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We should be excited for the future with Mike Hazen as GM.

By Jorge Camargo

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As it was reported about 24 hours ago, the Red Sox search for a new GM ended with Dave Dombrowski promoting Mike Hazen to general manager and senior vice president. It seems to me that the name of Mike Hazen is only familiar to die-hard Red Sox fans, since casual fans may only know a few names that go beyond the ownership and previous GM. However, all of us should care and know about Hazen’s background. We all know that Dombrowski is going to be the one calling the shots, so what can Hazen actually bring to the table? The Red Sox are used to have a GM “making” the decisions beyond the field, so this is a relatively new situation for them.

The term of president of baseball operations has been going around for quite now, with teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves and recently the Boston Red Sox adopting the position. With Dombrowski taking over as president after another sickening season with Cherington, the Red Sox philosophy was looking for a change. Personally, I didn’t like the hiring of Dombrowski as president when I first heard the news. The fact that we beat him in the 2013 ALCS after a last-place finish stuck in my head for a while. The Detroit Tigers’ status at the time didn’t help either. However, my perception of the whole situation changed after Hazen stepped in as the new GM.

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Hazen grew up as a die-hard Red Sox fan in a small town on the southeast of Boston and has been with the team for exactly a decade. His resume includes positions with the Cleveland Indians in scouting and player development areas, and as Cherington’s co-assitant GM. He also was a baseball player for Princeton University, so his baseball knowledge goes beyond the box score. His background with the team is what made Dombrowski’s decision a lot easier, but what can we expect?

Dombrowski is known as a guy that doesn’t hesitate to trade prospects for current All-Stars and with the Red Sox having spectacular players like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Henry Owens is natural that some fans are scared of the new president trading them for let’s say, some aging star like Albert Pujols. However, here’s where Hazen’s position comes in. Since he has been with the organization for a decade, he is going to provide more insight to Dombrowski about rookies and possible future core players like the ones I mentioned before. After all, Hazen helped to develop them and actually knows their worth since he has been taking a close look at them since they were 17-19 years old.

Contrary to the way Dombrowski came to the team, Cherington was with the Red Sox for more than 10 years before taking over as GM. With him, the team had someone who had a deep knowledge about the system and the organization, but now Dombrowski is “the new guy”. However, with Hazen being Dombrowski’s right hand, both can make a succesful duo that brings knowledge and veteranism to the front office. With players like Yoan Moncada, Rafael Devers and Manuel Margot expected to make their Major League debut in less than two years, Hazen’s knowledge about the farm system will be extremely valuable to Dombrowski.

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    • The fact that Dombrowski promoted someone within the organization shows that he is not here to blow the team up, like some fans and media outlets suggested when he was hired. During Hazen’s introductory press conference he said “I’m not here to blow up the operation”. His actions are backing up their words, and that’s something we haven’t seen from a Red Sox front office member in a long time. Dombrowski’s wisdom and experience in baseball and Hazen’s knowledge about the organization are going to bring the best of both worlds to the Red Sox, and that’s exactly what they need if they want to win another World Series. After all, the Red Sox were an excellent team on paper at the beginning of the season. Now we’ll see how Dombrowski will improve the team in the upcoming offseason.

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