Buzz: GMs are Influenced by Fans
In a report by Bob Nightegale for USA Today, according to White Sox GM Ken Williams, ‘one of the biggest obstacles to making trades are the media leaks while trades are being discussed,’ since it allows fans to ‘weigh in with their opinions,’ many times ‘scaring off teams.’
Williams, as quoted by Nightengame…
“Unfortunately, we are in a generation of executives that don’t understand the importance of confidentiality. If the deal you’re contemplating isn’t viewed as fan-friendly, some general managers get fearful of moving on. You’d be surprised how many deals get killed because of that.”
…this is exactly what is rumored to have happened to Twins GM Bill Smith, who was inches from getting fleeced by the Red Sox, in talks regarding Johan Santana…however, when his division rivals, the Tigers, acquired both Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis in the same deal, smith is said to have panicked and went back to the drawing board, for fear of making a poor choice in what is not only the first trade of his career, but 
what could end up being the most important trade of his career…
…that being said, and knowing the type of influence their fans have on how the Twins behave, i’m starting to think that the best way i can help the Mets acquire Johan Santana would be to create a covert, grassroots public-relations campaign among Twins fans…in other words, as Mets fans, we need to convince them that, because of santana’s lofty contract demands, and the popular idea that he’ll only approve a trade to Boston or New York, he’s never going to return the same type of talent as Erik Bedard or Dan Haren, thanks to supply and demand…and so they should cut Twins GM Bill Smith a break and not put so much pressure on him to pull of a blockbuster…i mean, come on, Carlos Gomez or Ryan Church, plus Mike Pelfrey and Aaron Heilman should be more than enough, guys…
