With TR Gone, Can We Trust The Braintrust?

I think this is a bit unfair. Jim Pohlad has put on a business suit and gone to work early almost every morning since before a lot of people on TD were born. Obviously, he has had enormous advantages in life and in business. But he's not just showing up and treating Pohlad Companies and the Twins like they are some unappreciated toy. Jim Pohlad I think can be described as somewhat socially and interpersonally awkward, but that shouldn't cause us to unkindly paint him as either uncaring or inept, although it's understandable since he clearly invites criticism. He can actually be kind of engaging in person, self-deprecating, a little sarcastic even. I hate to see anyone demonized, even if they're guilty of saying some pretty stupid things.

I was referencing this portion of the article "Given his success in business world....it is inconceivable that he is so tone deaf..."

I am simply suggesting that we don't know whether or not he has been successful in the business world. That seems to be factual in my opinion.

We have very few concrete examples of his contributions to the Pohlad business or even what he has done. That isn't neccesarly a bad thing and doesn't mean that he has not been beneficial, maybe they feel no reason to share what he has done, his role with company x, y, or z. But it looks like he was on his own for three years after college when he worked in public accounting, then he joined the Twins as an analyst. It looks like he has some involvement in other family businesses as well.

All we really know is that his tenure as CEO has been a real tough stretch and we have articles here suggesting nobody trusts him to make the right call on about anything.

I guess I needn't have gone from memory on Goin. He's got a LinkedIn page, so anyone can see what he says about himself. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-goin-8a0bab49

 

"I oversee the baseball research department, advance scouting process, and development of our internal information systems in Baseball Operations. I also assist the GM and Assistant GM with roster management, arbitration preparation, negotiating player contracts with less than three years of major league service, and interpretations of the CBA and major league rules."

 

I'll stand by my assessment (except to clarify that Goin has been taciturn on what direction they are going analytically). And I hope it's clear I'm not throwing shade on Jack himself, but on the FO process that puts him in a position where he's unlikely to excel at one of the aspects MLB teams need to be good at in this day and age. The one caveat is that MAYBE he has hired people in his research department that I would be impressed with, and that they have kept their cards close to the vest somehow.

I agree completely. I would want the new GM to come in and assess every person on the staff. Growing the analytics department and adding resources here, with outside talent would obviously be a huge priority of any GM I can support.

It could be that Goin is an extremely bright guy who if given authority would be very valuable. But Terry never listened to him. I really don’t know. What does irk me is that the Twins stood up an analytics department years behind many other teams, then gave the head job to an internal person who I believe started out in ticket sales. The insular culture needs to stop with a new GM. Like the Bill Smith hire. And how Antony believes he should be a candidate. Please, please stop. If this was the Cardinals or another well run organization maybe you do stay in house after the GM retires. But we are miles from there.

With some of the quotes from Ryan, it seemed he would use the info given by Goin if it matched with his thought process and if not he discarded it (at least in player acquisition transaction). It may not have been really the case, but if it was, no point in even having an analytic department if used like that.

That would not at all be surprising. My gut tells me the Twins put an analytics department in place because not having one would have made for bad PR. It is likely understaffed, with less pedigree, and under utilyzed relative to our competition.

Sorry, but I just have to jump in here and throw a wet blanket over some of the posted opinions. If this gets rather lengthy, shoot me.

 

1) Regarding search firms. I have had some experience with search firms on a personal level and I have never been impressed. In my experience they are no better or no worse on selecting the "perfect" candidate than an organizational committee. Just take a look at both Mpls and St. Paul school boards record for hiring superintendents as well as the Univ. of MN when hiring AD's. All three use search firms and all three replace "perfect" hires almost yearly. The real role for search firms is to provide a scapegoat for when the new Messiah trips on his robe. Let's face it; hiring is always a crapshoot no matter who's making the decision.

