The Oliver Miller Redux

I actually spent time looking up information about Oliver Miller.  Yes, Oliver Miller.  And somehow, somewhere a man that once looked like he ate Charles Barkley, sparked interest and feelings from Career Development to the Miami Heat signing Eddy Curry.

The one stomach virus like feeling I am getting about the NBA is that teams who attempt to get their proverbial big-3; teams who can afford it before hitting luxury tax penalties have to look at the Eddy Curry's of the world to see if there's any viability in there.  On the Duke of NBA Facebook page, Gen X Blair discusses how Kendrick Perkins lost 32 lbs to a svelte 267lbs and Gregory St. Fort mentions Eddy Curry's weight loss adventure from tilting over 400 lbs to 320-something.  I do think teams in the NBA look at the standpoint of lineup construction as Career Development, taking out-of-shape NBA players, and in the case of Eddy Curry to the point of being out of basketball for a year, to possibly of being as valued as Jamaal Magloire.

Sports allow us to witness that when someone does something that jeopardizes their ability to maintain a career, whether it's physical health self-devastation such as Curry, Miller, Perkins, and even as recently as Shaquille O'Neal, who had to find semblances of healthy by going to Phoenix as teams treat these athletes as reclamation projects.  Eventually, all athletes retire, bodies betrayed such as Brandon Roy with no cartilage in his knees, Yao Ming with deteriorated feet, and Oliver Miller who could not keep the weight down.  Eventually, we hope that terms of Oliver Miller, we do not wind up with other athletes pistol whipping your girlfriends brother.  See Oliver Miller's Pleads Guilty...

The career development of an athlete is very different from the career development of positions that the average person acquires.  But, often over time, we have to consider who we hire and fire, promote and demote.  For instance, I remember one time, where as an Assistant Coordinator of Athletic Operations, I was on my high horse, and was basically right about this one work-study student who's making his minimum wage dishonestly; he was not doing anything.  And I said to myself, I want to make sure that I hire and get 30 people who would do the job.  Eventually, I couldn't find 3 people because I could not find people who were like me.  You create lofty expectations, sift through work-study students and eventually just wind up miserable and doing the work yourself at 10:30PM at night.

I think the NBA is lucky that for every Eddy Curry who's going to get the chance, if he's unable to succeed, the Heat, I hope will have some accountability, and allow Eddy to get his health back, not to mention his self-confidence, and be what many busted NBA players who leave High School to the NBA do...find a career that matches a skillset for something non-stereotypical such as black Santa Claus.  Eventually organizations have to take accountable measures with their players so that they're instrumental in their employees career development such as telling Brandon Roy he shouldn't play again because his knees would not take it anymore.

And we have to look at players all-the-time, like the real-life person.   Organizations as much as we want to be realistic or delusional need to know that not all employees have the perfect skills at their position.  This is the reason why we get asked questions "What are your strengths?" "What are your weaknesses?" on interviews.  Often, an employer is always looking to hire someone when they recognize they have flaws.  Then when you have someone who has a disability, does those flaws make the hiring choice not attainable for that potential disabled employee.  Unfortunately yes.

I guess when I listened to a B.S. Report Podcast from December 9th, I learned that this is winding up to be a situation where organizations are cutthroat; wanting the best players from each team, because teams don't have the KSA's to build an organization from the ground up.  And then when a team such as Oklahoma City does that as the Phoenix of the Seattle Super Sonics, I think eventually that can all end when they attempt to make their big three trade, for instance dealing Serge Ibaka, Eric Maynor and three first rounders for Dwight Howard.  Although I'm being hypothetical, and probably won't work cap wise, so far this season has been witness to superteam organizations.  So instead of teams building sound, smart organizations in the NBA, teams now create markets to potentially destroy other teams.  Hopefully, those teams who, in turn are the have nots have the awareness to rebuild smartly, replace these dumb teams, before they get swallowed in perpetual losing and eventual contraction.

Then may be we get an awkward looking team, somewhat disabled to win a championship; sort of like an old, awkward shooting Dallas Mavericks team who won it all last year, because they exploited the weaknesses of the Miami Heat.  You win with the talent you acquire to build the team.  You don't build the team that acquires the talent.  Doing the latter gets you nowhere.  Doing the former wins games and championships.

