Red Sox name Mike Hazen GM

The Boston Red Sox have named assistant general manager Mike Hazen their general manager, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported Thursday afternoon. 

Hazen steps in for Ben Cherington, who left the organization following the hiring of Dave Dombrowski to become the team's president of baseball operations. 

The 39-year-old Hazen has worked for the Red Sox since 2006, when he was named director of player development. He was promoted to vice president and assistant general manager in 2012. Earlier this year, he became a senior vice president. 

Hazen is a former professional baseball player, having been drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 31st round in the 1998 MLB Draft out of Princeton. After retiring in 1999, he joined the Indians to become a Major League Advance Scout in 2001 and has been working in a front office ever since. 

By choosing Hazen to become their next general manager, the Red Sox will avoid an exodus in their front office, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports opines. When a new GM comes into a team, he usually likes to have his own staff working for him, which in the case of the Red Sox, would have meant that a lot of jobs could be turned over quickly. However, Hazen, being an in house candidate, probably won't make many, if any, personnel decisions in the front office. 

At the time of this writing, the Red Sox have gone 72-79, despite being major players in the free agent market, signing two of the biggest position player free agents, Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez, to long term deals. Hazen and Dombrowski will have their work cut out for them to make Boston competitive again.

--Devan Fink

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