New highway flagman

[JohnU]

Reds have modified the front office. I suppose we can make of it what we will.

WILLIAMS TO THE WALL

The Reds restructured their front office Wednesday. According to an official announcement from the club, assistant general manager Dick Williams has been promoted to general manager. Former general manager Walt Jocketty will remain as the president of baseball operations.

"Eight seasons ago we trusted Walt to provide this organization with leadership, and he produced championship-caliber teams," said tea president and CEO Bob Castellini in a statement. "Walt reset the expectations and culture of this franchise. He and his staff have been responsible for our return to the postseason in recent years and I know Dick has the qualities and ability to continue that tradition of success in the future."

Many teams are adopting the president of baseball operations/general manager power structure, which became in vogue after Theo Epstein took over as president of baseball operations with the Cubs. In most cases the president of baseball operations calls the shots and the general manager is almost like an assistant.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

It has become a growing trend to have a President of Baseball Ops and a GM. Jocketty had both titles until the Williams promotion. Williams was the Assistant GM and as John points out he still works under Walt's guidance.

 

[Redsfan1507]

There is one BIG difference...possibly..in this move, and so many others.

Dick Williams is the son of one of Castellini's co-owners,W. Joe Williams. His grandfather, William Williams, Sr. was the majority owner of the Reds in the pre-BRM era 60's-70's ....He's in the same position as Wacko Wayne Krivsky under Jocketty, but his pedigree isn't likely to allow Jocketty to sweep him away like Krivsky...and I'm hoping, he won't want to.

Williams is a little younger, probably more analytics savvy, still cognizant of traditional scouting, and a whole lot less likely to sign washed up ex-Cardinals, so I'm a yes vote.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Dick Williams inherited the GM job the same way he'll inherit minority ownership of the franchise.

He had zero baseball experience when Bob Castellini and the Williams brothers bought the Reds. I doubt any other team would have hired him then or present day as their GM. To my knowledge his level of experience is limited to the clerical/ business side of baseball. Unless nepotism is worth bonus baseball IQ points I think he's more qualified to be the owner than he is the GM.

 

[JohnU]

Regardless of talent, I think we all know that the GMs in baseball today are all connected. There are no secrets. If there are, they won't be for long. The modern way of baseball has all but eliminated the "change of scenery" dynamic from hoping a player becomes Votto after spending 3 years as Mike Costanzo.
So what does an incoming GM do? First off, he has to evaluate the budget. We only know what we see and have heard about that. What a team can afford depends on variables that are related to revenues. Not all of them are advertising and attendance. What the ownership group owns is maybe not even our business.
A part of it is luck, even with all the metrics. Jon Moscot proved that.
Mostly, what I want to see is a front office that commits to giving a manager the sort of players that the manager can use to produce the type of team that can compete. If the manager has no voice in that, it's a very bad contract.
If Price was using Marquis because he was told to use Marquis, Price should have said it wouldn't work. If Price didn't know any better, then he is a bad manager. If the GM didn't care, then does it matter about any of the rest of it?
We can all identify the ways a team can win or lose. Staying on the field is really not part of the metrics.
It's also hard to identify needs based on what other teams are doing. It tends to matter that other teams also are trying to win. I don't think it's one-upsmanship. The smart GMs are also lucky enough to have good players. It works both ways.

 

[Redsfan1507]

The smartest GM's, in any business, surround themselves with smart people, that will pull the same direction, by capitalizing on their individual strengths to cover most organizational gaps. There are people, at all levels that just can't or won't recognize (or defer) to better judgement. A lot of guys with a Masters from Duke don't want to hear how wrong the analytics are about a player evaluated by a scout or coach in person, with a high school diploma and 15 years playing experience....ex-MLB players turned managers don't want to listen to the next (or current) Billy Beane, much less some stats geek that wrote a book but couldn't hit in Little League....all the way down to the HS All-American Bonus Baby or MLB rookie that doesn't want to be told to shorten his swing and hit the breaking ball the other way by a former 29th rounder turned coach.

A big part of the problem isn't just talent evaluation, or player development it's making the balance sheet jive with enough talent to maximize gate receipts and income. Winning helps fill seats, but it isn't the only consideration. I'm sure there have been lots of losers that turned a better profit margin than lots of winners.

"Rebuilds" are tough on staff...the truth is often kept secret, because the fans wouldn't buy into the truth. Getting better...is rarely good enough from last place.