Life as a Mets fan

One thing I will say is that being a Mets fan is not easy.  Normally it does require Pepto Bismol, Malox, and Pink Bismuth for all the ebbs and flows that occur.  It's what's quirky about my favorite team.  It's always interesting from the inconsistencies of the Mets driving in runs at many stretches throughout the season, or even the analysts and play-by-play announcers.  Every night one can go from pure elation to witnessing what Mark Simon calls "#crumbssituations"; an area where you enter at minimum four-letter explicitives for the zany blunders caused from lack of knowledge, overwhelmed by pressure, and sheer dumb coincidence that happens every game.

Q: So, why do I want to expose Micah to the imperfectness of being a Mets fan?
A: Being a Mets fan; likewise a fan of any franchise, requires responsibility to own up to the franchises shortcomings.  Every franchise has one; even the great Yankees with the collapse vs. the Red Sox in 2004, or the worst teams ever, such as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now Rays) from 1999 through 2007; where the ballpark was a barren wasteland of misused, underfunded talent, clearly requiring the 2% provided by new infused energy provided by ownership, so well regarded in Jonah Keri's book, "The Extra 2%".  At the end of the day, Mets fans "fandom" is one of those 2% addages; we have an apple that pops up with every home run, and probably that's it.

My best thing I like to discuss with Micah about the Mets with is the history.  Albeit San Francisco and Los Angeles still carry the names of their predecessor NY franchise Giants and Dodgers, the Mets tradition stems from losing those two teams in 1957/58 with a blend of refusal to join the pinstripe black & white Yankee empire.  Something about being relentless, and having something to believe in; not to mention catchy slogans such as "You Gotta Believe" and "Who Let the Dogs Out" is part of a Mets fan DNA.

Q: Are Met fans going to succumb to mediocrity and high number of "#crumbssituations" until the Mets finally get it right?
A: Every season, every team has at least several dozen "#crumbssituations."  #crumbssituations are a requirement of feel, coupled by an event that changes the game negatively.  It's basically when you eat something, and after you eat the food, you realize you got crumbs all over you.  Now you're angry, then dejected, then succumbing to defeat when you are unable to remove the crumbs unless you wash, or dry clean the clothing...if you're lucky.

With the level of youth and inexperience, nights like Saturday, such as Bobby Parnell blowing the save and taking the loss will always happen.

Hopefully I can get to write some more thoughts about sports, fantasy sports, and things applicable to job developing for developmentally disabled individuals some more.  It surely felt cathartic.

You can follow me on twitter: Akil_El; or via Facebook.  Feel free to comment.

Talent and Intangibles

The key foundation of understanding employees comes from the foundation of KSA's: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. There are other attributes as well, but when we think of the metrics used in sports to define the athlete; it's all about what they are capable of doing, the knowledge of how to do it, their level of success doing it, the possession of the athlete's having to use what they know, the skills possessed. I currently see this in my line of work of job developing, where I am the one looking at the end advocating for people who need to know about the job the could be doing. The gap between what they know and what they don't. So, it's very important; whether it is on the Fantasy Baseball, the real sports level, and the job seeker, that employers know what they are getting and to anticipate what they do not know.

Talent and the Environment

When measuring a talent, you review the KSAs compared to your client (athlete, baseball card, or consumer). When you talk about healthy lineup construction; you try to match the athlete's feasibility: how they learn, apply, and use KSAs to the positions in the lineup and defensively to maximize your ability to have the team perform. In terms of Fantasy Baseball, you look at the construction of the team in respect to your league. Are you playing traditional roto and what you gauge your teams KSAs to achieve the counting and rate stats that makes you successful. With the potential employee, it's the mix: you look for the utilization of KSAs as well as the rate stats to measure how successful that person is. This is why sometimes we look at all of these baseball trades and wonder why some bad deals are done.

Recently, the Texas Rangers signed third baseman, Adrian Beltre to a contract; which now displaces Michael Young from his position, and possibly the lineup. The Rangers say he will be a super-utility guy, primarily playing 1B and DH. The Rangers had moved Young twice, twice for young players in their organization due to Young's inability to play the position well. However, what makes young successful is that he's a team guy. It is the reason why he's still a Texas Ranger. But his skill sets are being phased out. On the real baseball scale, Young will still be viable. On the Fantasy Baseball scale, his average draft position, ADP, should fall because he no longer will play every day. Young won't accumulate 600-650 PAs this season, and thus the counting stats will decline. His rate stats, some say are in decline, while others say the stats are not feasible for him to be the top 10 at any position. Henceforth, the job developer would think that he needs to be traded to somewhere that the Rangers can obtain value, and another team could maintain value; or as the Rangers thought...we will keep this guy around.

