Wednesday Morning Hot Links

*I wrote about how everyone needs to just shut up about the Astros not drafting Kris Bryant.

*Corpus Christi Hooks president Ken Schrom was teammates with both Tito Francona and Joe Maddon.

*Rangers Assistant GM Thad Levine has been tapped as the next GM of the Minnesota Twins. Levine would be the 2nd assistant GM under Jon Daniels to go on to a GM job of another team. With A.J. Preller getting suspended for 30 days for tampering with medical records, let's see if there is a dastardly culture of corruption sullying the game fermenting with the Ramgers.

*The Astrodome is now a stop on the Red Line of the Metro Light Rail.

*Thankfully no one remembers that the White Sox won the World Series in 2005.

*The Klubot set up the rest of the series with his dominant performance last night.

*Larry Doby's legacy is alive and well in Cleveland.

*FanGraphs: The payroll disparity between the Cubs and Indians.

*Vice Sports: Who would win a series between the 1908 Cubs and the 1948 Indians?

*The Indians' star-studded dynasty that never was.

*The Blue Jays will likely extend Qualifying Offers to the Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.

Short list of GM possibilities

It's time to start building sourced lists of potential GMs. Any speculation is by each individual writer. Here we go:

12/5
Friedman out

12/5
Scott Nethery (CIN)

12/3
Jeff Luhnow (STL) (Interviewed)

11/30:
Levine out
Bill Geivett (COL) (Interviewed)

(Via Evan Grant):
Thad Levine (Texas)
A.J. Preller (Texas)
Both have been integral in the Rangers' rise to two-time defending AL champs. Both endorsed the club tear-down from the top that took place with the trades of Mark Teixeira, Kenny Lofton and Eric Gagne in 2007.

(Via Rosenthal and Morosi):
Gerry Hunsicker (TB) - The club reached the postseason in five of his nine seasons, and sources say he would embrace a return to Houston.
Andrew Friedman (TB) - Friedman's enthusiasm for the Astros' job is less certain.
Thad Levine (TEX)
A.J. Preller (TEX)
Dan Jennings (Florida/Miami) - Was denied permission to interview for the Orioles’ GM vacancy by Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria.

(Via McTaggart):
All of the above, and then...
Peter Woodfork (MLB) - He's a Theo Epstein disciple, having worked under him with the Boston Red Sox.
J.J. Piccolo (KC) - As the assistant GM of the Royals who oversees both the player development and scouting departments, Picollo has plenty of experience listening to a variety of opinions.
Jeff Kingston (SEA) - Kingston worked with Kevin Towers in San Diego before being hired away by the Mariners.
Billy Eppler (NYY) - Eppler interviewed recently for the Angels' vacant opening and is considered a solid candidate to be a GM in the future.
Logan White (LAD) - White's in charge of amateur and international scouting for GM Ned Colletti. In 2007, he interviewed with the Astros before Wade was hired.
De Jon Watson (LAD) - The head of player development with the Dodgers, Watson interviewed for the Orioles' vacant GM position in October before withdrawing.
Rick Hahn (CWS) - Hahn is a former sports agent who used to work for Jeff Moorad.
Al Avila (DET) - The assistant GM of the Tigers, Avila is more of a veteran scout, in the mold of Colletti, but he has a very good track record.
Allard Baird (BOS) - If the Astros find themselves looking for a veteran GM not named Hunsicker, Baird could be their guy.

Obviously the quotes for each candidate are not the entire quotes, and you'll just need to click the source link for the full version.

GM Update!

Big news from the GM search last night, after I went to bed (of course). So let's catch you up, if you haven't already done so:

Thad Levine, Assistant GM for the Rangers, has declined the Astros' offer to interview for the GM position.

Drew Silva says:
With the Winter Meetings set to begin early next week, it might be time to begin bottom-feeding.

Yes, because that's exactly what the Astros need more of.

Also, Ken Rosenthal says that Rockies Assistant GM, Bill Geivett, is a serious candidate for the vacant GM position. Rosenthal:
Geivett, 48, has a wide range of experience. His previous jobs included assistant GM for the Dodgers, farm director for the Rockies and Expos, special assistant to the GM with the Rays and area scout and instructor with the Yankees.

We warned you about this...

So the Astros might get a Rangers exec, and the Rangers might get Purpura

The Astros have asked the Rangers for permission to interview Assistant GM Thad Levine (and, as Sullivan reports, possibly A.J. Preller) for the vacant GM position in Houston.

And in a related note, the Rangers have interviewed Tim Purpura for their own vacant farm team director position.

In the best example of "Telling Half the Story" we've seen in a long time, we turn to T.R. Sullivan:
Purpura was the Astros' assistant general manager from 1997-2004 under Gerry Hunsicker and also served for seven seasons in the dual role of farm director. The Astros were named the Major League Organization of the Year in 2001 by four different entities. From 1997-2005, the Astros went to the playoffs in six of nine years, including 2005 in Purpura's first year as general manager.

Baseball Time in Arlington's reaction

Now that we have to start thinking about AL West reactions to the Astros news, if you're not already, you should be acquainted with Baseball Time in Arlington, because they're an excellent Rangers-oriented (obviously) blog. They have some thoughts on what today's news means for the Rangers, with emphasis on the possibility of Levine/Preller, and even Mike Maddux as next manager (should Mills get fired).