Mike, I like Bowden but I'm not afraid to say that the emperor may not not be wearing any pants - leather or otherwise. I am not going to say that if JimBo goes the Reds will go into the toilet. JimBo has made some good trades but he also has made some stinkers too, just like all GMs. JimBo's best perceived talent, it seems, is the ability to assemble a roster at bargain basement prices. This is especially in regards to pitching. JimBo goes out and finds guys on the scrap heaps of other teams and turns them over to Don Gullett and hope he can resurrect them from the dead. If they stink, sayonara. If they do well, they usually go to another team via trade or free agency. If they do OK, they stick around till they get too expensive or they get injured.Originally posted by MikeS21
OK, JimBo gets canned/quits (tak your pick).
Who replaces him?
My fear is that it will be a repeat of the Bob Boone hiring - the lowest bidder gets the job. We needed Lou Pinella and ended up with Bob Boone. Well, we need a "Lou Pinella"-type as GM - not a "Bob Boone" type.
Who do you realistically get to replace Bowden?
Let's pretend that JimBo takes his leave of the Reds. His successor will have his marching orders from John Allen to build as good of a team as he can with a $50M payroll. Now I really don't think it takes a great deal of genius to do that. Billy Beane has been doing the same thing in OAK for about 5 years now. Not to say Beane is an idiot but just using the example to show that JimBo isn't the only GM out there that can win with a small payroll. You and I can go out there and say, "Let's get Jaret Wright and this guy who the Mets released and this person who the Giants non-tendered and so on and so forth and get Gully to work his magic on them." It may not be a team that has the success of the A's. Heck, it may just be a tream that has the Reds' level of recent success - or non success. But putting together a team on a $50M budget can be done.
I know if I were running the show I would look at the Braves, the Padres, the Mets and the As and look at their minor league organizations and see why they can develop good pitchers while the Reds can't. If they are drafting college pitchers, I do the same. If they have them throw twice between starts, that's what I do too. If they coddle their pitchers and put them on pitch counts, I do likewise. If they stand on their heads for a half hour a day, my pitchers are so there. I would also see if I could steal some of their coaches and scouts so I could have the same success as they have had. I know what else I would have done that unfortunately can't be done now. I would have tried to trade for every decent prospect - especially pitchers - that Montreal had last year. They were gonna be contracted - or so the theory went. What did they need prospects for?
JimBo's a pretty good GM but he does have his weak spots. He tends to overrate toolsy players - and acquire them - and underrate pitching. I would think trying to develop young pitching - cheap, young pitching - would make Allen and Lindner turn cartwheels. Instead we get the annual parade of 5 tool prospects and washed up pitchers that other teams have let go. I will give JimBo credit. He has been known to turn one of those guys into a pretty good return now and then. But there is still no one ready to step up to the MLB level in the minors. I don't think replacing JimBo will spell doom and gloom for the Reds if his replacement knows what he's doing.
Originally Posted by Raisor
