If You Could Ask a GM....

what are you doing????

How much, if at all, do you take your fanbase into account when trying to improve your team?

especially the mets

do you consider opinions beyond those of your own scouting and development staff?
Some of the thought process would be obvious, such as the Angels knowing that Trout is their best prospect, but I’d be interested to know if a GM would consider something like how other teams in their division perceive that prospect (ie. keep them “away” from rivals or conversely, trade a coveted prospect within the division) and especially if they browse a site such as this one for a general/community perspective.

It seems most teams have a bias toward either high velocity power pitchers - who often lack control - or control pitchers - who often lack high velocity power. I’d ask what their philosophy was and why.

In other words, how do you keep from rushing a prospect?

Amateur evaluation/player acquisition
Front office and field staff management
minor leauge player development
FA evaluations
Trade targets / Waiver targets
Contract negotiations
Revenue enhancments
Public Relations
Other

Just trying to get a feel for which areas of the organizaiton get must of the top guy’s focus and which areas are trusted to supporting staff.

And have you ever stuffed the ballot for your own ’specs?

Do you read blogs? How much attention do you pay to them (if any at all)?

You’ve signed a player — call him Garrett Atkins, or Pat Burrell — and you’ve watched him, and he’s not only hitting .200, but he’s hitting .200 with no power. His swing looks terrible. He’s killing your team.

And yet you know that baseball is a streaky game. You know that the reliever who’s given up 12 runs and six dingers this past week might rack up a scoreless August. That hitter who looked cooked last week might go on a hot streak. Etc.

So when do you do it? When do you cut bait, swallow the balance of Brad Hawpe’s salary and give him his walking papers?

I am not talking about scouting their players, rather I am thinking about philisophies. Do you monitor other organizations that are successful and try and take away ideas that would improve your organization? Or do you have a plan and just stick to it? Do you follow the herd on ideas or purposefully try to zig when others are zagging?

So much of the game has become institutionalized that change is often difficult to enact. The statistical revolution the game has seen has been a struggle but there are other changes that could and should happen. In what way would you improve your profession or the game of baseball?

When is it prudent to change the position of a prospect? I’m not talking about moving Bryce Harper to the OF in order to get his impact bat to the bigs faster, but more like why not keep a kid at the more difficult position as long as possible (or until he proves he can’t handle the tougher spot) before moving him? This would apply to moving live arms to the bullpen instead of working him in the rotation as long as possible. Aren’t you doing the player a disservice — ar at the very least diminishing his trade value — by shifting him before it’s absolutely necessary? Maybe a guy like Nick Franklin is a good example?