New Hampshire native Jed Hoyer had been with the Red Sox since 2002. He served as co-general manager during Theo Epstein’s 10 week hiatus in 2005. He recently accepted the position of General Manager with the Padres after Kevin Towers was fired after 15 years in the GM position with the Padres. Coincidentally, the Red Sox have offered employment to Towers, but it has not been determined which position he would fill.
Hoyer just plucked a San Diego native from the Red Sox front office. Jason McLeod was hired to be Hoyer’s assistant GM after serving in the Red Sox scouting department for seven years. McLeod got his start in the Padres organization in 1994. He scouted several important players during his tenure with the Sox, including Dustin Pedroia, Cla Meredith, Jacoby Ellsbury, Craig Hansen, Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie, Daniel Bard, Michael Bowden, Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, Casey Kelly, Josh Reddick, and Ryan Westmoreland. This roster makes for quite an impressive resume. McLeod leaves huge hole in the Red Sox front office, which Epstein expects to fill from within.
Hoyer arrives in San Diego amid widespread talk of the San Diego Padres trading their slugging first baseman, Adrian Gonzalez. The Padres’ new dynamic duo bring inimate knowledge of the Sox farm system, making them very confident about any trades involving Sox prospects. The Sox-Padres relationship has been strong as Theo Epstein and Larry Lucchino both were in the Padres front office before joining the Sox. Hoyer has stated that he would would have a “level of comfort” in any potential trade with the Red Sox, while also stating that the possibility of trading Gonzalez to the Sox is “just speculation.” Comments on various blogs suspect that Hoyer and Epstein worked out a deal involving Gonzalez before Hoyer actually accepted the position with his new team. The Gaslamp Ball blog reports that Kevin Towers has stated that the Padres’ payroll will remain at $40 million for some time, effectively forcing a Gonzalez trade. Gonzalez’s contract runs out after his $5.5 million option year in 2011.
Darren Smith, the new voice of the San Diego Padres conducted an interview with Hoyer, which can be heard following this link to GB.
After the San Diego Padres raided Red Sox front office executives Jed Hoyer for GM and Jason McLeod as his assistant, some have speculated that they may even make a run for the Green Monster.
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