6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: Being Bill Stoneman

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Saturday, February 07, 2004

Being Bill Stoneman

Late last May, as it became obvious that the Angels were not going to repeat as champions, Les Antman writing under the nick JustAnotherHalo penned a great article on the Angels website, entitled "Being Bill Stoneman". A lot of it is speculation, imagining how the Angels' GM operates by looking at the black box of the front office, but it's a pleasant fantasy and a good read on how Stoneman operated before Arte opened his checkbook. Some of his points:

1. Young players are better deals than old ones...
2. The sweet spot is players who are above average – It doesn’t pay to have the best player at any position, because the very best draw gargantuan salaries that mean filling other spots with lousy players. ...
3. Team chemistry saves money – People have been arguing for years about whether players do better when they like each other and enjoy playing for the team. I don’t know, and I don’t care. Everyone is missing the real point: players will play for less if they enjoy the team. ... Mike Scioscia will make the PERFECT manager, even if he makes bad in-game decisions many times and stays too long with players who are struggling, both in a game and in a season. In fact, I think I’ll like him better BECAUSE he’s going to make that mistake: having a manager you know won’t fry you for a bad day, week, or even couple of months builds a loyalty that goes both ways.
4. No cancers, no matter how good they are ...
5. Stability pays – Now, all the team chemistry that comes from having a players’ manager and getting rid of club cancers is lost if players are being let go or traded away all the time, and Rent-A-Vet makes it even worse.
6. Patience, above all, patience – Never be desperate to make a move. ...

// posted by Rob @ 10:54 PM link // 0 comments