Byrnes thinks a player's sexuality would be a non-issue in the modern game of baseball.
A few days ago Marty Caswell interviewed Padres General Manager Josh Byrnes about Michael Sam's story as it relates to Major League Baseball. Byrnes said he admires Sam's courage for coming out prior to the NFL Draft. He thinks that times have changed and we're a more accepting society now.
"In a perfect world it's not an issue. It's really none of our business. We're a workplace and we're here to compete and win games and be a team and that issue shouldn't be a factor in achieving those goals."
Byrnes continued saying that he thinks that the MLB in particular is ready for an openly gay player. He points to the fact that the MLB player pool is more diverse with 30% being foreign born.
"We're just used to being open and accepting. We're a pretty close knit group, so I think this fits with that. I think if a player in baseball decided to come out I think he'd be very well accepted by his organization and his teammates."
Byrnes then answered Caswell's question about evaluating player's personal attributes. He said that the Padres spend a lot of time researching a player's makeup and personality but a player's sexuality wouldn't affect their evaluation of him.
"If we knew that about a player in the draft. He'd go where he should go based on his talent and obviously his character, but I wouldn't put this issue as part of character. So it would really have no affect on how we would evaluate the player."
In the end Byrnes concluded by reiterating the point that a player's sexuality should really be a non-issue at this point because it's part of life.