Mark Shapiro and the dreaded "M" word
Indians general manager Mark Shapiro is a very good general manager. But boy, does he ever annoy me sometimes.
With the 2006 season officially over (thank goodness), Shapiro made a few concessions.
* Trading Brandon Phillips was a mistake. Whoa, newsflash.
"We probably erred on the side of [trying] to win now instead of what was best for the future of the franchise."
Apparently Ramon Vasquez was part of the "win-now" approach. That explanation still doesn't make sense when you see what the Indians got back for Phillips -- a single A pitcher.
But if watching the Indians was not frustrating enough, Shapiro still managed to work in his favorite word:
"Had we not traded him, we're looking at [an] 82-, 84- or 85-win season. That would have been a positive outcome for this market."
Market. Market, Market, Market.
Forget winning. It's winning in perspective. Condescending perspective. Positive outcome means just being OK.
Gotta love being an Indians fan.
posted by Zach @ 6:52 AM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
That last quote from Shapiro really bugs me ... an 82, 84 or 85 win season being a "positive outcome for this market."
So, slightly better than .500 is what we should be satisfied with in Cleveland?
His constant qualifier of "for this market" makes me wonder if Shapiro is starting to view the Cleveland Indians as beneath him.
He might be getting sick of all the financial constraints and, like John Hart before him, be starting to long for running a bigger market team.
If Shapiro thinks an 84-78 season (which would almost certainly mean no playoffs) is a "positive outcome" for Cleveland, maybe he is starting to feel hopelessly overmatched as the GM of the Indians.
I'll make a bold prediction and say Neal Huntington or Chris Antonetti will be the GM of the Indians in 2008. I don't see Shapiro sticking around.
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