Pilot Light #5: Nero Plays the Flute [September 22, 2059]

[Lex]

PILOT LIGHT #5: Nero Plays the Flute (September 22, 2059)
by Bernardo Silva Though the season isn't over just yet, General Manager Lex Clark has set the São Paulo Pilots organization on fire.

Everyone has been let go.

"We wish Murillo and the rest of the staff we let go today luck," General Manager Lex Clark said. "Truth is, [Murillo] didn't get along with the locker room, and I think you could see the influence of his poor relationship with our team's play over the course of the season."

When asked about the rest of the staff that was let go, including those in São Paulo's minor league system, Clark said with a shrug, "That's baseball, baby. This is a performance based business. We didn't perform at the major or minor league level. When I got hired here, I promised to build a championship organization. If our minor league is fucked up, that means our major league is fucked up."

He added, "I also fired my assistant GM. That was very difficult. He made excellent lemonade. I will miss his delicious lemonade. I will not miss his personnel decisions or his dumb ass ideas."

In this moment, Clark seems to be something like Nero, playing the flute in a window, watching Rome burn. You wonder if this is genius or insanity. For Nero, as we know, it was the latter.

"All due respect to you," Clark said to me when I asked if it was a fair comparison. "I'm not like Nero. For one, I'm not inbred. Secondly, I wasn't asked to manage Rome. I was asked to manage the São Paulo Pilots organization. I will be leading the search for a new manager and new assistant GM. Whoever I end up hiring in the assistant GM position will handle our minor league hires."

I beg to differ. I think Lex Clark is like Nero. And I am afraid he will leave this organization worse with his rash decisions. Murillo was a good man, and a good manager.

Let's all hope I'm wrong. As though it's true, this is not Rome -- I can smell the city burning nonetheless.