Oppenheimer among the game’s best GM candidates

When we think of prospects, we usually think about players and minor leaguers. Of course, field personnel and front office executives can be considered prospects as well, for coaching and managerial positions. Will Carroll ran down a list of the ten best GM candidates in the game (sub. req’d), one of whom is Yankees’ scouting director Damon Oppenheimer.

“There’s really nothing left for Oppenheimer to prove with the Yankees,” said Carroll. “His staff has developed players who have come through and have been traded out. There’s the advantage of the big pockets, but with those big pockets comes big scrutiny … Since it doesn’t appear Brian Cashman is going anywhere soon—Cashman is younger than Oppenheimer—it appears that Oppenheimer will have to move on to get his shot, unless the Yankees pay GM-like money to keep him in place.”

I don’t know when Oppenheimer’s contract runs out, but teams will almost never block someone from making an upward move. I also don’t know who would replace him, but I imagine it would be someone from within. It’s never a bad thing when your top level executives are mentioned among the best GM candidates in the game, I do know that much.