Who's Your New General Manager?-Omar not fired

[metirish]

Nothing against Ricco but I hope it's not him because I fear he will be a continuation of what we have, he's been with the Mets for a long time.

Billy Beane gets mentioned , it's mandatory .

Here's what I want from the next GM ,

1) The ability to choose his own manager and coaches ,
2) The ability to choose his own GM staff
3) The ability to implement his vision for how the org should go forward

What are the things you think are vital for a new GM to have control over?

The only way I want a coach first then GM if it's Bobby V getting the job, otherwise I would like a new GM to get to choose his manager, I think that's important.

Edited August 16, 2010 by Guest

[metsmarathon]

i don't really know enough about all teh candidates.

but i don't want minaya, and i feel like ricco might not have the juice to force a wholesale change of teh way things run.

i don't want billy beane because i'm tired of hearing people misunderstand what moneyball is all about, and conflating it with sabrmetrics in general, and viewing any failure of billy beane's team as a failure of any and all advanced statistical evaluative methods.

i don't know enough about gillick, because i'm not really sure i know anything about any gms. nor do i know anything about prospective gms, and who all makes up the pool of candidates

so i assume that the candidate i know nothing about is probably the best.

i also feel the same way about managers, too.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yeah, whoever lights up the room is fine with me.

[Willets Point]

Dude, you made me think that Minaya had been fired.

[metirish]

Apologies on that Willets.

[Benjamin Grimm]

If a GM is fired in-season, I'm sure a replacement would be named immediately.

[Willets Point]

metirish wrote: Apologies on that Willets.

No problem. Most likely wishful thinking on my part. Although then I feel guilty about wanting someone else to lose their job.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I would think Wayne Krivsky would be a possibility as well.

I find it difficult to choose just based on reputations, but my preference would obviously be for a guy who'd be able to stand up for himself vs. the Wilpons if/when necessary, who understands what the team means to the fans, someone with more than a vague understanding of a science known as sabrmetrics but at the same time can be bold and decisive when his instinct for talent told him what to do. Someone who can craft and convey and devote himself to a mission, who chooses his people well and pays them well, including a guy whose only job it would be to put him out of business: make savvier trades, draft different people, allocate resources differently in an effort to learn how his adversaries might be thinking and learn. I want someone who can speak well on camera, offers a good quote without giving too much away, is a bastard to negotiate with with but ultimately fair and generous for those who earn it. A guy not afraid to admit a mistake, or even make one. A smart guy, a friendly guy. A guy who occasionally goes undercover at McFadden's just to have a beer and hear what the fans are saying and at the same time, doesn't suffer the media fools who presume to speak for them like Harper and Francessa.

[metirish]

Krivsky, that's the name that escaped me

Nice one bucket

[seawolf17]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I find it difficult to choose just based on reputations, but my preference would obviously be for a guy who'd be able to stand up for himself vs. the Wilpons if/when necessary, who understands what the team means to the fans, someone with more than a vague understanding of a science known as sabrmetrics but at the same time can be bold and decisive when his instinct for talent told him what to do. Someone who can craft and convey and devote himself to a mission, who chooses his people well and pays them well, including a guy whose only job it would be to put him out of business: make savvier trades, draft different people, allocate resources differently in an effort to learn how his adversaries might be thinking and learn. I want someone who can speak well on camera, offers a good quote without giving too much away, is a bastard to negotiate with with but ultimately fair and generous for those who earn it. A guy not afraid to admit a mistake, or even make one. A smart guy, a friendly guy. A guy who occasionally goes undercover at McFadden's just to have a beer and hear what the fans are saying and at the same time, doesn't suffer the media fools who presume to speak for them like Harper and Francessa.

FINE, I'll do it.

[smg58]

Kevin Towers. He put the current Padres team together with no budget, and now his successor is reaping all the benefits.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Fifteen years in the big chair with the Padres is a heckuva tenure.

[batmagadanleadoff]

What's not to like about Billy Beane? Because some fans and members of the media don't get Moneyball is no reason to reject Beane. He might be the best candidate for the Mets GM job. If he can do what he did on Oakland's budget, imagine what he might accomplish with one of baseball's highest payrolls. I guarantee that Jeff Francoeur wouldn't have racked up 300+ PA's by mid July with Beane calling the shots.

[metirish]

I'd like Beane too. Would Jeff hire such a strong candidate though. This is what I fear in a Ricco hire , toe the company like etc.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The thing is, while a person's attitude toward sabermetrics and Moneyball can lead one to under-rate Beane, it can also lead one to over-rate him.

I mean, Met fans would be merciless if the team dropped 10 big ones on Ben Sheets this offseason.

[batmagadanleadoff]

metirish wrote: I'd like Beane too. Would Jeff hire such a strong candidate though. This is what I fear in a Ricco hire , toe the company like etc.

My personal hunch has always been that the Wilpons discreetly meddle with their GM much more than they should, and that over the years, their interfering tendencies have gotten out among baseball's insiders.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

No Kevin Towers? Or the D'Backs youngun?

[seawolf17]

Edgy DC wrote: I mean, Met fans would be merciless if the team dropped 10 big ones on Ben Sheets this offseason.

Well, sure, NOW they would, considering he got fat and hurt.

Beane probably thought he could catch lightning in a bottle and then deal him midseason for prospects. You win some, you lose some.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yeah not for nothing Beane has earned the luxury of the occasional folly since most all of his failures can be written off to operating at an economic disadvantage. I'm sure he saw 10 million for Sheets worth 15 million worth of cheap players down the line.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Nonetheless, it counts against his record.

[Gwreck]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Or the D'Backs youngun?

That's why I voted other. I like the idea of Josh Byrnes as GM.

[metirish]

I like Byrnes too , the kid in Tampa...wow

Question

Would you take say three years of last place finishes knowing that at least you have a very smart GM in place with a vision to turn it around, like Friedman did in Tampa , or put another way. The new guy comes in and lays out a plan that excludes the big ticket guy and instead says lets concentrate on players through the draft.(probably looking at trading guys like Santana though, Wright and Reyes?)

[HahnSolo]

I've said it before, and will reiterate: It's been almost all "from within" hires since Fred came aboard, and yet the results are 30+ years, five postseasons, 3 division titles, one world championship. Maybe their way just isn't working, so, I want to go outside the organization for a GM.

Cashen, Phillips, McIlvaine, Duquette, Minaya...[i know Minaya wasn't technically hired from within, but is there any doubt that his hiring was largely due to his tenure under Phillips?] let's get some non blue and orange blood in here.

[Frayed Knot]

Remember that Tampa had TEN years of not only bad baseball but of consecutive sub-70 win teams and the high draft picks associated with each before they started turning things around.
It's one thing to tear stuff down and start again from scratch, it's another to assume that that route is a guaranteed path to success.

[metirish]

true , no guarantees at all. Look at the Pirates.

Still , I wouldn't mind hearing the word rebuilding from a new guy.

[ashie62]

Other- Bobby Valentine

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I like the idea of luring away a GM or Assistant GM from the small market (lower payroll) team that has a track record of getting good performance from less payroll dollars. The Twins and A's come to mind as examples of organizations that have a history of being successful without exorbitant payroll spending. You just wonder how such leadership could do with a much larger budget to work with.