Lots of children dream of growing up to be president. However, the children who are die hard baseball fans dream of growing up to be baseball players. When we get old enough that our physical skills inform us that we aren't going to make the major leagues, we sit back in our chairs, follow our team, and criticize the manager. In fact, the two jobs that everyone seems to think they can do a better job than the person who actually has the job are President of the United States and manager of a baseball team.
Just like the President has access to a lot of classified information that we are not aware of, so does the major league manager. If we wonder why the manager isn't starting Alex Gordon, we may not know that Gordon has a slight hamstring pull or a slight case of the flu. We are wrong in thinking we can do a better job even though if the manager gets fired, we can't understand why our phone doesn't ring with a job offer.
The popularity of fantasy baseball has changed the fan's thinking as well. For one thing, we are much more aware of statistics and minor leaguers than we ever were before. If we can win our fantasy league, we can certainly be successful as a major league general manager. Does Dayton Moore know something about Wil Myers that we don't? Is he not as good of a prospect as we think? I don't know, but I do know that Dayton knows a helluva lot more about him than I do.
The ones that get me are the guys who, when hearing David Glass say that his break even point is a $70 million dollar payroll, say that he is lying and it is really $90 million. Really? I'm not an accountant, but I think I would need some access to the books before I can determine what a break even point is. Do we even know all the costs associated with running a baseball team besides payroll? Again, I think Glass knows far more about his team's finances than we do. I guess I am saying what is obvious, but I still hold out hope that the Royals will give me a call when their next managerial position opens up. I'm in SABR, for heavens sake!
How do you think the Royals match up with Oakland Bill? I think their total payroll is less than the Royals but they made the playoffs. Do you think that is unfair to make comparisons of low payroll teams?
ReplyDeleteThat is a very fair comparison. Oakland had its young pitchers come through for them. It worked out really well to trade their 2 best starters and get young talented starters in return. Their bullpen was outstanding as well, and in Yoenis Cespedes, they signed a talented young free agent. That being said, I wouldn't trade our starting lineup for their under any circumstances. Our pitching now should match up pretty well with them if not be better.
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