Carroll: Oppenheimer a top GM prospect

Yankees’ scouting director Damon Oppenheimer has been mentioned as a GM candidate for the last few years now, and even moreso these days as we approach the end of Brian Cashman’s latest contract. Will Carroll recently put together a list of the ten best GM prospects in the game, and Oppenheimer made the cut. Allow me to excerpt…

… several think pushing 50 might work against Oppenheimer. He’s hardly “too old,” but Oppenheimer will have it work against him in what is quickly becoming a young man’s job. The hours required, the time away from home and family, and the pay all conspire against the more established people.

[snip]

Oppenheimer, like [White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn], is often thought to be “in waiting” — not pushing Brian Cashman out the door, but in position to have the biggest chair in all of baseball …  “The thing you wonder,” said one AL exec, “is whether he really wants the job or is willing to keep doing the job he’s doing forever. He’s great and he’d be a great GM, but someone’s going to have to want him specifically.”

The Diamondbacks wanted to speak to Oppenheimer about their GM opening during the winter, but the Yankees denied them permission to do so. That’s a pretty good indication that, at the very least, they’re pleased with his work as scouting director and don’t want to lose him to another club. There’s also a pretty good chance that it means they have some kind of long-term plan for him. Speculate at your own risk.

I’ve already written about the front office and how I hope there is some kind of change this offseason, but it’s not like I want Cashman to go or anything like that. Quite the opposite, actually. I think promoting Oppenheimer to assistant GM would be a fine first step towards restructuring the front office somewhat, hopefully creating some kind of continuity between executives. Think Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti with the Indians. When the former was promoted to team president, the latter stepped right in with no growing pains. It was basically a lateral move and a change of job title, that’s it. Anyway, I could ramble about this stuff for hours, but it’s good to see that Oppenheimer is respected around the league and considered one of best future GM candidates.