 

2) Get over this bias against internal candidates. Just about anyone worth his salt is going to be an internal candidate at some point in his career. If he's not, why does he have a responsible role in the organization? Yeah, he may have followed along with his former boss' beliefs and methods, but what else do you expect from a trusted employee? But going along with the boss doesn't mean all internal candidates are clones of the former boss. A good organizational man/woman will have observed what works and what hasn't worked and formed their own ideas of what they would do different if they were in charge. That's a plus that no external candidate will have; that first hand knowledge within the organization.

 

3) What serious outside candidate would risk their career coming to the Twins? The owner has already "hired" the manager for next year, the major league club is pitiful and a long ways from posting another winning season, the minors are full of unproven "prospects" that may or may not pan out but need to be brought up to the Bigs in order to determine if they're major league material, the organization itself is dysfunctional and the ownership is notorious for doing things on the cheap. So if you're an up and coming GM candidate and anxious to prove your moxie so you can someday move on to a big name club, would you want to roll the dice and hire on with the Twins? As we used to say in my business, paraphrasing of course, the Twins are a ball club where GMs go to die, not build a career. So if the team can't attract serious external candidates, are we better off to hire a marginal candidate just because he's "external"?

 

4) Quit with the analytics. Yeah, its a helpful tool, but it's just that; a tool. One of many needed to run a ball club. You wouldn't hand a mechanic one wrench and expect him to overhaul an engine so why would anyone expect a GM to be a one trick pony with analytics? General Manager means the guy has to be good at overseeing an entire organization, not just one department. If the guy can't get all the departments on the same page, analytics isn't going to save his ass. Or put the Twins back in the "not-embarrassing" portion of the win column.

 

My advice, give Antony the next few months to prove he's not a Terry Ryan clone and instead of wasting time and money on "searching" for an outside candidate, let it be known external candidates will be considered and see who wants to throw his hat in the ring. It may be humbling.

Regarding a search firm, they are not perfect. But I am guessing they have a rolodex of qualified candidates already established from past searches. And if given the choice between a search firm and DSP/Pohlad running a search, I am going search firm every time. Keep in mind that they are not completely outsourcing the process. The search firm is basically providing some names and an introductory calls with candidates to determine interest, then making recommendations, i.e. here are the five people we recommend you interview and why, who referred them, etc.

My general rule is if things are going good and a guy retires, then my bias is in house. When things are not going good and the guy gets fired, the clear bias is outside. A candidate who has worked as the #2 the last 7 years should not get a ton of consideration.

We have more losses than 28 other teams over the last 5.5 years. I can't think of one executive under TR that has been plucked from another organization. As others have noted, we have not heard Antony's name natioanlly considered for a single job.And we are viewed nationally as a bottom third on the analytics front and we are in a game that continues to rely on analytics more and more. Is it the only factor and the end all be all? No, but it should be a factor.

It's laughable how St. Peter says whatever he can to keep his name out of the baseball part of the club...    Genius actually,    but I'm sure he'll be the first to take credit whenever the winning starts up again   

I agree...genious!  If I you were in his shoes, wouldn't you do the same?  Baseball team is losing...distance yourself from the baseball side.  Team is profitable...associate yourself with the business side.

I feel like there is a recursive problem with suggesting that getting outside advice will help St. Peter and Pohlad make this important baseball decision. That all depends on them selecting the right people or search firm to provide the help! I recall that Glen Taylor reached out to a respected NBA executive for help hiring a GM, and the recommendation was to hire a David Kahn. So is the question "Who should I ask for advice about hiring a GM?" any easier (or less critical) than "Who should I hire as GM?"? I'm not sure that it is. 

Sorry, but I just have to jump in here and throw a wet blanket over some of the posted opinions. If this gets rather lengthy, shoot me.

 

1) Regarding search firms. I have had some experience with search firms on a personal level and I have never been impressed. In my experience they are no better or no worse on selecting the "perfect" candidate than an organizational committee. Just take a look at both Mpls and St. Paul school boards record for hiring superintendents as well as the Univ. of MN when hiring AD's. All three use search firms and all three replace "perfect" hires almost yearly. The real role for search firms is to provide a scapegoat for when the new Messiah trips on his robe. Let's face it; hiring is always a crapshoot no matter who's making the decision.

