The Boston Red Sox are searching for a new General Manager, but after his recent actions, they need to stay far away from the former Astros’ executive.
With the Red Sox still on the hunt for their next GM, one man should clearly be out of the running. Former Astros’ assistant GM Brandon Taubman has more heat on his name than the Human Torch. He was once seemingly in consideration for the vacant Boston executive position but that hope is all but gone due to his recent behavior.
After the Astros won the American League pennant, Taubman was celebrating with the team in the clubhouse. Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated reported that he shouted at multiple female reporters, about his excitement in the team having closer Roberto Osuna. Between the language and the fact that he was celebrating a man who was suspended for violating the MLB Domestic Violence Policy to three women, was just gross.
"“Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f—— glad we got Osuna!”"
At that moment, you could almost hear his career hit a screeching halt. Apstein also made the great point that the timing of the exclamation was odd considering Osuna nearly blew the game.
When the report came out, the Astros were quick to try and discredit not only the report but Apstein as a reporter as well. In the days following not only has Houston fired Taubman but Manager AJ Hinch has expressed his disappointment in the handling of the situation.
Taubman was an up and coming exec in the Houston front office and had climbed the ranks pretty quickly since joining the organization. The Red Sox are in need of someone who can reel in the franchise and bring the team back to prominence after a very disappointing season. With the success of the Astros in recent years, Taubman had to have been a top prospect.
"“I didn’t know until the story came out,” he said of the incident. “I’m very disappointed for a lot of reasons. It’s unfortunate. It’s uncalled for. For me as a leader in this organization…I take everything that happens in the clubhouse to heart. …[you] should never feel like you’re going to be uncomfortable or disrespected.” – AJ Hinch"
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With everything that’s happened though it would be catastrophic if Boston even entertained a phone call from Taubman. The Red Sox are already in turmoil after the 2019 season, the firing of Dave Dombrowski, and the possible departures of Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. There’s absolutely zero need to add lighter fluid to an existing fire. Right now they need to be putting out the fires not making them worse.
Considering the way he rose through the ranks in Houston I could see Taubman being a possible replacement for Dombrowski. Those days are long gone after his actions last week and I can’t imagine Boston would even answer the phone if he called. FSG and Sam Kennedy got enough bad press after the Dombrowski debacle and I’m pretty sure they want to stay away from any more for the foreseeable future.
There’s plenty of unrest within the Red Sox organization right now as we are less than a year removed from winning the World Series and seemingly have no direction. The farm system has been pillaged for trade prospects and the checkbook has been sealed. Going forward, Boston needs someone who can get them back to the roots of what made them successful in recent years.
It came out late last night that the Red Sox had interviewed Tampa’s VP of Baseball Ops, Chaim Bloom per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Chad Jennings, as well as ESPN’s Jeff Passan. With Boston’s desire to rebuild the farm system and slash the payroll, Bloom is the perfect fit for the gameplan. It’ll hopefully be just a matter of time before we get an announcement of his hiring.
As the World Series is winding down Boston needs to make some moves to fill their front office. I’m not sure where the Red Sox are going to go next in regards to their GM/President of Baseball Ops vacancy but it’s clear that Brandon Taubman shouldn’t be in the seat. If he was in any sort of running then Boston should lose that phone number right away.