Open Mic: If You Were a GM

If you could be the GM for any franchise, which would it be and why?

Without question I would love to be the New York Mets General Manager.  I would choose being a General Manger for any baseball team over any sport, because baseball is a full year job.  You have to get the right 8 position players, then get the right bench guys, and after that got to work on your starting pitchers and your bullpen.  I would choose the Mets, because my favorite team and they are always in the papers.  So it would be a fun challenge, and you would never stop working, because in the off season, you have to make sure you have 25 player roster where everyone helps.

In which sport does the general manager matter most / least?

Like i said  before, I believe Baseball is the longest sport, so I believe that's where a General Manager is needed the most, due to injury's, fatigue, slumps and anything else they go through.  I believe being a GM in basketball is the least most important one because I think all you really need is one star and 5 role players to make a good team.  Take a look at the Lakers, there is Kobe, and then some nice players, but not all stars or MVP's, but they made it to the finals. 

What would be your draft strategy? Take the best available player? Draft to fill a need? Trade up? Trade down?

That is a real tough question, because it depends on what team I have, and what my needs are and if I can fill them in within the organization or free agency, or just draft someone that can make an impact.  So I guess I would draft to fill a need, but sometimes, you have to take the best available player if hes to good to pass on.  I would always explore trading up, but never trade down, unless I am getting a star player in the deal that is signed for at least 3 years so I don't have to worry at all.  So fill the need, and stay put or trade up, never go down unless it is a steal of a trade.

How much input would you take from the head coach or owner(s)? Would you focus on filling the seats with a popular player or be willing to take the not as glamorous pick who can help the team the most?

I believe you have to take input from the coaches and the owners, but its your team, the owners hired you to make the team and win.  They should give you input, tell you how much you can spend but let you go do it, with your coach.  Your coach should help, because if he is the guy you trust to get these guys to the championship, then you have to let him have his players to.  The fans will come if you win, so without a doubt I would take a non-glamorous pick that helps me over a stud who is just a name and hurts the team with his salary and ego.

Which sport is easiest to project how the talent will develop? Which is the toughest and has the most bust potential?

I believe basketball is the easiest sport to project talent in.  You can see if these guys can shoot, dunk, jump and play defense.  The young kids have had majore impacts in Basketball, more then any other sport.  The toughest sport is baseball,  you can draft kids, but they still got to learn alot before they even make it to the Majors.  Pitchers usually have to get their pitch counts and stamina up to pitch a full season in the Majors, after coming from college or high school.  And position players, rarely do you see a kid come right out of college or high school, ready to play and hit major league hitters.  They go and learn on their fundamentals in the minors, see different pitches and learn to get use to them.

Which sport is easiest to find a talented player in a late round and which one has the most dramatic fall-off in talent?

I think football has the biggest fall off in talent at the end.  You got the first and second round, but then you have five more after that, coming from schools you never heard of.  Now some kids might make it, but some kids are just drafted to be on the practice squad and to see if there is a miracle somewhere.  I think in Basketball its easiest to find talent in late round, because you can see what the kid fully brings in college, because basketball has gone away from defense, and became a one on one sport, so if the kid is good at that, you might have something.  The draft is also one of the quickest, and doesn't go on for two days like the NFL.