The Dodgers narrowly averted losing a key member of their front office on Wednesday when Milwaukee Brewers vice president Jack Zduriencik was named general manager of the Seattle Mariners. Dodgers assistant GM Kim Ng was one of four finalists for the job.
Ng, who also interviewed for the Dodgers' GM job when Ned Colletti was hired in November 2005, is believed to be the only female to be interviewed for a GM post with a major league club in the history of the game. Although the Dodgers have three individuals with the title of assistant GM -- player-development head De Jon Watson and amateur scouting chief Logan White are the others -- her departure would have been a huge loss for the front office for a variety of reasons, and she almost certainly would have had to have been replaced if she had left.
For one, Ng is the only assistant GM who lives in Los Angeles -- Watson and White are Phoenix-based -- and as such is the only one who is a daily presence in the team's offices at Dodger Stadium. For another, she handles preparation for all of the club's arbitration cases and is considered one of the best in the business at those duties.
Finally, Ng is the designated "rules expert," a role that is filled by someone in virtually every major league club's front office. As such, she is well-versed in all of the complex intricacies of roster management.