 

2) Get over this bias against internal candidates. Just about anyone worth his salt is going to be an internal candidate at some point in his career. If he's not, why does he have a responsible role in the organization? Yeah, he may have followed along with his former boss' beliefs and methods, but what else do you expect from a trusted employee? But going along with the boss doesn't mean all internal candidates are clones of the former boss. A good organizational man/woman will have observed what works and what hasn't worked and formed their own ideas of what they would do different if they were in charge. That's a plus that no external candidate will have; that first hand knowledge within the organization.

 

3) What serious outside candidate would risk their career coming to the Twins? The owner has already "hired" the manager for next year, the major league club is pitiful and a long ways from posting another winning season, the minors are full of unproven "prospects" that may or may not pan out but need to be brought up to the Bigs in order to determine if they're major league material, the organization itself is dysfunctional and the ownership is notorious for doing things on the cheap. So if you're an up and coming GM candidate and anxious to prove your moxie so you can someday move on to a big name club, would you want to roll the dice and hire on with the Twins? As we used to say in my business, paraphrasing of course, the Twins are a ball club where GMs go to die, not build a career. So if the team can't attract serious external candidates, are we better off to hire a marginal candidate just because he's "external"?

 

4) Quit with the analytics. Yeah, its a helpful tool, but it's just that; a tool. One of many needed to run a ball club. You wouldn't hand a mechanic one wrench and expect him to overhaul an engine so why would anyone expect a GM to be a one trick pony with analytics? General Manager means the guy has to be good at overseeing an entire organization, not just one department. If the guy can't get all the departments on the same page, analytics isn't going to save his ass. Or put the Twins back in the "not-embarrassing" portion of the win column.

 

My advice, give Antony the next few months to prove he's not a Terry Ryan clone and instead of wasting time and money on "searching" for an outside candidate, let it be known external candidates will be considered and see who wants to throw his hat in the ring. It may be humbling.

1) A search firm can be a useful tool, especially when the internal people charged with making the hire have the working baseball knowledge of "I have read other teams media guides".  The UofM just made by all accounts a hell of a hire, I'm guessing Mark Coyles name would not have come up without help of the search firm.  If there's even a chance it helps why wouldn't you spend the money to have them drum up a list of candidates for you?

2) The Twins have the 2nd worst record in baseball since 2011 and an organization largely considered as being well behind the times.  That's why you wouldn't hire internally.  

3) There are 30 GM jobs in all of baseball, and someone could do a hell of a lot worse than an organization with a good pipeline of young talent and seemingly endless job security if they can win even at an average clip. Even with the Molitor caveat (which i hate), they will have plenty of candidates. 

4) Huh? You are advocating not to use all the tools at the front office's disposal, why? Because you aren't familiar with how they work?

What message do you think it sends to the rest of the organization if they hire internally?

What message do you think it sends to the rest of the organization if they hire externally?

I feel like there is a recursive problem with suggesting that getting outside advice will help St. Peter and Pohlad make this important baseball decision. That all depends on them selecting the right people or search firm to provide the help! I recall that Glen Taylor reached out to a respected NBA executive for help hiring a GM, and the recommendation was to hire a David Kahn. So is the question "Who should I ask for advice about hiring a GM?" any easier (or less critical) than "Who should I hire as GM?"? I'm not sure that it is.

If memory serves, David Stern personally recommended David Kahn. I am not sure why the commisioner would be a great resource as to the aptitude of GM candidates. I think talking with well regarded GM's about who they recommend under the and why would be a better use of time.

If memory serves, David Stern personally recommended David Kahn. I am not sure why the commisioner would be a great resource as to the aptitude of GM candidates. I think talking with well regarded GM's about who they recommend under the and why would be a better use of time.

I thought Stern suggested that Taylor talk to Donnie Walsh for advice. Walsh recommended Kahn.