The Vault: From Couch to Front Office Manager

This throwback Thursday is from 24 MAR 2016 via LinkedIn.

From Couch to Front Office Manager

(in 1500 words)

Realizing Potential

Fantasy sports allows us to take the reins and allows anyone in the world to organize player personnel for a given sport and collect a group of said professionals to attempt defeating other fantasy players' "teams" based on a merit system, pre-determined by the fantasy league's commissioner.  I for one am in favor to offer the out-of-field sport enthusiast a glimpse into our seemingly luxurious career choice. While many of us know that what fantasy players see is far from reality, at what point do we realize that we are treating it as though it is reality? I have for many years argued what should constitute as being a "real fan" of a given team. Okay sure I have my preferences in a team to support, but I find myself trying to take over the GM's chair when I hear about the team's most recent trade through ESPN while yelling at the TV screen.

A "real fan," as I describe it, knows the assets of his player personnel and who his product can become superior than other competing products (if it isn't already). So suppose I have negative personal feelings regarding a player, that will not take away from the fact that they are very good at the sport in which they play. Conversely, however, a player may be a fan favorite, but may not be a player that is the best available to play for you at that position. Such intangibles may not always come into play, but if you know all of the back stories, all of the stats, all of the team's history, all of how the competition plays against you historically, then you likely can do this job (as I define it).

I never say this in a pompous connotation, but when I make predictions regarding player personnel I've determined that I'm correct between 87.9 and 95.6 percent of the time, fantasy or opinion-based. Seem high? the reason I feel this is are based on a few things, the first being that I'm not being paid the big bucks and having to deal with the other happenings around our team offices. Also, while I am a fan at heart, you only see the professional and no fan side of me that predicts based on harsh realities rather than instinct and personal preference. Personal preference and managerial style should not be confused with each other. Preference is just that - favoritism. Style gears more towards to how you handle situations as it pertains to philosophy on how you feel your team will succeed at the area of competition.

The Talent Pool Merry-Go-Round

Let me use personal examples here. I root for Team A, who plays in League Z. First I take team A and evaluate it's players abilities and subsequently decide what I think is working and needs change. From there I notice what is appropriate both to the team's philosophy as well as my own managerial philosophy based on the assets I'm interested in from both other teams and the free agency pool. I then proceed to inquire about those players either directly with a player, their agent, and/or their team (if applicable). Obviously interest doesn't equal getting the rights to said player, thus negotiations may begin - in which case I also have contingency players for consideration in the event of a dead negotiation.

Suppose Team A is a mid-market club with a small payroll, Team B is in a small market club with a medium payroll and Team C is a top market club with a small payroll in League Z with a hard salary cap. My team, Team A, has a player (Jones) who has stagnated near his peak performance age. While they are the best at that position on my team, Jones (in my opinion) fails to meet the team's requirement. I go on to either "shop" this player and/or "shop" for their replacement. I am in negotiation for Team B's ElShorbagy and Team C's Agimovic. El Shorbagy is Team B's lowest paid starter at an age younger than Jones. Agimovic is a backup to the starter for Team C, whose contract is attempting to be restructured and would be selected by many smaller teams as a starter.

ElShorbagy wishes to play for Team C but Agimovic has a no-trade clause in the contract - a constant during the restructure process. Between the two, I prefer ElShorbagy who brings not only youth, but a style of play that ties in with the direction of the clubs future ambitions. However, despite Agimovic's no-trade clause, he can be placed on waivers in which the purchasing team then must negotiate a completely new contract in addition to bringing leadership to the club though beginning to peak like Jones. As I propose with Team B for Jones to be exchanged for a prospect and a player to be named later, I continue to pursue Agimovic, who has been placed on waivers, we come to an agreement-in-principle the terms of a new contract - this in turn ignites a trade between Team B and Team C which sees the exchange for ElShorbagy for cash and a second and third round pick in the upcoming year's draft. Following that, the trade I've proposed to Team B has been approved by both them and the league player's association.

The names have been changed for this illustration, but this was a scenario that took place some years ago except I wasn't the general manager of what we're calling Team A though my preference that I described was genuine. Let’s find out what went down after the above moves were finalized. Jones went on to be a journeyman for the rest of their career. After two seasons, Agimovic was released from their contract which saw them leave a five year, $20+ million contract. They would get injured the following season with their new team in the pre-season and never reached full potential. As that occurred, the player to be named later happened to be ElShorbagy, who was just about to start the second year of a two-year contract with Team B.

In addition, the prospect left for a rival of Team C the following season when Team B no longer could afford their salary. The draft pick received by Team B was traded immediately that draft for a pick three spots higher. That prospect was a lifer with Team A while the traded pick originally received returned to Team C. Team A managed to be playoff contenders, never advancing past the second round. Team B was the most decorated of all as they won the division four times out of five, had League Z's best record once, but could not win a playoff round if their lives depended on it. Team C saw an ownership change the following season, and saw increased payroll revenue. They would resurrect their former moderate successes, but it took rebuilding under the new ownership.

Outside the Box (Again)

In the end, as the couch general manager, I got the player I thought best fit the team's style of play and a little more (dealings from events in subsequent seasons) though it took a little longer than I had liked. This is not exaggerated; however, it is among the most complex happenings during the period of time in which said events occurred. You think that's tough? Wait till you try tackling association football - better yet, try it the way I tackle improving a team. Same model, but you'd have to do it twenty times over if not more given how global soccer really is. Even if you stuck with one continent that isn't North America, then various restrictions com in play as players’ nationalities are so dispersed that it would require its own written piece compared to what I exemplified above.

While my method certainly isn't for everyone, it's old-fashioned in terms of its basic simplicity (not its internal complexity) but modern in the sense that it would've had more of a fabric before the modern age were to phase it out over time. A lot of other principles of mine in sport are very old-world indeed (in the Northwest corner of the globe anyway), some of which long forgotten in the sands of time. As I discuss these being a "first and a half generation" American, my upbringing mixed with me growing up in the modern age has oft times butted heads when determining how to deal with sport. As my views lean toward the former, it is extremely difficult for many to understand my viewpoints within the field.

Disagreements on my sports mentality are usually based on the premise that it is so obscure compared to norms and basic opposition that the disagreement is more based on peculiarity than disagreeing with the stance itself. As such a combination isn't on every street corner in the New World, it isn't coming from the final frontier either.  Try this process for say two months or until the trade deadline of your favorite sports franchise's season, as I am assuming you generally know what player personnel is on the team roster. I'm only asking as a suggestion, so do as you will since it's okay not to participate. See if you notice anything significant during that period of time. Maybe, just maybe you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised.