Tim Britton on David Stearns’ job duties as PoBO
You didn't believe me when I said this. Perhaps if you hear the exact same thing from a different person it will register
The latest mailbag from Tim Britton and Will Sammon had this:
Please speak about the differences in job duties (not just title) between the job that David Stearns occupies, compared to the job of a “General Manager.” — Anonymous
TB: For teams that employ a president of baseball operations, that person essentially performs the role we all grew up calling “general manager.” And if that team has a GM under a president of baseball operations, that GM is essentially serving as an assistant general manager. It’s all the result of title inflation intended to prevent teams (like the Mets) from poaching their execs.
For instance, in the offseason, the PBO would handle the major decisions while a GM would remain on top of negotiations for, say, minor-league free agents and filling out the organizational depth chart.
Source: The Athletic
Here’s what I said most recently, in a comment on Charlie’s article:
And it doesn’t mean that I believe Stearns has nothing to give the Mets. At the end of the day, we’re discussing semantics here.
Essentially, they will hire Stearns to replace Eppler as GM and Eppler replaces Bryn Alderson as the third assistant GM. But Eppler gets to keep his title and Stearns is hired at a title where he can get more money. Woo-hoo, I guess.
Back in 2021, I used the same exact phrase – “title inflation,” that Britton used in his response:
For all things holy, if you must insert a third person into the two-person manager/GM roles, hire a PR professional to talk to the press before and after the games. Sure, we’re not operating under a Wilpon budget anymore, but it’s got to be less expensive and more efficient to hire someone from 5W Public Relations to speak to the press before and after the games than to pay Epstein, Beane or Stearns to be a GM with a job title inflation to work above someone with the actual GM title.
I was called a Neanderthal for my views on a PoBO. Does that mean Britton is a Neanderthal, too?