But with far more upside than Amaro, of course, because at least we know DePo is smart, thoughtful, data-driven, and open to new ideas. And now has a position where he can dramatically influence the team's future, as opposed to a job description primarily consisting of patting the asses of players who get on base.
This doesn't necessarily mean Brown answers to DePodesta. Most likely they both report to Haslam and we see ongoing attempts by each to influence decision-making and wrest power from each other. I mean, that's how most functioning organizations run, right?
Jerry Krause with the NBA and MLB in Chicago? Didn't Ted Turner have the same guy running multiple Atlanta teams?
I'm sure that's been asked every time the idea has come up in team executive circles across all major sports. Only, in this case, DePodesta did actually intern in the front office of the short-lived CFL expansion team, the Baltimore Stallions, as a marketer. And besides being a (JV) middle infielder at Harvard, he was also a WR on their '93 football team. His first focus was baseball, but he's not quite starting from zero here.
Mort (I know, I know) claims his title will be Chief Strategy Officer. He may not have personnel duties other than one-off analytics questions. He may be focused more on marketing, frankly.
Perhaps, but then again we are all posters on an analytic-oriented discussion board. Is there any reason to think Joe Thomas himself will like this, rather than think its even crazier than Mangini's hiring? I suspect most football-types will see it that way
No reason other than Thomas may well like the idea of someone not in the traditional football mind mold. Put another way, I read Thomas's comments to mean Cleveland has tried the traditional methods for years and it has not worked, time for a radical approach. I could be way off.
So you're saying the Browns might have hired a guy (guys?) whose primary job function will be to stop the Browns from doing painfully stupid shit? I can get on board with that.
As a lifelong Browns fan, I see this as much of the same incompetence as before.
Trading Richardson for a 1st round pick was a brilliant move, sandwiched by the following:
Not to mention that they also gave up a third-rounder to move up to get Manziel in that first round
I'm aware of this -- I'm just using it as an example of the kind of moves that DePo probably would never make.
This is an as much of an indictment against Grigson as much as a credit to Cleveland.
Great post PKB. You conveyed my thoughts much more eloquently than I could have.
