7
2011
Maybe DePo As Future Mets GM Isn’t Such A Smart Idea?
An article by Hojo's Mojo
To add to Hojo’s post below, I came across some comments that Paul DePodesta made in which he discussed the job of being a general manager. It certainly didn’t sound like someone who aspires to be a GM again in the future.
Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, still refers to DePo as a “numbers cruncher who just couldn’t equate with people”. The two became bitter enemies when DePodesta was hired as the Dodgers GM, but their relationship has since become quite cordial. In September, Plaschke interviewed the Mets Director of Scouting about his role in the “Moneyball” movie. The conversation then shifted to the GM position.
When he was fired in October 2005, I wrote, “Some will say DePodesta was never given a fair chance. I say he never should have been hired in the first place.” Turns out, both statements were probably true.
DePodesta has learned enough since then that when I asked him whether he wanted to be a general manager again, there was no awkward silence. ”No, not particularly,” he said quickly, strongly. “From my perspective, it’s not necessarily a great job.”
The article paints DePodesta as the type of executive who prefers to blend into the walls and doesn’t ever want to be a front man again. DePo enjoys not being a public person and in fact he treasures this role so much, that he was the only one in the cast of “Moneyball” that wanted an alias used instead of his real name.
I’m not sure you can be a successful GM in this town if your preference is to drench yourself in obscurity and anonymity. When Alderson does move on, I hope the switch to DePo is not as automatic as it now sounds right now.
~ Joe D.
Original Post 11/6
Adam Rubin of ESPN backs up some comments he made on Friday regarding the Mets slashing payroll and not being able to afford keeping their own stars. But he opens his article with this little nugget.
There has been no shortage of phrases over the years spoken by New York Mets personnel that have taken on lives of their own.
“Skill sets” is how Fred Wilpon referred to Steve Phillips’ qualifications.
“Carl Crawford money,” also courtesy of Wilpon, is what Jose Reyes won’t be getting this winter.
“No light at the end of the tunnel,” is an oldie but a goodie from Cliff Floyd.
But the most relevant phrase at this point, or at least No. 1A alongside the well-publicized Crawford line, is what Paul DePodesta said upon joining the organization as general manager Sandy Alderson’s lieutenant last offseason. DePodesta referred to the Mets’ situation as “Moneyball with money.”
Well, not quite.
It’s just Moneyball.
Speaking of DePodesta, Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record, says Sandy Alderson has no intention of a long-run as general manager of the Mets and that eventually, Paul DePodesta will run the day-to-day operations of the franchise.
Alderson could be history, as well, even apart from ownership’s financial struggles. Friends of the GM believe he has no intention of a long run in Flushing. The working theory is that Bud Selig informally “loaned” the well-respected Alderson to the Wilpons to help stabilize the franchise. Eventually, the day-to-day operations will be turned over to assistant Paul DePodesta, the former Dodgers GM who learned his trade as Billy Beane’s right-hand man.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard that DePo will succeed Alderson when his time is up. From a philosophy standpoint there won’t be much difference and the transition should be very smooth.
As for Alderson, it’s looking more and more that he came here with one central goal in mind and that was to reduce payroll and try to financially stabilize the team. If you’ve been listening to most of what Alderson has said this season, you’d find that much of it was always more about spending less or saving money than anything else. At least that’s been my perception.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
32 Comments + Add Comment
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 7.0 |
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One good turn deserves another.
Good post as usual HoJo…
Expect the moneyball crowd to get on you for it though!
Seems to fit right in line with what most of us who oppose Moneyball have been saying is the goal here….
Budget Trumps winning!
The Beancounters are in charge!
Though it is odd that the only team in more financial trouble than us is where DePodesta’s last GM job was isn’t it?
Not that I blame him for that, the Owner raped that team into trouble not Podesta. (and no that didn’t happen here!)
But I will point out that spending less will not fix the budget problems which stem from attendance.
We will get the Moneyball but there will still be no money until they find a way to get more people in the stands!
Letting reyes go is going to have the opposite affect!
The news just gets worse and worse. Now a guy who was fired in his 2nd year as GM of LA after leading them to their 2nd worst record ever since moving out to CA in 1958 is in line to be Mets next GM
All based on philosophies and nothing to do with the ability to show that they can win.
Rush 2112 – We have assumed control, We have assumed control, We have assumed control.
Is it too late to give Sandy Passage to Bangkok?
I know he has many fans who are smoking stuff from there if they think we are getting better not worse!
Don’t annoy us further!
We have our work to do
Just think about the average
What use have they for you?
Another toy that helped destroy
The elder race of man
Forget about your silly whim
It doesn’t fit the Plan!
That isn’t why Paul was fired. The season before in his first full year as GM they went to the playoffs. That team choked in his second. He was fired because the Dodgers idiot owner was insecure about what people thought about Paul’s methods from within the organization. The won-loss record was a convenient occurrence to allow him to act on his insecurity. Many players he acquired for the team became stars and/or very productive players that the Dodgers pissed away, because it is the most poorly ran organization in baseball.
