There has never been a female general manager in Major League Baseball. One female executive has gotten close: Kim Ng, who served as an assistant general manager in the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations. Now working as a Major League Baseball executive, Ng has emerged as a candidate for the Phillies vacant general manager position, along with several other notable big league executives.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports:
Philly has been unusually mum about its search, but it was learned that Kim Ng, the former Yankees, Dodgers and White Sox executive who works in the MLB Central office, is line for an interview there, joining Indians executive Ross Atkins, who is interviewing this week according to sources, and ex-Marlins GM Larry Beinfest, who interviewed a couple weeks back, as the three known candidates. Ng, who has parents of Chinese descent, has an interview upcoming.
Others rumored to possibly be in the mix include Angels assistant GM Matt Klentak, Royals assistant GM J.J. Piccolo, Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine and possibly ex-Red Sox GM Ben Cherington.
The rules require one minority candidate. So far, Ng is the only one on the list.
It would be unfortunate if Ng would be used simply to satisfy the minority interview mandate, but she is surely qualified. Ng has interviewed for general manager positions at least three times (the Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the San Diego Padres) to no avail. Ng (pronounced "Ing" for those asking) is 46 years old.
In an interview with Phillies president Andy MacPhail during a Phillies broadcast, MacPhail let slip that he was considering a female general manager.
Beinfest was responsible for building the 2011 Marlins team that was expected to contend but did not. Working for one of the toughest owners in the game in Jeffrey Loria, Beinfest was let go after the 2013 season. Some of the moves and other issues were not considered Beinfest's fault.
Atkins interviewed for the vacant Angels position this offseason, which ultimately went to Yankees executive Billy Eppler. Atkins currently serves as vice president of player personnel for the Indians. He has worked in the Indians organization for 15 years. Click here to read a Cleveland Plain Dealer piece about Atkins as he was interviewing with the Angels.
Piccolo and Levine are both involved in the playoffs and likely could not interview until after the Royals and Rangers are eliminated. Cherington decided to depart the Red Sox organization rather than serve under new Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.
