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Report: Rays want McHale as COO
DETROIT (AP) -- John McHale Jr., the Detroit Tigers' president and chief executive officer, has reportedly become the leading candidate to be the next chief operating officer of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. McHale said he has not talked to the Rays and doesn't have plans to, but he would interview with them about their opening if approached and protocol was followed. "It seems to me that it would be foolish and unnecessarily insulting not to," McHale said Sunday during the Detroit-Tampa Bay game. "They have a major league ballclub in a delightful part of the country." Rays chairman Vince Naimoli arrived in Detroit on Saturday night and was at Comerica Park on Sunday. Naimoli said the trip to Detroit was planned before the season. He would not confirm or deny that McHale was a candidate for the Rays' opening. The Tigers refused to say whether Tampa Bay has asked for permission to talk with McHale. "I'm looking for a COO," Naimoli said. "I'm getting a list of candidates together. We're not at a point where we can say anything more." McHale said he would likely talk to Naimoli on Sunday, "to say hello to a friend in major league baseball." The St. Petersburg Times and the Tampa Tribune have identified McHale as the Rays' top choice. McHale was asked if he would accept the job if it was offered. "It's hard to deal in the abstract," he said. "I know that they have had an unsettled situation and that they're looking for someone. But there are a lot of issues that anyone would want addressed before saying, 'Yes,' or 'No.' It's tough for me to predict what would or wouldn't happen. I'm not the solicitor." McHale, 52, took over as president and CEO of the Tigers in 1995 and is credited with helping them complete Comerica Park. As the Colorado Rockies' executive vice president of baseball operations the previous four years, McHale helped the franchise build Coors Field. Naimoli's title with the Devil Rays went from managing general partner/CEO to chairman on Friday. Naimoli will continue to run the day-to-day operations of the franchise until the Rays hire a COO. That announcement came a little more than a week after manager Larry Rothschild was fired following three last-place finishes and another poor start this season. Rothschild was replaced by Hal McRae.
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