Hello. My name is Otto Orcin. You probably know me as the lead baseball analyst for BNN. You may have read some of my articles at cbatraderumors.com. You might also remember me from my previous stint as the General Manager of the Louisville Colonels. I have just been rehired by my former boss, now the owner, to restore the consistent success and profitability that the Louisville franchise took for granted a few years ago.
If you want to know about that earlier part of my career, you can read my self-published eBook about those years
here. If you have already read it, welcome to the sequel. If you don’t want to slog through 85+ pages to catch up, don’t worry. This book stands alone. I will provide the history and background for you.
It was not an easy choice to give up my soft life as a multimedia star. The scariest part of the decision was the competition with me. I am known as a “Living Legend” in the Continental Baseball Association. As GM of the Colonels for eight seasons, we won the Midwest Division title every year – never missing the playoffs. We won five Federal League championships and four World Series rings. I was the CBA Executive of the Year six times. How can I top, or even match, that level of success this time around?
I was compelled to return in spite of trepidation. The Louisville Colonels are my passion. I became a fan of the Colonels as a young boy and I grew up wanting this job. I worked hard and, through a series of fortuitous events, my dream was realized. I had fun and we enjoyed an extended period of unrivaled success. That’s all in my first book.
Then, in 2008, I hit a wall. I now recognize the symptoms of burnout, but I didn’t see it that way at the time. Someone asked me if I was bored with winning. I thought so, but I now realize that I was never tired of winning. Psychologists tell us that the human brain becomes bored once it has mastered a task or concept, and it wants to move on. I was bored with the work because I did not have enough challenge in my job.
Six years in a different profession have rekindled my appetite. My predecessor made many changes in the organization and left ample opportunities to put my own brand on the franchise again. But most of all, I want to build a consistently competitive franchise without “quick fixes”, and that goal will require me to master a new skill called patience.
My years as an observer have given me a new perspective on my former tenure. I now understand that I lacked patience. I have seen too many players that I drafted develop into stars after I traded them (example: Juan Moran now has 287 career home runs). I was often too hasty to “spend” prospect currency, and sacrificed better long-term talent to get short-term results on a frequent basis.
I didn’t create a winning team; I assembled it. I plugged holes by acquiring talent, not by developing it. I became the master of trading a package of several mid-level players and prospects for one star player. I was so good at this tactic that it felt like cheating after a while. Of course, it is not cheating, but it is also not a strategy for sustainable success.
I am not saying that trades are a bad tactic or somehow inappropriate. The inevitable purge of players that are no longer affordable and/or cost effective is necessary for small market teams. From time to time, different players are required to fill gaps in an organization’s development cycle, and free agency can be an expensive way to solve this problem. Trades can satisfy both requirements efficiently when utilized to obtain young players at positions of need in return for expensive veteran players.
In the first stage of my career, I rarely executed this type of trade properly. More often, I depleted my farm system to plug holes created by injury, poor performance, or (worst of all) my own impatience with the development of a young player. I typically acquired fully-developed players entering their arbitration years. These mid-20’s players reached free agency in another few years and there were no young replacements in the pipeline. So, more trades for mature players were required and the cycle repeated.
The best way to ensure future success in a small market is to create a farm system that supplies a steady stream of quality young players to fill these gaps. This is achieved via smart drafting and effective player development, but it also requires some tolerance on the part of management. Free agents signed to one-year contracts can buy time for a prospect to develop, but the free agent may not be the perfect fit. Prospects may need to work through their mistakes in the majors to reach their potential. I must be willing to accept some imperfections and suffer through some growing pains. It requires patience.
I have concluded that, in this second stage of my career, winning is not enough. I want to build a successful franchise that attains all of my previous goals AND sustains itself via internal development. Building a strong farm system is harder for teams that always draft at the end of a round, but that’s why I get paid the big bucks. Maybe this time, I will also be able to control my temper and not fire my legendary scout in a fit of anger over a few ratings changes. Draft position doesn’t matter as much if a lot of your top prospects are generated internationally. I learned this lesson the hard way.
Finally, I’m sorry about the loss of your free tickets, Sal. I intend to make it up to you, starting with a pair of 2015 season tickets and a parking pass. I know you don’t drive anymore (because of that ugly little incident between you and the Commonwealth of Kentucky) but the person using your companion ticket can park in the space. Hopefully, I will finish the job by giving you and our fans another series of championships fueled by home-grown talent that you can follow from the draft all the way to the Hall of Fame.
Sincerely,
Otto Orcin