The Second Floor | Oh, is that all? (63.03)

[mragland]

12.01.2062 35,000 ft above the Alps

Grant sat back in his seat, to the extent one could do that in coach, as the plane cruised towards Heathrow. It had been an eventful week.

The easy part was accepting the Monarchs job. After Talal acceded to Taj's choice, Taj made a formal offer during a video call on the fifteenth, and outlined the club's expectations for a new general manager.

"IIC purchased the Cedars because it wanted to see a return on its investment, and it also sought the prestige and recognition that comes from associating with a winner. The club hasn't always won, but it has usually turned a healthy profit," said Taj, who looked like he hadn't been sleeping well. "We moved to London to raise our profile, which three cup championships helped. But three losing seasons, three seasons of declining revenue, have us concerned about the direction of the club."

Once Grant was on the job, ownership would not be interfering with day-to-day operations, baseball operations or business operations, however, ownership would be very interested in the results of the 2063 season. Grant knew from his time in Beirut several years ago that Talal only had a passing interest (at best) in the team or the game. He only ever personally attended post-season games. The club was a cash cow for Talal (Grant didn't think IIC had been formed yet back then).

"Your job, simply put, is to win games and turn a profit," continued Taj. We don't care about how you do it, or what your philosophy of club management might be. We believe you understand the GBC and that you have a good idea of how be successful at the level. Mr. Talal is eager to hoist a trophy again before he steps down at IIC."

'Win games, make money,' thought Grant, sipping on his gin and tonic, 'easy peasy. Why hadn't anybody else thought of that?' He glanced down at some of his notes on the 2062 Monarchs squad.

A 75 win team will usually have a few bright spots. Pieces you could build around to get the club to the next level. There was one good position player on the whole squad (if you define 'good' as having a WAR above 3). Xing-li Kun, the catcher. Scouts saw him as a 40 (there were so many 40s in the GBC, some good, some hanging out in AAA). A 40 seemed like OSA's version of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Grant also wondered if OSA's WAR model wasn't a little too entranced by catcher framing.

The club let Roman Rodriguez go a few weeks ago. He was the teams best starting pitcher last season on a staff that was pretty rough to watch. He apparently never let an opportunity pass to let anyone who would listen know just how much he meant to the team. Team chemistry should be improved, if nothing else. Why the club let Luca Maundrell go in a 20-player trade he did not understand. He just knew that there wouldn't be any 20-player trades on his watch.