Wednesday, November 16, 2005

 

Collettidict Arnold

The defection of Ned Colletti to the Los Angeles Dodgers should be viewed by all right-thinking Giants fans with alarm and approbation.

Ahem. Sorry. I've been reading a lot of Churchill recently.

As shocking as Colletti's move is, it serves as an excellent reminder that baseball executives are different in a fundamental way from the rest of us. They aren't necessarily fans of the team they work for. Can you imagine a diehard Giants fan accepting any position in the Dodgers organization? You just can't. It is impossible. Ned Colletti is a different sort. He is a baseball professional. Baseball is not his recreation. It is his profession. It may be his avocation, but he is a fan of his career more than anything else.

This is not intended in any way as a criticism. Being a true fan of a team is an emotional state. A lack of objectivity is implicit in the definition of "fan." This is counter to the way a professional baseball executive must work. The executive must be dispassionate, objective, and willing to part ways with any of his players on short notice. Even Theo Epstein worked for another club before becoming general manager of his favorite team, the Red Sox.

So Colletti's departure is really not that shocking, as baseball moves go. Giants fans will be concerned about how this will affect the team. That's difficult to predict. Colletti's role with the front office was unclear to the fans, but undoubtedly important. The other factor is that we don't yet know who will replace Colletti. We only know that Brian Sabean will make that decision.

This points out, once again, why the general manager is perhaps the most important position in baseball. If Sabean chooses well, Colletti's departure will not harm the team at all. In fact, Sabean probably deserves credit for hiring Colletti, and recognizing a talent that was thought so highly worthy by the team's greatest rival. If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then hiring away your rival's best talent is the high form of imitation. If Sabean can continue to choose his assistants well, then the Giants will continue to prosper.

Jefferson 6:55 PM

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