The Intangibles to Environment

Michael Young's viability to the Rangers is his ability to be the team guy; the guy who's past his prime and is able to be a measuring stick on how others should view their work ethic. As according to the Baseball prospectus podcast from Wednesday, Jan 26th , those are individuals who continue to get jobs. The example of Mike Sweeney was very noting. Sweeney, a very good player and clubhouse guy; clearly with very limited skills, still gets contracts. It's the reason why Henry Blanco still gets work, Julio Franco had got work, and from listening the Baseball history podcast, even Frank Thomas (not the Big Hurt) continued to get work despite plateauing. They become essential to the team without the statistical sense. It's like sometimes looking at rate stats. ERA, Batting AVG, and WHIP only tell a portion of the game, while stats like WAR (Wins Above Replacement) become huge. General Managers look for these guys to help them win championships; which Fantasy Baseball managers consider these as sleepers; where others don't expect the .280 15 80 that Young could be useful as a replacement Corner Infielder.

When I look at this in my line of work, you look at metrics. You prescreen the applicant. You may review the resume, contact previous employers, find stats on the applicant. The same should be done with GMs, real and fantasy, that help define lineup and roster construction. This also means you look for guys that makes the team successful. I remember one time long ago, I don't need 6 A-Rods and 5 Rogers to win a championship. But I will need the Shane Victorino's, Jose Bautista's surprises, and Mike Leake's limited track record, with the guys who do the things as Cory Schwartz will say "Clockwork Orange." Because in the end, employers get all the information for the known, and anticipate that unknown which makes the Edwin Encarnarcion's different from the Jose Bautista's, the Mike Leake's different from the Jason McDonald's, and the Shane Victorino's different from the Franklin Gutierrez's. The individual talent is only part of a team's dynamic.

A Long Hiatus

97 weeks since I have blogged about; anything except for the little blurb that I put on a facebook note in August. In the past 97 weeks, I have had gone through two Fantasy Football and Baseball seasons; mostly mediocrity and failure; and I have had 3 jobs since then. I also try to speak to people carefully, hopes to be more goal oriented by solving problems and moving on. There are things that have unchanged too. Same fiancee, living in the same apartment since I was 9, same moping of our dilapidated transit system. Also an undying love for sports; especially Baseball.

Fantasy Baseball

A couple of things to note. Mike Siano and Cory Schwartz recently came out with their List of Twelve. The list may be 15, but their work is still pristine, yet going big-time on the MLB Network. Yovanni Gallardo, Francisco Liriano, and Josh Johnson will probably be targeted and drafted above their value, but I am intrigued at where Jonathan Sanchez, Johnny Cueto, Shaun Marcum and Jason Hammel will get valued. Sanchez pitching in San Francisco and having to pitch in ballparks like PETCO Park and Dodger stadium on the road definitiely add to his high K-rate. His ERA may go up to 3.60-3.70, but he puts up Ace-like Strikeout numbers. Shaun Marcum, I find similar to Sanchez, but this season Marcum will have to prove it in Milwaukee. Miller Park is more pitching friendly than The Rogers Centre, and Marcum places similar numbers with a better walk rate. Both Sanchez and Marcum are flyball pitchers, but also the NL Central I believe contains weaker teams with the Pirates, Astros, and Cubs.

Johnny Cueto and Jason Hammel are on my interested list because they have not been able to put it together for a season without massive struggles. Cueto has a great strikeout rate, but he's prone to a 5-6 start stretch where I wonder he needs to get cut. Jason Hammel struggled at the end of last season; however overall his two seasons in Colorado showed improved K/BB and B/9 rates for two consecutive years. Hammel is someone that I would rather pitch and ditch with, but he may likely get drafted.

Mike Pelfrey is on their list of 12, but Pelfrey's better bet is more of a real baseball pitcher than Fantasy. "Big Pelf" comes with a low K rate, but he makes my interesting list.

Mike Pelfrey: Opening Day Starter

I was highly intrigued by this move. Pelfrey for all intensive purposes has been the Mets pitcher of development since 2006. Now, in his age 27 season, it's the approximate age where a baseball player puts it together. Pelfrey did improve in ERA, WHIP, and mental toughness. Even Pelfrey's struggle in June/July, he still was unflappable, and kept on grinding. Eventually he put a good season together, despite the negatives of rate stats declining throughout the season. Pelfrey simply made pitches. As the opening day starter, Pelfrey's development is going to be about making good pitches and using a fairly good defense (4th in NL in 2010). His Spring Training is going to be vital to see if the Mets bestowed too much on what some fans say slow-developing/fraudelent.