Who's gonna be the General Manager?

[Mex17]

41Forever wrote: That’s some impressive PhotoShopping going on there at the Post! Not quite Zvon level of good, but still really good!

I'm just thankful that they did not use this picture. . .

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EWTs85lrfn0/RsOua28GpyI/AAAAAAAAAlU/vDFB43ILTmE/s320/Van+Halen,+Eddie.jpg

[Mex17]

Frayed Knot wrote: And, yes, BVW is an agent, but he's not going to be one anymore if he accepts this job and to think his only skill, and therefore his only possible M.O. going forward, would be big signings is kinda silly as well.

My point with this was not so much that this is the only thing that BVW can do, but more that, given the elder Wilpon's advanced age, I think that is what we are in for. Once Fred enters into the next plane of existence, then maybe Jeff goes ahead at that point and tries to restructure this thing from the ground up (or Manfred makes him sell the way Selig made McCourt sell, which he perhaps will not do until Fred is gone out of respect for Fred). Until then, perhaps they are now going into "Fred's Last Stand" mode. The fact that they hired the big game hunting agent over the semi-proven holistic organization builder only reinforces my supposition of this, it did not create the supposition.

[Frayed Knot]

Mex17 wrote: ". . . [bloom] was involved in all aspects of the Rays minor league system, including player evaluation and assignments, the expansion of the department's video, strength and conditioning and mental skills initiatives, the creation of the "Rays Way" player development manual and the execution of individual development plans for the organization's prospects."

Well, yeah, it's logical that he was involved in all aspects of the minor league system seeing as how, prior to being co-head of baseball operations in TB, he spent a lengthy time as minor league director (or whatever his title was).

My point is that I think it's far too simplistic to say that we know that candidate X is going to act a particular way (and therefore know why he was hired) because that's the way he went about things in a different job at a different time for a different organization, just as I don't think it's logical to see BVW as a FA-heavy quick turn-around artist due to his former job of repping FAs. Both views ignore the complex nature of the job and of the task.
Nor, btw, do I believe that Fred is at the moment sitting on piles of unspent cash just waiting to unleash it on FAs in a WIN NOW! attempt based on him being 81 y/o instead of 79 like he was, oh say about two years ago.

[Edgy MD]

I don't believe there's any reason to believe that Brodie VW would be in any way a cipher for Fred Wilpon to impose his own will on than any other selection would be.

[Mex17]

Frayed Knot wrote: Nor, btw, do I believe that Fred is at the moment sitting on piles of unspent cash just waiting to unleash it on FAs in a WIN NOW! attempt based on him being 81 y/o instead of 79 like he was, oh say about two years ago.

Two years ago was coming off two consecutive playoff appearances and was when it looked as if Cespedes was going to be a reliable centerpiece to the offense and also when we had Familia and Reed at the back end of the bullpen. A few things have changed since then.

[Mex17]

Edgy MD wrote: I don't believe there's any reason to believe that Brodie VW would be in any way a cipher for Fred Wilpon to impose his own will than any other selection would be.

This is probably rehashing the same old argument that has played out on this forum 1,000 times, but if you think that Fred Wilpon does not use his GM's as ciphers for the purpose of imposing his own will, I would suggest that you have not been accurately interpreting the history of this baseball franchise going from 1987 forward.

[Edgy MD]

And I would disagree. Highly. And I would have mountains of evidence to back me up.

But if VW is to fill that role, then anybody the organization has selected and will select will be to fill that role, so what's the point of being disappointed in Brodie?

[Edgy MD]

And it looks like it's all over but the press conference.

Here's hoping they quickly re-sign all his clients before completing the ink on his deal.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Bloom apparently in the running for the GM job in San Francisco.

Maybe Van Wagenen was the choice because Bloom had other options, and maybe was more lukewarm to the Mets job than Brodie was?

[Fman99]

I thought the "Mets Way" was to fish bloated corpses out of the ocean and put uniforms on them.

[smg58]

I don't see how other teams showing an interest in Bloom would have made him less desirable to the Mets. And while the Giants have a higher payroll, they have so much money tied up in players not worth their bloated contracts that I wouldn't take them over the Mets right now.

It will be awkward initially, but if van Wegenen knows what he's doing we'll all get over it quickly. And it's possible that he would have made the best impression with us, too. Hoping for the best, not passing any sort of judgment until I see what he does.

[Fman99]

I'm sure it will be a garbage fire. But it's super cloudy and rainy here and I may just be being a pissy pants.

[Centerfield]

Anyway, so how do you say his name?

Is it Van Wagenen as in "Wagon-In"? Like I'm on the Brodie Band Wagon-in?

Or Van Wagenen as in "wage-uh-nin?" Like Brodie Minimum Wage-uh-nin?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I imagine it's a hard G, but I have no idea.

I wonder how Gary Cohen pronounces it? Probably "Wag-o-neese."

[Ceetar]

I haven't read the eight pages of backlog on this, but I'm excited by Van Wagenen. It's interesting and out of the box a little bit. I have no doubt he can do the job, especially given there's plenty of experience around to lean on for the day to day "hey, waiver day coming up!" stuff that maybe wasn't on his radar before.

