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Friday, October 29, 2010

MEGDAL ENDS RUN FOR GENERAL MANAGER, ENDORSES ALDERSON

Westrum and Drang…

With the announcement by the Mets that Sandy Alderson has been named the new General Manager, we now know for certain that the Wilpons have heeded our call for LOGIC, TRANSPARENCY and PASSION. As someone who writes about the Mets for a living, this development is encouraging for one who wishes to cover many postseason games. As someone who has loved the New York Mets since age six, the idea that I’ll share those postseason memories with my baby daughter, wife, parents and friends excites me beyond description.

Therefore, I am ending my campaign for General Manager of the New York Mets, and enthusiastically endorsing Sandy Alderson. It is a choice that should thrill everyone who bleeds orange and blue, regardless of race, creed, or position on bunting. The sabermetrically-inclined Mets fan and the student of baseball history will love this pick today. The fan who hungers for greater interaction and accountability from the front office will love this pick tomorrow. And it is easy to imagine a day, someday soon, when the results-only fan will celebrate with the rest of us on an October night at Citi Field. It has been Jon Niese since the Mets won a world championship, but tonight, it is easy to imagine a winner before Niese is even arbitration-eligible.

...We now know that the arc of Mets history may be long, but it bends towards Alderson. Consider that the Mets have hired a Gemeral Manger who embraced the work of Bill James and mentored Billy Beane. The Mets have hired a man who values process, rejects small sample sizes, and evaluates baseball players and transactions through the long-term goals of the franchises he runs.

Repoz Posted: October 29, 2010 at 01:58 AM | 11 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
  Tags: mets, projections, sabermetrics, site news

Reader Comments and Retorts

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Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

   1. Moneyball can't buy you love (Joey B.) Posted: October 29, 2010 at 02:57 AM (#3678985)
And he was so close to being considered for the job, too.
   2. Athletic Supporter leads the nation in drifters Posted: October 29, 2010 at 03:41 AM (#3679070)
This is shocking to me. I thought for sure he was going to endorse Ed Wade. This may swing the race.
   3. i'm not STEAGLES and you shouldn't be either Posted: October 29, 2010 at 04:49 AM (#3679103)
i really hope he didn't write that headline himself. that'd just be weird on a whole other level.

not that this thing hasn't been dripping with oddity from the start.


where's the pat burrell thread?
   4. James Kannengieser Posted: October 29, 2010 at 05:39 AM (#3679109)
It's about time -- I've been waiting 22 sleepless days for MegdalForGM.com to be updated. Time to hit the hay, good night!
   5. HowardMegdal Posted: October 29, 2010 at 02:59 PM (#3679267)
Ah, James. Always available with repetitive snark passed off as insight. Sorry 65% of Amazin' Avenue voters disagreed with you, even after you publicly vowed to "put down and bury" this project for some strange reason.
   6. SoSH U at work Posted: October 29, 2010 at 03:27 PM (#3679300)
Ah, James. Always available with repetitive snark passed off as insight. Sorry 65% of Amazin' Avenue voters disagreed with you, even after you publicly vowed to "put down and bury" this project for some strange reason.


It was an awful idea. Would that qualify as the strange reason? I'm glad this is over, and maybe some time in the future I can take your work seriously again.
   7. HowardMegdal Posted: October 29, 2010 at 03:31 PM (#3679307)
It was an awful idea. Would that qualify as the strange reason? I'm glad this is over, and maybe some time in the future I can take your work seriously again.

His obsession with it was the strange part.

People can disagree about the project (and I certainly heard plenty of varying opinions). Near as I can tell, the people who liked it aren't right or wrong, and neither are you. I've had a great time throughout, and it hasn't held me back in any of my professional pursuits. Quite the contrary.

So if you prefer to change your opinion about my work, that's your right. I think each piece should rise and fall on the strength of arguments presented, no matter who the writer is. Hell, I'd take a Steve Phillips piece seriously if he presented compelling evidence in it. But you have every right to approach things differently.
   8. James Kannengieser Posted: October 30, 2010 at 06:17 PM (#3679944)
Howard,

No snark, can you provide a link to evidence the vote at Amazin' Avenue? Cause I can't.
   9. James Kannengieser Posted: October 30, 2010 at 06:39 PM (#3679954)
Also

Ah, James. Always available with repetitive snark passed off as insight.

When did I ever claim to be insightful? I too am ready to take Howard's work seriously again, now that this campaign is over and it appears he no longer writes for New York Sports Illustrated or New York ESPN The Magazine or whatever that blog is called.
   10. HowardMegdal Posted: October 30, 2010 at 06:42 PM (#3679956)
Yeah, the post's been erased. Mysteriously.

The vote was not in dispute. I wrote about it at the time, and linked to it.
   11. HowardMegdal Posted: October 30, 2010 at 06:45 PM (#3679959)
it appears he no longer writes for New York Sports Illustrated or New York ESPN The Magazine or whatever that blog is called.

Assume you mean New York Baseball Digest, a venue I proudly write for-on hiatus until next month, finishing my book.

Also, just to save time- Oliver Perez has pitched terribly. Also, Mike Silva writes things we both disagree with sometimes.

I'm going to go finish the chapter I'm writing now, so I can enjoy a Halloween parade with my wife and seven-month-old daughter this evening.

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