Steve and the Tank! - GM Steve makes some bold moves

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Every American boy dreams of being a major league baseball player when they grow up. By the time they reach high school and can’t throw at 80 mph or hit 70 mph pitching most kids give up and then figure out that they can be a General Manager. At this time of year and at the trade deadline, everyone is a GM. Being a General Manager is very hard. Steve is going to play Mets GM today. As opposed to everyone else, Steve is slightly less unqualified than the general population as a GM because he:

· Worked for real GMs of two NFL teams

· Has an MBA and understands numbers and business

· Worked for the Mets for 10 years and is not star struck

· Worked on Wall Street for a few years and is not nervous around large deals

· Manages overpaid programmers-they remind him of overpaid ball players

· Actually read Moneyball

So Steve thinks he can be GM. Here goes!

Jose Reyes

No Steve is not about to move Reyes. But something was wrong with Jose Reyes the second half of the season. He stopped running ground balls. Stopped playing hard. This started exactly the time when Rickey Henderson arrived. He played that way too. Steve’s first action when he occupies the GM office: Fire Rickey Henderson and give Willie free reign over picking his coaches.

Starting Pitching

Pitching wins pennants. And ask Josh Beckett, it also wins World Series. Everyone blamed the bullpen for the Mets collapse. The bullpen was ok, it was just overworked since the starting pitching was not up to par. If the Mets are going to wipe the smerk off Jimmy Rollins face, they need a major starting pitching upgrade. An ace. A stopper. A Josh Beckett. GM Steve would go not for 1, but two under 30 200 inning a year studs. This will hand the Mets the NL title and make them a force to be reckoned with for years. This is what Steve would do:

Talk to Billy Beane and trade Aaron Heilman and Lastings Milledge for Dan Haren. Then turn around and trade for Johan Santana giving up Philip Humber, Mike Pelfrey, Carlos Gomez, and a prospect for. Haren and Santana each had 15 wins this past year. Haren (76) even allowed fewer earned runs than Santana (81) as he posted the third best ERA in the AL at 3.07. These guys pitching in the National League with the Mets lineup will easy be 18-20 game winners.

Opening day rotation will be:

· Johan Santana

· Dan Haren

· Pedro Martinez

· John Maine

· Oliver Perez

Wow! Take that Jimmy Rollins!

Is Steve GM sacrificing the future to win in 2008? No! This rotation will have 4 pitchers under 30 years old, Santana and Haren are an upgrade from Pelfrey and Humber and only a few years older. With Green gone in the outfield, Endy Chavez becomes an everyday player and there is Fernando Martinez waiting in AAA to platoon with Alou along with Easly.

What about the bullpen?

GM Steve would trade for one more middle reliever and hope that the new rotation will not tire out the bullpen. Moving el Duque to the pen to replace Heilman will give the pen some depth and composure and the return of Duaner Sanchez will take some pressure off younger kids like Joe Smith.

This is the plan to win a World Series in the last game every played in Shea Stadium.

Posted by Steve in New York