I do enjoy all the panic and complaining from guys like Buster Olney who presumably don't have as many sources or connections to someone from 'the other side'.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I saw that Buster Olney predicted that this would be a disaster.

I'm tend to be skeptical of both extreme optimism and extreme pessimism.

I do look forward to Van Wagenen's press conference. I don't know that he'll say much of substance, but at this point, any clues regarding his approach will give us more than we have now, which is essentially nothing.

[Centerfield]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I saw that Buster Olney predicted that this would be a disaster. I'm tend to be skeptical of both extreme optimism and extreme pessimism. I do look forward to Van Wagenen's press conference. I don't know that he'll say much of substance, but at this point, any clues regarding his approach will give us more than we have now, which is essentially nothing.

I'm in this camp. Van Wagenen is a complete wild card. I don't see how anyone can speak with any certainty how this will play out.

I don't like the move because I don't think they chose the best option. But it could very well work out.

We'll see. So many variables.

Is Van Wagenen any good? Will the Wilpons meddle or butt out? Will he have an increased budget?

[Ceetar]

the ONLY factor that people are complaining about (granted, because we don't know) is "Hasn't been in a front office" Big freaking whoop. There's no chance that's more than a negligible handicap and at worst that handicap lasts a year.

[Centerfield]

Ceetar wrote: the ONLY factor that people are complaining about (granted, because we don't know) is "Hasn't been in a front office" Big freaking whoop. There's no chance that's more than a negligible handicap and at worst that handicap lasts a year.

It's not the only factor. Conflicts of interests, familiarity with scouting, analytics etc. But certainly the main factor.

I mean, relevant experience is kind of a big factor for any job no?

Cuz if it isn't, I was totally available.

Edited October 29, 2018 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

I hope with some reason that a high-end agent wouldn't be unfamiliar with analytics in 2018.

[Guest 41Forever]

I look at this as kind of a medium-risk, high-reward situation. I’m intrigued about what sparked a very traditional organization to try something different. Maybe it was the kind of a “keep doing the same thing and you’ll get the same results” type of thing. Maybe he just blew them away during the interview. Maybe he’ll come at things from a fresh perspective.

If I was a reporter at that press conference, I’d ask him about the “why.” Given his client list I’m assuming he’s doing very well. Why would he walk away from that? He must really, really want the job. What drives him, and how did he sell this to a risk-averse ownership?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I would think not. I'm sure he goes into arbitration hearings with plenty of analytical information.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Centerfield wrote: Anyway, so how do you say his name? Is it Van Wagenen as in "Wagon-In"?

Seems this is the pronunciation of choice.

[Mex17]

If deGrom and/or Syndergaard hire Boras before we all sit down for turkey, should we worry then?

[Ceetar]

Mex17 wrote: If deGrom and/or Syndergaard hire Boras before we all sit down for turkey, should we worry then?

Is either shopping for a new agent?

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, they may well lose the guy, but stick with the agency.

CAA has about 1,800 employees, and most of the talent on their roster is from the show bidness world.

Van Wagenin isn't even the first principal to jump to the other side of the table. Michael Ovitz, one of the agency founders, would eventually leave to become president at Disney.

[RealityChuck]

He probably lights up the room.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Ceetar wrote: Mex17 wrote: If deGrom and/or Syndergaard hire Boras before we all sit down for turkey, should we worry then? Is either shopping for a new agent?

They have to get themselves a new agent. Not necessarily a new agency, but definitely a new agent.

[Vic Sage]

I deal with agents every day. Their only common denominator is that they are required to be able to know where and what the market is, and what is the value of their product in that market. Then tell a story that sells their client into that market for the best deal possible. They are salesmen, plain and simple. So the only thing I know for sure about the Bro-meister is that, as one of the preeminent sports agents around, he is able to talk people into buying his wares. He was certainly successful at it getting the Wilpons to buy. Whether or not the wares he's selling are any good is unknowable at this point.

But i'm always dubious about guys who get by on a smile and a shoeshine, so i'd have been happier with a young, analytics guy with a demonstrated ability to build a team.

And there are conflicts of interest all over this thing. I'm sure the BroMan discussed this decision with his clients before he accepted, so either they're happy because they believe he's going to make a good deal for them with the team (which would help his former partners at CAA [thus helping the BroMan keep those relationships alive as a potential escape hatch], but which could result in above-market deals that cripple the team in the long run), or his former clients are pissed off by his betrayal and will leave when they can (which could also cripple the team in the long run). There's a thin line down the middle where he keeps everybody happy while making the team competitive, but its an awfully small target for him to hit.

In other words, feh.

Goodbye, Mr. Bloom. You were almost felled by a dark fate.

Or, as Mr. Bloom's friend, Stephen Daedelus, once said: "history is a nightmare from which I'm trying to awake." Yet every time i wake, the Wilpons are still here.

Edited October 29, 2018 by Guest

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yeah, it appears that the Mets went with the slickster over the nerd.