Brooklyn Robins GM Alan Ehlers walks down a hallway on his way to his office whistling an oldie but a goodie by The Platters. He pauses in front of the trophy case that holds his one and only accomplishment in his nearly 20 years in the league... the 2026 Landis. A ritual he follows every day on the way to work.
"Oh yes... I'm the great pretender.
I've built this team so well.
The World's Greatest Rebuild fell flat on it's face.
Yet here in August, I sit alone in first place"
The borderline crazy GM then opens up the trophy case and slides the championship hardware a few inches to the left.
"Yep, we are gonna need a little more room in here soon enough. I can feel it."
Assistant GM Lorenzo Ramirez then walks down the hallway.
"Sir, don't you think you are getting ahead of yourself? I mean our team really isn't that good. We are just playing in a weak Atlantic division."
"Hogwash. Where did you hear #fakenewz like that?"
"Rival GM's"
"Oh, you mean the blowhards in the Frick who think they are god's gift to the league? They are just envious of the magical Johnson. Ha Ha... Johnson Envy. Always putting us down when their teams are just trash. Trash I tell you. Win a couple of all star games or maybe a Landis first, then I'll believe the hype.
The two then walk down the hall into the War room. They start discussing the trade deadline. Don Smith's name was brought up and most Brooklyn scouts said that they really dropped the ball by not trying harder to acquire him.
"Look, Don Smith is like a knockout stripper. He looks sexy as fuck but is a big let down when you get to know him better. And like the stripper he is going to be broken and laying in a gutter surrounded by dollar bills by age 30. I like pitchers with rubber arms. Guys like Takeo Aoki who can throw 150 pitches like it ain't a thing. That's wife material right there. Not much of a looker, but get's all the work done and can go all night."
Ehlers is referring to a switch in pitching philosophies that Brooklyn has undergone with new Pitching coach Mario Mendez. For those who don't remember him, Mendez was mostly a middling starter who strength was that he gave you 7-8 solid yet unspectacular innings a night. With the rise in popularity of reliever heavy pitching tom foolery, relief pitching is no longer as undervalued as it once was. Top relievers are now coveted one slot below top starters. While mid rotation inning eaters have dipped a bit toward the realm of mediocre middle RP. Always trying to stay one step ahead of the Moneyball curve, Brooklyn is now knee deep in low cost, durable high stamina pitchers.
Talk then changes to right field. Where Antonio Cordero is now hitting just .250 with a lowly 6 HR. Putrid numbers for a RF in general. But in the scope of this generation of outstanding right fielders, it's totally unacceptable. With Juan Rodríguez hitting .360/.446/.619 in triple A and names like Luis Maldonado, Manoell Whanon, and Kidane Ata all rumored to be up for grabs. One has to wonder when the big trade will be made.
"Look, Tony C is my guy. Our offense is good and we have a great team balance. 4 at bats a game from Maldonado might help our FUBAR record. But it's not going to help our mediocre picthing staff win the close ones. Cordero is the best defensive RF in the Brewster by a large margin and light years above anyone not named French. "
When asked if he would make any addition at the deadline, the GM had this to say...
"I've made about 500 hypothetical trades, checked every block, and listened to every offer. This is a new position for me. As a lame duck, it's tempting, but not good business to be all in. I want Brooklyn to be in a great position for years to come. That said, I want to be known as the only GM in Brewster history to win a Landis in his first and last season. So there is that."
