Just because a team obtains permission, it doesn’t mean that the proposed interviewee wants the job.
Why on earth would Andrew Friedman want to leave his great job and come to a terrible team in a terrible situation like this? When he signed on with he Rays after they got rid of Chuck LaMar, he inherited a team with a couple of decent major leaguers, and even more importantly, a very VERY stocked minor league system chock full of top prospects. AND he got Gerry Hunsicker to sign on, to boot.
He won’t be allowed to spend on the major league team, he will inherit a fan base that has mostly said good-bye to the team and he has virtually nothing in the monors and 3 actual major league ballplayers, no stars. He will have yet another low budget team with an owner who has very little actual money, a lot of debt and no supporting partners. AND he will be working for the guy who screwed his own father out of the team.
I am guessing that he would be offered a Theo Epstein kind of position as team president, whatever that is, and allowed to hire a GM and coaches and scouts. More money, sure, and a Better Title. But a much MUCH worse situation. I don’t get it.
I asked my Husband, who is a man, and therefore might could understand the motivation, orr why trade a great successful team for a bad one. He shrugged and said – same reason why Youse Females like to screw Ashton Kutcher to break up his and Demi’s marriage. It’s a power trip. I said – well, why is a better title more power if the job is worse? He said, because Respect = Title + Salary. You think if you have a better title and more money that you can trip your own self into thinking you can make chicken salad outta chicken poopoo.
You know, I agree that Sometimes, It’s Harrrrrrrrrd To Be A Woman, but best I can tell, I’d find it absolutely impossible to be a man…
Tags: Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays
Even if he wanted to come here, where are the deep pockets he would need to weave his magic spell?
I’d go on, but it’s sure hard to get worked up over an AL team.
It may be harrd to be a woman, and impossible to be a man, but you know what? It’s a day on the beach being a lap dog.
I dont see it, Friedman is going to do MLB a favor and come in and “talk” as directed by Selig, to get the “locals” fired up that He might possibly take this job. I love baseball and if offered i would turn it down as the scenatio is miserable. payroll is going to lessen, debt burden is going to be the main objective in the coming YEARS as, I would venture to guess, that 2/3 of the 610 MILLION is debt, and we are changing leagues. Lets throw in that Crane is a JERK and that should just about run off any good candidate with half a brain. Mills was hoping, and still retains hope, that He will be let go as well, The AAstros are nothing, the history is nothing, It will be a cold day in Hell before I am seen at ENRON FIELD, see you guys at Reckling..
I don’t see it either, lots of reasons not to.
As for the reasons to do it: GM jobs are hard to get and very hard to keep. Fickle owners (like, oh….. Drayton McLame), fans, and media mean that no GM is really more than one terrible season or a bad trade from getting his walking papers. GMs know this. They know that when it gets hot, the owner won’t be taking the heat, the GM will. As a club president, you have more authority, and you’re less vulnerable. You move up in the good ol’ boy baseball hierarchy (very important) and you get to buy a really expensive car and live in Memorial Park.
nasty dog,
i have also heard that bud is leaning on friedman to agree to talk, even if he doesn’t want the job. because bud has gotta know that the astros have pretty much lost most of the fan base and the few of us remaining are not too stupid to know how bad this team is gonna be for years and years.
even IF crane, who is planning to lower payroll as far as it can be lowered – getting rid of wandy – and, of possible, brandon lyon, the ol WB and clank – was gonna pay friedman a LOT, or even pay him a lot and make him president – like, so what? what is he gonna do with no players, no farm and no money? and the CBA is bad BAD news for teams that wanted to build through the draft
Lord…….There are a LOT of fans who think the Astros are REALLY going to lure Friedman to this team. I hate to BUST your bubble, but that ain’t gonna happen.
I can’t just picture a smart guy like Friedman going to that train wreck of a team…one that’s lost all it’s “star” players to say nothing of the majority of it’s fan base.
Any Astros fans who STILL think Friedman will want to come to Houston need to stop taking those mind altering drugs.
Agreed with regard to the CBA,,, Levine did the right thing and stay in Texas, i expect friedman to do the same, would anyone who just paid 610 MILLION give over control to anyone, 100 % of the control, no way..lets not forget that Ol Crane played a little ball “back in the day” and i am sure as cocky as he is, He still knows a thing or two about Baseball,,, nahh, Friedman will hopefully stay in Tampa, and you know that Purpura is waiting by that phone, He is a good candidate given the parameters of the GM job in houston….Purpura, I apologize to the Astros Faithful for that remark, kind of made me cringe when it rolled out on my rant here… anyway, you get my point, our GM position is for a grade b GM candidate, a tap dancer type, kind of like Ron Popeil on the infomercials.. See ya at Reckling..
Well, you can scratch Friedman off the list…….NO THANK YOU!! NO ONE
wants to come here………and I don’t BLAME them.
I can absolutely see why Friedman accepted the interview. And it has nothing to do with accepting the position.
You see this with college coaches all the time. Coach A. has a tremendous season for Directional State Unvresity. They go 22-8 and win three games in the NCAA tournament, and the world is beating a path to Coach A.’s door. Offers are coming in, and he states he’s happy at good ol’ DSU, but he has to talk to some of these other teams, since it would be rude not to, or looking at his families financial future.
Well, DSU can afford to give up that easily, so they sign Coach A. to a long extension at roughly double the annual salary, which Coach grabs at immediately. He holds a presser to state that he never wanted to leave DSU and that his heart will always be there. And it will…right up to his second NCAA appearance next season, where he breaks the contract to go coach whoever finished 7th in the Big Ten (hey, it was his “Dream Job”)
It’s about leverage. Because the Rays know that Friedman might consider going elsewhere, you may see something extra in his basket come around Easter, an extension and a little more money, and a new title.
Wow…I hate this new wireless keyboard. Typos abound. DSU CAN’T afford…
rafe
sounds right. you have to remind your bosses how good you are. but i doubt friedman is gonna leave for the trainwreck that is the astros
I agree, Lisa…but there are other jobs out there with teams that have both money and a future. I’d love to see what Friedman could do with the Giants.
rafael,
it would have been interesting to see what he could have done with the astros – especially if, say, arte moreno, had just bought the club instead of a cheapo like crane