Right, they went to the playoffs with a roster he inherited and not made with his philosophy
So then what is the excuse for the team making the playoffs in their 1st year away from DePo? Wouldn’t that GM have inherited players too? Or does 1 excuse not work both ways because it doesn’t fit your agenda?
The Dodgers won 88 games that year and wouldn’t have had Jeff Kent, JD Drew, Derek Lowe, Brad Penny without DePodesta, and they were arguably 4 of the most significant players for that 2006 team.
You mean to tell me he was smart for getting PAST THIER PRIME (26 yo) PLAYERS and making the Dodgers a playoff team?
38 yo Kent?
30 yo Drew?
33 yo Lowe?
28 yo Penny?
NONE HOMEGROWN!
Hmmm I kind of remember someone saying you should not get or sign guys who are past their prime as it’s dumb and can’t ever succeed!
Now who said that let me think….
Metsie, did the Dodgers make the playoffs the year after DePo got fired and did they do so because their best producers were acquired by DePo? It’s a simple yes or no question. It’s okay to ADMIT it. If DePo “inherited” his 2004 team, then he gets credit for the 2006 team. Does he not?
Did they make it BECAUSE of him or DESPITE him?
He was there for a year and a half…
His biggest accomplishment was letting Beltre go!
Draft picks
Blake Dewitt
Gave up his only other 1st Rounder to get Lowe
Yeah I’ll give him some credit…
Too bad for you he gets it for NOT DOING what you say is the way to go! LOL
I would think the Furcal, Ethier, Martin and Garciapara is what made them successful as anything Podesta’s guy did! I mean they were already a playoff team then dropped 20 games in the Win column and as soon as he leaves they get to the playoffs again?
You want to credit him with something significant off that?
He did get them some Pitching though.
Pitching is always good!
Metsie, oh ok I got it now. So when he comes into the organization and they win it is because he inherited a team. Then when he leaves and they win, its because the team wins “despite him.”
Can you please tell me when and how a GM ever gets credit for the teams success?
It seems that lately people here come up with any way possible to not give anybody credit. So if the Mets win the division next year, it wont be because of anything Alderson did, but because they had a terrible year in 2011 it’s all Alderson’s fault.
It’s so ridiculously lame how people like you try and find any way possible to make a GM you disagree with look bad.
You can’t have it both ways. Either he is responsible for the 2004 team making the playoffs, or Ned Colletti inherited a playoff team left to him by Paul DePodesta.
No Jessup doesn’t HAVE to be that way but the facts are he inherited a Playoff team, made changes that cost them 20 games and he got FIRED, then the next guy went and got BACK the missing talent that he gave up to put them back where they SHOULD have been if he hadn’t traded away Beltre!
And whats MORE significant is if you think he was responsible for it then why aren’t you supporting what he did then NOW with us?
Signing FAs past their prime that you say helped them get back to the playoffs and he should get credit for!
I think these moves are a deliberate attempt to rid the Mets of their fanbase and replace them with a new generation of Met fans.
This all changes once ownership is forced out.
That day will come in the next 2 years. I have no doubt of that. The Wilpons will not have control of the Mets on opening day 2014.
Never going to happen Francis…
They will not sell control until we have won a WS (maybe two) where they get the Billions that type of team is worth!
By then they should be able to sell their share in SNY as well so losing is not going to force them out, only Winning can where they will be able to sell the team at a premium will get them out of your Met Life!
Besides if they sold the team Now Jeff would have no employment options available.
I know what your saying Metsie, but here’s my point.
My guess is that they will sell because the league will make them sell, not because they want to sell.
Why ? Because the Wilpons finances will be caught up in courts for at least two years. That means that the team’s finances and the players checks will be in limbo for that long.
Right now, Selig is running damage control, but eventually either the other owners will balk at extending loans indefinitely, or the players union will raise hell because their players can’t be sure that they’ll be paid.
This can go on for another year for sure, but by June 2013, something is going to have to give.
On top of this, Selig is not under contract past 2012, and he’s 73. He is probably 50/50 to retire, and I’ll bet that once the CBA is finalized, he’ll announce his retirement. Once Selig is gone, the Wilpons don’t have a chance of keeping the team.
That’s my guess, and I’ll stick with it.
The league is not going to force them to sell anything because they are even close to filing for bankruptcy!
Only Picard winning 386 Mil in court could even make it close and what they will do is what they already started, Sell off a non controlling interest to pay everyone off and move on!
It’s not how much money a team spends, but in a given range of say 90 – 100mm, how well they spend it. Wren’t all final 4 teams in the MLB Playoffs within that range? Admittedly, we still have Santana choking off a good chunk of our 100 – 110mm payroll (and Wright). But looks like Wright is going…and Santana hs what thru ’12 or ’13…i forget…but it’s close to the end for that contract too.
