More front office hires
Nats' General Manager Mike Rizzo today announced the hirings of Kasey McKeon as Director of Player Procurement and Jay Robertson as Special Assistant to the General Manager.
McKeon spent the previous seven seasons with the Colorado Rockies, where he was Assistant to General Manager Dan O'Dowd, and from what I've been told by various scouts, is an exceptionally acute judge of talent. McKeon comes by his baseball acumen naturally; his dad is Jack McKeon, the longtime big league manager and executive.
I haven't met Kasey, but I can tell this: his dad is one of the smartest men I've ever met in the game. I renewed my acquaintance with Jack at a Marlins-Nationals exhibition game in Viera last March. Over the past 30 years I've had probably 5 or 6 long conversations with Jack, and every one was a seminar. I can only imagine what it must have been like growing up in the same house with him.
Kasey's arrival with the Nationals seems somehow appropriate, in that his dad worked for the Griffith-owned Senators as a minor league manager from 1957-60.
Robertson spent the past eight seasons as Special Assistant to the General Manager with the Texas Rangers. Previously, Robertson spent 11 seasons with the Cleveland Indians, culminating with a promotion to Special Assistant to General Manager John Hart. He also served as Scouting Director with the Tribe.
Mike Rizzo would seem to now have his own front ofice team in place. The winter meetings get underway in six weeks in Indianapolis; by then, they'll all have a better grasp on what they've got and what they don't.
 |
Categories (click for archive)Phil Wood |
Phil,
Thanks for you your answers to my questions after your previous column. Two things for the off-season:
1. Would you consider doing an Ask Phil thing on the MASN page so fans could just write you questions on Nats/Hot Stove stuff, independent of your column that day?
2. A question on fence distances. I can't believe, with the size and power and muscle of today's players, that the RF line (and I think LF too) is 315 feet. To me, this is a home run distance for a men's softball team. So my question:
Utley's first homer in tonight's WS opener. My guess is the ball traveled 319 feet. Is there another park in the majors where that ball would be a homer?
Thanks/KM ==== Good idea on a questions feature - I'll pass it along to the big boss. As for RF lines in the majors, the Orioles, Red Sox and Giants all measure 318" or less.