Tigers GM Candidates

Cardinals · Post by **Cardinals** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 2:27 pm

Tullar asked around and found two people who are interested in joining the IBC. I asked them their sim experiences, how closely they follow the minors and their favorite way to judge players just to get a feel for them.

Walter Hickman was the first person to contact me, and he said:

As a GM, I am a hands-on guy. I'm always looking for ways to improve my team for both the present and the future. I always send in MP's and keep an eye on my team.

I have been involved in these types of leagues since 2004. I was in the PJBA, and then ran it for a year until the league dissolved. After that, I joined the BCMBL, and have been involved in it since. I also am in the IYFBL.

As for analyzing players, for batters, you can never go wrong with OBP. Also, keeping an eye on walk and strikeout rate is something I value. For pitchers, I like to watch k/9 and k/bb rates.

Jeff Hay:

I have been involved with SIM leagues since early 2006. I was introduced to this form of entertainment by John Anderson (Sim OG). I enjoy the strategy involved with running a franchise as one would see fit. I started as the Royals GM of the BCMBL and joined the IYFBL (Braves) a couple of years later. I was also a part of the defunct WIBL and as the Angels GM. I have been on the BCMBL trade committee for 3 years and sometimes spot sim for the league. I have heard great things about IBC and the level of competition and would love to be a part of it. I check boards daily in order to stay up to date with all transactions and news. I have the DMB software and do not depend on others for roster lists. I enjoy trade talk and building a team that can stay competitive barring injuries.

In addition, I stay up to date with the minor leagues. I attend AAA minor leagues games because the braves play 10 miles from my house. I also keep up with international signings and so on. I have built teams around hitting and some around pitching. Currently, I am trying to build my first playoff team and it is a goal I set. Injuries have robbed me from some good runs like in real life, but I love the challenge. My measure to value player would be VORP. I can not wait for the MoneyBall Movie!!! I hope I can be a new addition to your league and I look forward from your response.

If we want to decide on either of these two candidates sometime this week, that's ok with me. But there's also no rush. If you guys don't think either would be good for the IBC, then we certainly don't have to bring either of them in. It would, though, be nice to have a GM in before the trade deadline for this team so they could make moves for the future. With that said, we also have to be careful with that too - don't want to bring in somebody to get taken to the cleaners just because it's the trade deadline. That's also something we can tell to the TRC, too, to be extra careful with trades with Detroit in the coming weeks as well.

Astros · Post by **Astros** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 3:07 pm

These guys sound far more promising than past candidates we've gotten

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 10:33 am

Could we get an opinion from Tullar on those two? I was in BCMBL for a while, and I remember the names but not really their performance. It's kind of a crappy league in terms of GMs and fair trades, particularly outside of the IBC guys, and those other leagues are particularly crappy (in terms of GM quality) from what I understand. And one type of GM that's been particularly dangerous for us is someone who thinks he's really good because he did well against poor competition, but doesn't really know what he's doing against harder competition.

Cardinals · Post by **Cardinals** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 1:39 pm

On Walter:

Walter is the first response I've gotten. He's the A's in the BCMBL. He hasn't been able to get over the hump in bumping Seattle(John Anderson) off in the West, but he is in my opinion a good owner. He's pretty laid back and I think his learning curve would be a lot shorter than Houston's.

On Jeff:

Jeff is a good owner as well. I don't think he's as active on the boards but I do like him. He's the Royals in the BCMBL where the Twins are much like the IBC Yanks. I believe Jeff has finished second in the division the last two years. I don't think he's come to grips with the total overhaul needed to compete with a team like that yet. If there is a Japanese player available in the draft, Jeff will find them. Neither guy is what I'd call a prospect whore.

Overall I'd say the BCMBL is AA to the IBC's big leagues as there are still a handfull of guys there who really don't know what they're doing so we've got less parity.

Cardinals · Post by **Cardinals** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:55 pm

Jag also told me this:

I would give the edge to Jeff Hay simply because he makes himself available all the time, and does send in MP's for injuries.

I would give credit to Walter for having possibly the higher baseball acumen, but it's all for not if he's not active.

Walter is a Tigers fan, so I'm afraid that could be his motivation as opposed to being an active GM in the IBC.

This season I let him move to Detroit in the IYFBL, and he rewarded me with just "1" MP sent in since April 8th. He took a rotation of Halladay, Kershaw, Price, & C.J. Wilson to the easiest division and is in last place there, where Rich Bishop leads the ALC 58-63 record and a really lame team (all SP's w/ 4.00+ projections). I did not know such a bad record was even possible with such a great staff (in a pitchers park at that).

Walter also had one of the most dominant teams in the BCMBL when I joined just a couple years back, but that team is now in last place in the ALW.

If I had to choose between Jeff & Walter, I think I'd go with Jeff just because I know he would take "less time off" if you know what I mean. Also, he won't let a week go by with a 22-man roster if guys are hurt.

It's like a draft, Jeff is the safer pick, Walter has a higher ceiling, but has not shown he can reach it.

Padres · Post by **Padres** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:05 am

I think JT's analysis is spot on ...

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:38 am

WhiteSox wrote:I think JT's analysis is spot on ...

What is your opinion of Jeff's trading habits? Is he going to make a lot of mistakes?

Padres · Post by **Padres** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:40 am

I believe that Walter would post blocks and probably be more active in talking trades while Jeff would more likely study other teams rosters and use pm to ask about certain players he is interested in ...

I will say I like both of them and believe either would be a solid addition but I happen to believe that, at this point in time based on my observations in other leagues, Jeff would be the more consistent and patient GM.

Astros · Post by **Astros** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:47 pm

Lets give this one to Jeff and keep Walter on standby for anyone we need to replace at the end of the year

Dodgers · Post by **Dodgers** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 5:09 pm

I faintly remember Hickman from PJBA and maybe MLBSL, but those were so long ago I think any memories would probably be unfair. Relying on others who deal with them consistently, it seems that Jeff is probably the better choice at this point.

Cardinals · Post by **Cardinals** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 5:18 pm

Yeah, so we're good for bringing Jeff in then?

Dodgers · Post by **Dodgers** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 5:39 pm

Yes by my count

Reds · Post by **Reds** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:24 pm

Yes, Jeff looks like the one.