New England native Mike Hazen ready to take Red Sox reigns
The Boston Red Sox announced Thursday that assistant general manager Mike Hazen will be promoted to senior vice president and general manager.
Hazen, a Princeton grad and New England native, recalled growing up arguing with his father over who was a better hitter - Jim Rice or Dwight Evans?
"This organization is prestigious, successful, has history -- history that I'm proud of personally, one that I grew up in," said Hazen in a press conference via MLB.com. "From the days when I used to wake up and argue with my dad over who was better between Rice and Evans -- that debate still rages on today, probably, between Rice and Evans. Memories that I take with me here in this job because that's what leads me, leads us I think as a group every day, drives us to be successful, to want to make this organization one that we're proud of and that the fan base is proud of and that the players are proud of, as well."
Hazen follows in the footsteps Dan Duquette, Theo Epstein and Ben Cherington as New Englanders to take the helm in Boston.
His role will be a little different since Dave Dombrowski is the president of baseball operations, but Hazen expects them to work well together.
"Obviously, the role of general manager will be a little bit different here with Dave, but power's not something that any of us talk about or look at. Dave is going to be making the decisions in the end," Hazen said. "I believe that the things that we've done here underneath the hood on the Major League team and player development, and amateur scouting and international scouting and all those other things, we'll continue to drive that forward and help put Dave in the best position possible to make the best decisions possible for the Red Sox."
Prior to joining the Red Sox in 2006, Hazen spent five seasons with the Cleveland Indians.
(h/t MLB.com)