We’ll be in the hunt agin by 2013…i think.
you don’t look to wait for contracts to expire in order to then “be in the hunt”
No matter who is signed to whatever type of contract their signed if your roster is good enough than you try and COMPETE with whatever financial constraints you have. The Front Office last year gave the fan base a line of bull crap about waiting for contracts to come off the books for the 2012 season. Well now it’s that time and we’re gonna get the same line of crap again? They could have had a better off season last year with whatever little money they had to spend, now those very contracts they spoke about last year coming off the books this year..are coming off the books..and the story is still the same.
HOW ABOUT ATTEMPTING TO COMPETE!? They can you know.
i hear you. But i think it makes sense to fine=tune the team and trade players that have disappointed but whose contracts do not disqualify getting value in return. Reyes to F/A and Wright in a trade…where we get value back and retool for 2013…when Santana’s deal also ends.
Bob tell me something…
Which part of the following names constitutes money spent well?
Boyer
Buchholz
Capuano
Carrasco
Hairston
Harris
Paulino
Young
Guess what we are going to spend on next year?
Same load of CRAP because spending 2 Mil is not WISE spending it hardly constitutes spending at all!
Reyes for 20 Mil will get you more than 20 Mil worth than the types of guys these folks go after!
Only difference is they will go through 10 Players to get the same performance one guy at 20 Milo would get him!
It is shopping at Walmart and just buying a new one each time the thing you bought fails to work!
StLouis KEPT and hopes to KEEP Pujols!
If they don’t they won’t be winning anymore World Series’ anytime soon!
Mil will let Fielder walk but then spend the money on a guy like Reyes who is CHEAPER than what they let go but still helps them win around the same amount only in a different way!
We are letting Reyes go and then taking that money to buy slubs and retreads hoping we get a good year out of them and be able to trade them for kids!
And when they have all those kids guess what happens?
Sandy gets fired for not winning anything in the last 4 years and we go back to spending because it’s proven to WORK to get the players you need to win!
I guess your off the hook HoJo,
The Moneyballers seem to have taken a powder on this thread!
so.. wait.. am i reading this article right?? depodesta in line to be the next gm?? so we have a current GM who the moneyballers love, but is onvious is not here to win, so they’re talking about another sabermetric loser GM who has won nothing, was fired AFTER HIS SECOND YEAR as a gm, his biggest accomplishment as a scout director of personal has been blake dewitt, is in line to be the next GM?? REALLY??? can the mets organization for once do things right!?!? more losers to join the wagon… wow.
I guess I’m in the minority here, I really think this is a non-story. I think its just empty pages needing to be filled by beat writers.
Alderson’s contract isn’t done until the 2014 season ends, (and this doesn’t include a 2015 option).
To even discuss who is “next in line” right now is foolish to me. Think about how quick things could change? In 2007 was anybody expecting the market to totally tank in the later 2000′s? Of course not.
Things change that impact so many different future decisions. Everybody “knew” John Ricco was next in line to be the Mets GM, how’d that turn out?
I’m not saying as of today the thought is or is not to one day have DePodesta be the GM, but I am saying anything can happen from today through 2014 that may impact that decision 1 way or the other.
i’ll tell you what will happen, after 3 straight more losing season as a GM, alderson bolts. however didn’t see that coming is beacuse they were bling with this moneyball mentality to be brought here in NY. at this point, i’d rather have ricco as a GM, at least if he fails as miserably as alderson has we can always blame on inexperience, but what alderson is doing to mets fans and its fan base is just criminal..
2014 precisely the time Santana and Bay’s contract runs out doesn’t it?
At that point his job will be complete, we will have a payroll more like the Pirates with NO STARS, NO DRAW, JUST KIDS!
We will have basically gotten rid of the METS and replaced them with the current Buffalo Bisons Lineup!
ahhh, right… no wright, no reyes, no santana, no bay… no high payroll..
“Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, still refers to DePo as a “numbers cruncher who just couldn’t equate with people””
Equate with people? How exactly does Bill Plaschke get paid to write?
and I’ve heard on several occasions that DePo has no desire to be a GM again. But, who knows. Perhaps working in that cluster frak in LA would sour anyone’s taste. Perhaps if the right job came along, he’d take it.
Of course, all of this is baseless speculation. Klapsich just talking out of his nether regions again. I do think Alderson will only be here the length of his contract (barring a major disaster) and then hand the reigns to either Ricciardi (I hope he learned how to better handle the media) or Ricco (he’s still here for a reason, right?) once the Mets are contending.
once the mets are contending??? so you’re saying the mets will content after alderson leaves? or that he’ll leave once the team starts contending?
Meh, fine line between the 2 to be honest. He’s leaving after 2014, no matter what. What I’m saying is the Mets will either be contending or about to be.