11 Comments

Oh dear. I dont want to see nest year's A-Gon anywhere near the Mets unless hes an Assistant Hitting Coach. You can always squeeze down and find good things but Golschmidt is playing next year at 37, another year older and another year slower. Its like dog years at this time in a career too. Another year might be equal to 5 in elite athletics. The fact is his year over year stinks and he's basically fallen off a cliff head first. Id but 5 buck on him not even have an 80 OPS+ next year. And he won't be a defensive whiz either with hi dWAR dropping as well. I dont want to burn a rooster spot even if he came for free. No way, no how, no thanks.

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I'll gladly take that $5 bet

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Were going back to our Juan Laggers / Austin Jackson debate days!! You're on for 5 bucks!!

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Glad that Stearns is better at his job that all of us arm chair GMs. Like picking Siri off the bargain table where he has a ton of upside at a very low cost and if they can help him to strike out less, he might be the find of the off season. I think of so many plays where our outfielders tracked down so many balls that would have dropped in a few years ago. So, yes there is a bit of luck involved in all these potential transactions, but educated luck is the way to go. Also, want to stay away from these well over 30 players who are more apt to fall apart, or at least erode without much notice.

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I gotta say that I love these Brian-Chris debates.

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I hope that the Mets don't resign Severino. He isn't a priority but they should obtain two starting pitchers that are better than him.

Iglesias should be resigned with a one year contract even if my expectations are that he regresses to his career numbers. I don't want Mauricio, Batty, Williams or Acuna to be promoted and then sit down on the bench as an utility infielder. Iglesias would fill the roll of bench utility infielder. He is an enthusiastic hustler and a gamer.

If Alonso signs a reasonable contract then I'm all for it. Goldschmidt will be a good fall back candidate as the first baseman.

Stearns plays the odds. He is calculating and informative. The result is that he has good luck but really he makes his luck.

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Pat Riley: “I don’t believe in luck, I believe in hard work.”

Stearns and his staff work the phones tirelessly. And one thing I see about the best GM’s is the thing I used to tirelessly knock Alderson for: not every trade needs to be a homerun! It’s ok to get a base hit or even make an even trade. Teams will be more apt to trade with you again if they feel you aren’t trying to screw them. Yes, he got an upside play in Jose Siri for a reliever with six years control, but that was with the same team that he got Zuber from for Gervase, and I’m not pardoning him for that one. O hope this trade works out better.

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I have good memories of the Riley-era Knicks. But this quote is essentially meaningless

1, The two are not mutually exclusive

2. You can work hard. But by definition, there's not much you can do to prepare for luck

Nobody with even a quarter of a brain would say -- I don't believe in hard work. I believe in luck.

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I agree that work and luck are not mutually exclusive. Unfortunately I think a lot of things get tossed into “luck” when in fact the issue is too many dependent variables that cannot be accounted for. Mix in a little “chance” and it’s a pretty tough situation. But all this lack of variable control is what makes the overall story bone which is very hard to predict.

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I have a second favorite coach, Jimmy Johnson, and he offers two quotes that I absolutely cannot forget:

1. “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”

2. “Love your enemies, it drives them nuts.”

Using the first quote, we see a parallel between two of these Hall of Fame coaches. They both view luck as a residue of their hard work. So, the better prepared a team, not only can it withstand adversity better, but pressure the opposition into a mistake or benefit from good fortune better and thus getting the most benefit possible.

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Like many words, luck can have more than one connotation. I agree with the coaches’ luck, essentially the more you do to put yourself in a position of success, the better chance you have of getting a break to succeed. I also believe in Brian’s luck, as even if you have performed the maximum amount of preparation to succeed, the randomness of certain outcomes can still play a role. I am hoping Stearns has a late dose of both this winter…every move does matter, not just the big ticket items. He does seem to operate with that in mind.

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