Looks like the Devil Rays are going to hire Gerry Hunsicker to be their new non-GM. There had been some doubt that the D-Rays would be able to land a big name like Hunsicker, simply because he will not be given the title of General Manager, but is being brought in to serve as a consultant/mentor to two young bucks the D-Rays are grooming for the future. Here’s a bit from this ESPN.com article:
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays will hire former Houston Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker to be a member of the Devil Rays’ restructured front office in a noon ET press conference on Thursday, reports ESPN Insider’s Jerry Crasnick.
Tampa Bay is looking for a new general manager, but it’s unclear what role Hunsicker would fill. Indications are that he would not assume the title of GM, a position that has been vacant since the Devil Rays fired Chuck LaMar last month.
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New principal owner Stuart Sternberg took over control of the Devil Rays from former managing general partner Vincent Naimoli last month. Among Sternberg’s first moves were to fire LaMar and expand the duties of young executives Matt Silverman and Andrew Friedman.
And now, for the part of the article that didn’t make the cut:
Hunsicker was not the first choice for the Devil Rays. They originally targeted Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, who declined out of devotion to the Dodgers. They then contacted former Cubs pitcher Ken Holtzman, who pitched two no-hitters, and former Yankee Ron Blomberg, the first player to come to bat as a designated hitter; neither Holtzman nor Blomberg was interested. Senator Joseph Lieberman considered taking the job, but ultimately declined due to having no knowledge of the game of baseball. The same was true for actors Ben Stein and Adam Goldberg. The Devil Rays’ last-ditch efforts fell short when they realized that Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, physicist Albert Einstein, and former high priest of Jerusalem Joseph Caiaphas are all dead. So Hunsicker it is.