10/22 Assorted Baseball News That Somewhat Affects the Rays: Jed Hoyer as General Manager, Kevin Towers, and Milton Bradley

Jed Hoyer likely the new Padres GM

I wrote about this (supposedly imminent) hiring at FanGraphs last night. Hoyer seems bright, open-minded, and able to communicate effectively with others. Getting him away from Boston will not affect their flagship status amongst the league's front offices, but it does take one strong mind and relocates it far away, which is a plus. Knowing Boston, they'll replace him with someone just as talented and the effects won't be felt.

Kevin Towers may land with Yankees or Red Sox

See, this is what I mean. Say what you will about Towers' roster construction abilities in the past 12-16 months, the fact is he did a pretty solid job with the given payroll restrictions. Joining the Yankees seems like the lesser evil, but frankly it shouldn't matter much. Assuming he wants one, Towers will probably land a GM job after a year doing scouting or consulting or hedgehopping remote control airplanes.

Milton Bradley trade update

The Cubs are drumming up the reported interest in Bradley. This is a bit hard to believe. Even last year, as a free agent, Bradley only had a few teams really pursuing him. A down year later with a multiple-year contract in tow and suddenly more teams are interested? If the Cubs can swap him without paying for any of his deal, then good for them. It should be Alfonso Soriano instead.