One month after the Los Angeles Dodgers lost Farhan Zaidi to the San Francisco Giants following the 2018 season, the team hired Jeff Kingston away from the Seattle Mariners to fill the role of vice president and assistant general manager.
Kingston had spent the previous nine seasons in the Mariners front office, and before that, served as the San Diego Padres director of baseball operations for seven years.
He was to work alongside senior vice president Josh Byrnes, vice president and assistant GM Brandon Gomes and director of baseball development and scouting Alex Slater in the front office as the Dodgers elected to bypass hiring a direct replacement for Zaidi as general manager.
The team has continued with that untraditional model now for two seasons. That can’t be said for the L.A. Angels, who just completed a general manager search by hiring Perry Minasian. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the exhaustive process included Kingston among the finalists for the position:
Dodgers assistant GM Jeff Kingston was a sixth finalist for the Angels GM job, a source tells The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 12, 2020
Kingston’s name surfaced only after it was reported Minasian pulled ahead of Mariners assistant GM Justin Hollander in the Angels’ search. “After an expansive process we are thrilled to announce Perry as our General Manager,” Angels Owner Arte Moreno said.
“His background in scouting and player development along with his unique understanding of roster construction were the leading factors in our decision. We are proud to welcome Perry, his wife Michelle, and their four children to the Angels family.”
Dodgers front office
It remains unclear if or when the Dodgers may be motivated to hire a general manager. Though, considering revenue lost during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, that doesn’t figure to be a likely financial commitment the club makes anytime soon.
Furthermore, there has not appeared to be a glaring need for a GM with Byrnes, Gomes and Kingston all working in unison with Friedman. Of course, should the Dodgers lose one of the executives, that could prompt a shift in strategy.
The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies remain in search of a head of baseball operations. The Miami Marlins were part of that group as well until announcing the hiring of Kim Ng as GM on Friday morning.
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