59.01 Omaha finds new GM

[handaspencer]

Saturday morning London GM Kevin Spencer had just settled into work that morning and just sat down at his office desk with a fresh cup of coffee and the phone went off. It was the Commissioner's office and they simply said we have a GM opening in the BBC and your the next man up are you interested? Without hesitation GM Spencer said absolutely not even knowing yet where he was heading. This is the dream of every GM in the GBC to pay their dues and get the next opportunity, rather that would be a struggling franchise or a championship caliper organization you want to make it to the highest level its only 1 of 32 jobs in the world. Omaha is where you are heading Mr Spencer get your bags packed!!!

Omaha, wow the organization that is possibly the most consistent organizations in the BBA and definitely in the best division with the Heartland. GM Spencer is only the 3rd GM of that organization in the past 26 years. As every potential GBC GM you wonder where will the next opening happen at? And you begin to play the guessing game. I can honestly say Omaha was never a destination I envision taking over because Justin Niles is Omaha and having someone else run that organization just don't seem possible.

Justin Niles in his 25 seasons in Omaha only had 8 losing seasons, he won GM of the year 3x and won a championship on top of that. When GM Spencer was in Montreal I remember talking to Justin and would pick his brain and try to get some knowledge to make me better. I remember those podcast series whats brewing in the brewster that went for 4 seasons. What a great series of podcast those was, and his contributions to the Brewster was dynamic. All these things was running through my head as I learned I was heading to Omaha and immediate doubt settled in and I begin to think there is no possible way i could match those numbers over a 25 year stretch this is an impossible task. But I quickly came to the realization that the quicker I accept that I might never be that good but if I have fun I can also have great success.

As a veteran GM of this game I have rebuilt multiple teams, made some teams worse and also won a few championships. I just have to trust my ability and my track record of success to return Omaha to its winning ways again. Maybe I only win 1 GM of the year in 25 years, maybe I have 12 losing seasons in 25 years and if that happens thats ok. We are going to have fun in Omaha and just do the best we can and trust our ability to get back to our winning ways.

So what is going to happen in Omaha in the coming years? I have spent multiple days trying to figure out the plan for this organization. I keep coming back to something I don't really like to do and that's rebuild it from the bottom up. Omaha has made the playoffs 4 of the past 6 seasons and it just appears that we are running out of gas and we are at the end of this run. Rather the former GM remained or not a rebuild was destined to come to Omaha. The minor league organization is pretty thin and there is some contracts that have not been so team friendly as of late. Our first focus will be to get profitable again as a club.

Look for some moves that can cut payroll as we try to get more out of less. Omaha won't be signing their 1st round pick this year and maybe a couple other picks as well. We just don't have enough money to sign the guys we drafted and also we are concerned with the quality of some of the picks. We will just roll those picks until next year and try to get some guys that will match our team philosophy. Rebuilds are not easy and it usually means consecutive losing seasons on the horizon. But we are going to have fun in Omaha and we can't wait to get back into the playoffs just like this fan base is accustomed to doing.

[recte44]

I always am interested to see how a new GM will put their own spin on a franchise.