On the interview and Ng
We’ve written a lot about Kim Ng here in the past, and I’m indisposed, so I’m going to skip the recap. And I’m going to also skip the other issue about her candidacy* and say this:
Ng doesn’t do much in the way of publicity, so you’re very likely not going to hear a ton about her as the team does their interviews and whatnot. I will bet big money that she will rock those interviews. The team clearly intends to ask candidates a lot of questions about what they’d do in different situations, how they’d build the team, and so on (which is going to be a huge improvement over the last time they did this). And while (as previously expressed) I don’t know that Ng’s at the cutting edge of GM technology in the way we do know that (say) Antonetti is, in part because of the previously-mentioned press aversion, I guarantee that there will be no interview question she won’t be prepared for. If they ask her what they should do about Bloomquist, she’s going to tell them Bloomquist should be about #100 on a Top #100 Offseason Question list, and then she’ll tell them why, and Armstrong and Lincoln will probably stare, remember to close their mouths, and then have to decide whether that feeling is fright or excitement.
Sometimes that wins jobs even when the candidate goes in low on odds. Ricciardi got his job that way. Ng could be next.
* whether or not hiring the first woman GM generates enough positive publicity that it becomes an additional hiring factor as the franchise has been so beseiged by bad news for so long. I would rather spend time thinking about this, frankly.
Is the last sentence correct (rather or rather not spend time thinking?)
You really think that the interview questions will better this time around? A huge improvement?
You have more faith than I in HowChuck, but perhaps they recognize the short comings of their last hire…….results based analysis, leading to different inputs.
HowChuck also have a tendncy to repeat their mistakes, so I agree. I hope beyond hope that the questions are better, and that they actually lead to a decent hire.
Of course, hiring is only half the problem. Will HowChuck let the new hire make decisions, and shape the team, or will they interject, and screw things up for a few more years, until we get lucky and accidentally make the playoffs?
What they are going to say in response to Ng on Bloomquist is “Well! It’s been great talking to you. We’ll be in touch.”
And then they’ll pick Bernazard.
I hate this team.
“* whether or not hiring the first woman GM generates enough positive publicity that it becomes an additional hiring factor as the franchise has been so beseiged by bad news for so long. I would rather spend time thinking about this, frankly.”
That she’s a female candidate shouldn’t have any bearing at all on her hiring. This is a 100-loss team and I don’t give a damn if the next GM is a woman, a man, black, white, or green as long as they’re the best candidate that interviewed for the job.
This organization doesn’t have the luxury of indulging in “hey isn’t it great that we look so progressive by hiring candidate X.” They need a complete makeover in culture from the top down, not pandering to some unspoken set of progressive values.
If Kim Ng is the best candidate then hire her … just don’t make her sex or race an issue.
Like crying, there is no NAACP Image Award in baseball.
If any candidate tells Howard Lincoln that Chuck Armstrong doesn’t deserve to keep his job, they should be hired on the spot.
I actually think Ng is too smart to take this job. She might go through the interview process to gain experience in it, but she has to know she is going to be under the microscope as the first woman in this position. With that in mind she might opt not to put herself in a position where Howard, Chuck and ownership get too much say in her decisions.
I’m rooting for Ng. Don’t screw this up M’s. I want this team competing sometime before the Mayan Apocalypse.
Mayan Apocalypse isn’t it like Dec. 20th 2012?
Ah I was close it was Dec. 21st 2012
I actually think Ng is too smart to take this job. She might go through the interview process to gain experience in it, but she has to know she is going to be under the microscope as the first woman in this position.
Ng doesn’t need to go through the process for the sake of experience, she’s done it before. That’s not to say she would definitely take the job, she may not have made up her mind on that yet. But I rather don’t think she would interview if she wasn’t willing to at least consider it.
The M’s winning the ’12 World Series will trigger the Mayan apocalypse. Bank on it.
I’m still rooting for Ng.
hahaha, I thought the Cubs winning the Series would trigger the end of the world (if anyone wants to believe this 2012 crap).
No, she’s going through the interview process to interview THE MARINERS. It goes two ways, you know…
I would laugh for 24 hours if I could see their expressions.
I couldn’t disagree with this more. Unless there’s another equally-qualified female candidate flying well below the radar, Kim Ng will be the first female GM *somewhere* – she’s been prepared for this for years. And as has been stated here many, many times, the M’s are one of the plum GM jobs in the league. She’ll demand the same level of control every other candidate will expect. If she receives it, I can’t imagine her not taking the job if it’s offered.
Ng was my longshot prediction when Bavasi went down. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out she was gonna be interviewed.
I have my fingers crossed. Mr. Magoo et al could always screw it up. They could take her honesty and straightforwardness as an unwillingness to submit and rule her out. Or, she could just be checking out if they’re actually incompetent,and when she discovers that it is indeed true, not take the job.