HBT Weekend Wrapup

Observed about the NFL, based on reading my twitter feed: no one likes any team. I swear, the number of tweets I saw this weekend that were basically “God, I can’t stand Team X,” or “Is it possible for both teams to lose this game?” or “I hate Team X, but I hate Team Y more, so I suppose I hope Team X wins I guess,” was staggering. For every on basic “Go team!” tweet, there were 50 of the others.

Is following the NFL really that negative an experience? Is it all “you suck!”? Because I really don’t think I could handle that at all. Aside from the occasional eye-roll at yet another hyped-up Yankees-Red Sox series, you never see that in baseball. And even then, the ire is directed more at the network for forcing coverage than it is the teams.

Oh well. Different strokes for different, vastly different sports, one of which is awesome and the other of which seems to bring out the worst in humanity. Now, the links you missed:

The Yankees would consider trading Joba Chamberlain for a starter. Imagine how much more they’d get for him if they hadn’t run his value straight into the ground.
FOX is lending Frank McCourt money to keep the Dodgers afloat. Imagine how much more awesome that team would be if he hadn’t run its value straight into the ground.
119 players filed for arbitration. Only a dozen or so will actually go through an arbitration hearing. Please, think of all of the attorneys who have had their time wasted drafting unnecessary documents and preparing unused arguments.
News about Red Sox shortstops is like news about Spinal Tap drummers.
Ron Santo is going to get a statue at Wrigley Field. The Hall of Fame Veteran’s Committee will hold a vote about whether they like it and ultimately will say, no, they do not.
Jim Thome left money on the table to stay with the Twins. I didn’t read the article, but I bet if Thome commented on it, the comment started with “Gosh, I …” Even if it didn’t make the article you know he said it and the reporter just dropped that part of the quote.
Brian Cashman has the Steinbrenners’ full confidence. Observed: whenever something good happens with the Yankees, Cashman is praised as a genius. Whenever something bad happens, it’s “Cashman’s hands are being tied by ownership.” We worry about him sometimes, but it’s actually a pretty sweet gig to be Brian Cashman.
Ozzie Canseco got a DUI. Watch: Jose will get one next, and it will be way, way better.
Pablo Sandoval is in the best shape of his life. Or not. Look, I don’t want to hate on Sandoval, but I remember when Oprah went on that crash diet and looked pretty awesome too and that didn’t work out so well. Hell, I remember last winter when people were talking about him being in better shape post-Camp Panda. Yes, the picture is impressive, but I’ll believe the Panda has gotten into great shape when he looks the same in September that he looks in January and when it doesn’t seem like he’s sweating gravy when he goes after a ball at third.
Joey Votto gets a three-year, $38 million extension from the Reds. Seems like a great deal for the Reds.
Astros prospoect Delino DeShields Jr. got a DUI. Watch: his dad will get one next, and it will be way, way better.
Drew Silva is an educated Cardinals fan, and he breaks down the Albert Pujols negotiations for those of us who are neither of those things.
I used to think that Jim Hendry had pictures of the Cubs’ owners engaged in some scandalous behavior in order to keep his job. Now that he’s had such inexplicable job security across two ownership regimes, I need to think of another explanation.
The Cardinals wisely decide that having one outfielder out of position is enough.

Now, let us begin a week of people saying why the Bears, Packers, Jets and Steelers all suck.

Earlier, Craig wrote about the latest in the Mets’ search for a new general manager. Their list has been pared down to three candidates: Chaim Bloom (Rays senior VP of baseball operations), Doug Melvin (Brewers senior advisor), and agent Brodie Van Wagenen (of Creative Artists Agency).

It’s a diverse list, for sure, which makes one wonder what process allowed them to arrive at these final three candidates. Bloom is new school, Melvin is older-school, and Van Wagenen is… just inexperienced. Van Wagenen in particular is an interesting candidate as he has spent years advocating on his clients’ behalf. As a GM, he would do the exact opposite: he would try to take advantage of his players whenever possible, like every other GM in baseball does (e.g. manipulating service time).

Per Mike Puma of the New York Post, agent Scott Boras thinks there would be a conflict of interest if an agent were to become a GM. Boras, in fact, says he has turned down opportunities to lead front offices. But there is no verbiage saying that an agent must divest himself of his business interests before taking a job in a front office. Dave Stewart and Jeff Moorad are two examples of agents who later went onto the ownership side of the business. Stewart, in fact, moved into the front office after retiring and held various roles in with various organizations until he started Sports Management Partners (renamed Stewart Management Partners). He transferred control of the agency to Dave Henderson before he joined the Diamondbacks’ front office near the end of the 2014 season.

Ownership and labor are in constant conflict, even when things seem peaceful. Ownership wants to extract as much labor as possible as cheaply as possible. Labor wants to be paid for their work as much as possible. Their goals contradict each other and yet they need each other. While not required, usually being deeply on one side or the other — as agents and GM’s are — speaks to one’s personal ethos about the eternal tug-of-war. That Van Wagenen is so eager to switch sides speaks, perhaps, to opportunism. I would be, at minimum, unsettled if I were a client of Wan Wagenen’s at CAA. How might he use the sensitive information he was privy to as an agent to his advantage as a GM?

We have seen the analytics wave take over front offices around baseball. As ownership looks for ever more ways to pocket more cash, Van Wagenen’s candidacy may signal an upcoming wave of agents transitioning into front office roles. Hopefully that doesn’t become the case. There may be no one better equipped to take advantage of labor than someone experienced on that side of the battlefield.

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