs to pile on the hot stove are:
Marc DelPiano, 52, (Yankees, Marlins former VP of player development), Brian Graham, 59, (director of player development for the Orioles) and Amiel Sawdaye, 40, (D-Backs Asst GM - amateur/international scouting). The level of interest the team has in them (and they for Pittsburgh) isn't known.
Complete list? Surely not - the Pirates have been mum (that hasn't changed from the old regime) and it's possible that the Korn Ferry net could have trawled a couple of surprise catches. That makes the mystery third finalist anyone's guess.
The good news is that with the search narrowing, Pittsburgh should have a GM and manager in place for the December 9th Winter Meetings. The better news is that with the naming of a GM, the future direction of the Pirates should begin to take form. Right now, they're in stuck-in-middle mode; a lot of young guys would make one think that the Pirates may opt to just add on, but the lack of true impact players/pitching depth would suggest a tear-down-and-rebuild strategy. Stay tuned; it looks like the first domino of the winter may finally be ready to fall.
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