Mayhaps the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California are getting desperate because apparently they have pursued filling their general manager with actual MLB managers. According to Mark Saxson of ESPN, current manager Mike Scioscia spoke with both Joe Maddon and Bud Black about potentially take the reins of the Angel GM position.
↵Joe Maddon, who started both his playing and coaching careers with the Angles, has long shown a superior knack for managing baseball players, but has no experience whatsoever as a general manager. As far as I can remember, no manager has ever transitioned successfully into a modern-era front office position of this magnitude.
↵Sure, Maddon knows innumerable facts, processes, techniques, and psychologies about the game, but it hardly means he can execute the player valuation, contract negotiation, and long-term strategy analysis a GM must daily do.
↵It's kind of like the Angels heard about some amazing truck driver and then asked him to head up their international logistics department. There's overlap, sure, but it's nonetheless a huge gamble.
↵Kudos to Maddon for turning down the opportunity; it might have been amazing, but he's already got something amazing here in Tampa Bay.