COACHES & SCOUTS
Game Date: October 19, 2000
The first order of business is trying to assemble a decent staff to guide the rebuilding process of the North Carolina Aeros.
The long, daunting, well-nigh-impossible rebuilding process.
Our cash balance is about negative $15 million, so I don’t know what the ownership will allow us to do. We’ll see how long the honeymoon lasts.
A big concern with any GM position is how much autonomy the owner will give (or, to put it another way, how much will the know-nothing-about-baseball busybodies interfere…). With the financial pressures in North Carolina, and as a 25-year-old first-time GM, I doubt I’ll have much autonomy at all.
As a “congratulations” present, upon my hiring, I learned that the team’s owner had completed a trade, without my input or consultation – indeed, without even informing me prior to the press conference. We acquired 22yo RH MR
Joe “Electric” White (OSA Potential Stuff 10 / Movement 7 / Control 10). White is actually a pretty solid MR already, and getting him in exchange for 24yo AA 3B
Alson Perez and 20yo roster
chum OF
Clark Henry doesn’t seem too terrible at all. Of course, such things don’t bode well for the level of autonomy I should expect.
A review of the staff is a mixed bag as well. The Aeros’ manager in 2000,
Dennis Wilcox, “retired” the day before I was hired. He took his bench coach,
Alfredo Velez with him, and I hope those two enjoy fishing and knitting and whatever else they plan on doing together during their retirement.
Our hitting coach,
George Bowling isn’t awful. The pitching coach,
Bill Curtis is very good – good enough to promote to manager, I think.
Our trainer –
Roger Thomas - is OK. My primary initial focus needs to be improving our scouting, so that we can evaluate our meager talent as completely, accurately and efficiently as possible. Our current Scouting Director,
Stephen Lee, is just a little better than average, although he’s particularly good at scouting minors and amateurs. My main concern with him is that he seems to be a bit too cozy with the owner, and that he got a two-year contract extension on the day I was hired, again without my consultation. I fire Lee as a way of establishing my control over the organization. My target as his replacement is younger and more capable:
Stan Johnson (Majors 7 / Minors 10 / International 7 / Amateurs 9 / Favor Ability).
After promoting Curtis to manager, I need fill our vacancies at Bench Coach and Pitching Coach. My BC comes from AA Greensboro, in the person of 48yo
Matt Flynn, who seems exceedingly capable. Our next PC is also an internal hire, in 62yo
Lee Knight from our Short Season A affiliate.
I’m trying to fill out the rest of my minor league staffs with affordable hires without skimping too badly on quality. Luckily, the owner isn’t interfering with any of my offers.
Without a Scouting Director, I can't even effectively evaluate the talent we already have, so plotting further offseason moves is at a standstill.