The search for a new chief baseball decision-maker for the Red Sox has taken an interesting turn.
Meeting with the media Friday afternoon, principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner made it clear they are prioritizing hiring a candidate from outside the organization with previous experience as a general manager.
"To put one of the candidates you keep bringing up in charge and responsible for that, that's sort of a tough way to start your career as a general manager," Henry said. "So we are starting the search looking outward."
When asked if that would mean the new GM or president of baseball operations would need to have previously held a similar title Henry responded, "Yes. Which as I explained earlier is a challenge."
The owners clarified that while there is no set timetable to have a GM in place by the General Managers Meetings -- which start Nov. 11 -- it would be optimal.
The way the owners are prioritizing their pool of candidates does lead to some obstacles, with many potential candidates still under contract beyond the 2020 season (such as Toronto president Mark Shapiro), necessitating permission and/or some sort of transaction.
It also eliminates the possibility of hiring one of the four front office people -- Eddie Romero, Zack Scott, Brian O'Halloran and Raquel Ferreira -- who have been running the baseball operations since the Red Sox moved on from Dombrowski.
