Are there people on OH you feel could do a better job than AM or other members of the O's brass?

[ChaosLex]

This can of worms was opened in another thread, so I just had to ask it here.

[xKHx]

One word yes.

[ChaosLex]

And for the record, I say no way in hell. As much as some of the O's decisions makes me want to pull my hair out, at the end of the day they're professionals. I'm not.

[Sports Guy]

I have no doubts that this is the case...although I do feel that there would have to be a lot of things that you learn in the beginning, as is the case with any job.

[UMDTerrapins]

I think in so many facets of life, we tend to give "professionals" far more credit than is due. Read a few Michael Lewis books (not just Moneyball) and you'll start seeing people a little more nakedly. What I care most about in assessing anything other than pure athletic performance, is smarts. The great ones are successful in anything they choose to do. The semantics are simply obstacles. Yes, AM is fantastic at slow negotiations when he's holding the goods. And I'm certainly not calling him incapable. But experience is his greatest asset. Give me the brains over experience every time.

[Dipper9]

A million times YES. Just because someone holds a job does not mean they are the best person to perform that job. It could very well be that they had the means and opportunity to get that job that someone else couldn't. I'm sure there are many people out there that can do my job better than I can, just as I'm equally sure there are thousands of jobs that I could do well at.

Because of this, I could almost guarantee that at least ONE person on here could equal the job that MacPhail is doing. Again, to SG's point, it would take some on the job training, just as every job does.

[GoldGlove21]

Without knowing the restrictions placed on Andy MacPhail by Peter Angelos it is impossible for me to say that any of us (or any other GM) could do a better job. Now, lets say Andy was given a budget and left alone. I think I could do a better job to be honest. Prospects are going to fail, even top prospects. Veterans are going to falter once in a while, even the ones that are not 36 and declining (Adam Dunn). I just the Orioles have spent a lot of money and draft picks on guys who would never contribute to a winner. They give away Zaun and the Rays get a supplemental pick. I know we brought Wieters up, but we didn't need to rush him up that fast.

We overpay for relief pitching in both picks and dollars. There seems to be next to no contigency plans for injuries because we have very limited minor league depth. We sign the wrong free agents IMO. We are in really bad shape right now, but we could get better quickly.

[Sports Guy]

There isn't one person on here who wouldn't sign some duds or make trades that didn't work out. That's the nature of the business. Even the best moves, at the time, can end up being poor.

But its the philosophies and how you go about things that I think seperate some from others.

[Slappy]

The GM job has to require a lot of intricate knowledge I'm sure few if any on this board have - finance, MLB rules, legal, etc.

Most importantly though, you need connections that I don't think that many on this board possess, and diplomatic interpersonal skills as well.

[Stotle]

There isn't one person on here who wouldn't sign some duds or make trades that didn't work out. That's the nature of the business. Even the best moves, at the time, can end up being poor.

But its the philosophies and how you go about things that I think seperate some from others.

Outside of the basic learning curve you discussed, the position is also very much about being able to foster relationships with others in the industry. I could buy that there are people who could be valuable in a front office, but runnign the whole show, I'd think, requires a fair amount of institutional knowledge.

[Sports Guy]

The GM job has to require a lot of intricate knowledge I'm sure few if any on this board have - finance, MLB rules, legal, etc.

Most importantly though, you need connections that I don't think that many on this board possess, and diplomatic interpersonal skills as well.

Which is stuff you need to learn.

As far as connections, they will come to you quickly.

[Sports Guy]

Outside of the basic learning curve you discussed, the position is also very much about being able to foster relationships with others in the industry. I could buy that there are people who could be valuable in a front office, but runnign the whole show, I'd think, requires a fair amount of institutional knowledge.

I agree with that...But that is the case with many jobs.

[El Gordo]

This can of worms was opened in another thread, so I just had to ask it here.

It's been open many times. It's an absured notion. The most knowledgeable baseball person here is Drungo IMO, and I'd be surprised if he felt he could step into any GM job without some degree of training. Besides all the connections with baseball people and the MLB, the politics of the job, the main thing lacking is the ability to garner some degree of trust from the owner. Without that all the stats knowledege anyone thinks they have woud be useless.

[Stotle]

I agree with that...But that is the case with many jobs.

But there are real world interpersonal skills (management and high level relationship maintenance) that you aren't going to be able to learn without at least a solid bit of exeprience. If someone were to come from another industry in which they have already acquired like skills, the curve would not be as steep. But there are lots of very, very smart people who are just flat out terrible at management and interaction with others.

Not to mention that negotiations involving high leverage assets is an incredibly difficult task, as well (though I wouldn't doubt there are those in MLB who get by without being great at this).

[Dipper9]

But there are real world interpersonal skills (management and high level relationship maintenance) that you aren't going to be able to learn without at least a solid bit of exeprience. If someone were to come from another industry in which they have already acquired like skills, the curve would not be as steep. But there are lots of very, very smart people who are just flat out terrible at management and interaction with others.

Not to mention that negotiations involving high leverage assets is an incredibly difficult task, as well (though I wouldn't doubt there are those in MLB who get by without being great at this).

There are thousands of members in the OH community. Are you insinuating that none of us are managers of large corporations? Do you think we are all a bunch of 20 something baseball fans working at McDonald's and living in our parent's basements? I'm SURE we have everything from high priced professionals down to the lowest of entry level positions represented in our community, and although you didn't do so intentionally, its a slap in the face to many of us to say that we don't have the skills you describe above.