The search for Seattle’s next GM started Monday, and Los Angeles Dodgers VP and assistant GM Kim Ng  (pronounced ANG) is already getting a lot of publicity in the mainstream and local media.  While she is qualified and highly regarded, she has gained added press as potentially the first female general manager in baseball history; a title she’s held for several years now.  Is this the year she finally breaks through?

Team President Chuck Armstrong recently said that the organization would be “gender blind” when it comes to picking the next GM, a clear indication that Ng would be in the discussion.  Since then she’s been appearing near the top of various candidate lists.

Brief resume: In 1990 Ng graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Public Policy, receiving her first job in baseball working as an intern with the Chicago White Sox shortly thereafter.  She quickly began getting promotions and was soon handling arbitration cases for the White Sox, becoming the youngest person and first woman to do so.  She ended her tenure with the White Sox as the Assistant Director of Baseball Operations.  In 1997 she took a job with Major League Baseball as the Director of Waivers and Player Records for the American League.  One of her jobs was to review and approve all MLB transactions.  In 1998 she began working with the Yankees as Assistant General Manager, and was a favorite of GM Brian Cashman.  She left the Yankees in 2001 and ended up in the position she is now a month later as an Assistant General Manager with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ng is known for her great work in arbitration cases.  One of her first jobs as an intern with the White Sox was to research and prepare rebuttal information for arbitration cases.  She gained experience and began building her reputation by beating usually successful super-agent Scott Boras in an arbitration case for pitcher Alex Fernandez when she was only 26 years old, and has won against him on a few other occasions since.  With the Yankees she furthered her reputation by winning a seemingly impossible case for Mariano Rivera, who was already one of the best closers around at the time, impressing GM Brian Cashman enough to warrant a quick promotion. 

Having a knack for winning in arbitration doesn’t make someone a good GM candidate because these cases only occur about once per season, if that.  One of the reasons Ng is a good GM candidate is because she’s known for being good at determining player value and what they actually deserve to be paid, and structuring their contracts accordingly, something she learned in part from her experience in arbitration.  (She had nothing to do with Andruw Jones’ horrible contract, by the way.)   In that regard, Ng would be a 180 degree flip from former GM Bill Bavasi.

Ng has never carried the title of GM, but she has just about all the experience you could hope for from a non GM.  She’s been in the professional game for nearly 20 years, is highly regarded and well rounded, and has worked for other Mariner GM candidates Brian Cashman and Paul DePodesta.  She’s structured contracts, stared down intimidating agents, initiated trade talks and been in charge of player development.  When she worked for the American League she even learned the ins and outs of various rules and the loopholes that go with them, knowledge that the typical GM candidate wouldn’t possess.

Her biggest knock is that she lacks scouting experience, something that many GMs and other candidates have.  Some will insist that Seattle hires someone with this experience, but how important is it? 

Bill Bavasi came from a scouting background and some of the work he did in the minor leagues was great because of it, but he was awful when it came to making trades, structuring contracts and other vital GM functions.  Wouldn’t you prefer to have someone that can successfully perform these functions, handing off the scouting to others?  Seattle have highly regarded people in charge of scouting, including the Vice President of Scouting Bob Fontaine, Vice President of International Operations (and apparent Seattle GM candidate) Bob Engle, and others.  Besides, she has experience as a minor league director with the Dodgers despite her lack of scouting experience.

Kim Ng may not be my top pick, but she’s right up there.  She is ready to be tested in the GM position and if that happens with the Mariners I can’t say I’d be disappointed.  She’s well regarded, well rounded and well connected, and I think that she would do a fine job in Seattle. 

 

Additional Sources/Further Reading: LA Dodgers Bio, Baseball America: 10 to Watch, 7/2006, NY Daily News article, 4/2004, Baseball Prospectus Q&A, 11/2003, USS Mariner post, 10/2003, Los Angeles Business Journal interview, 6/2003,