sinicalypse wrote:
RICK HAHN IS RUNNING THE WHITE SOX. NO KENNY.
GAR FORMAN IS RUNNING THE BULLS. NO PAXSON.
jeez it's like dan gets his edicts/talking points from high high above, eh?
On a day-to-day level, he's probably right.
I doubt the Team President is heavily involved in most day to day activities. For example, they probably aren't directly involved in trade talks, regular conversations with other teams, minor league activity, waiver wire, etc; However, I'm sure there are situations where they become more involved (i.e trades that change the direction of a team, contracts with key players) and I'm sure they are meet regularly with the GM of the team so they are aware of all facets of the organization. I'm sure they are responsible for approving moves that impact the organization, and for setting a vision for the team, both short-term and long-term.
In Rick Hahn's situation, he doesn't accept this GM position without realizing that this team doesn't believe in rebuilding. He worked under Williams for years. That can't be a surprise, and he may be in full agreement with this approach. Knowing that the team doesn't rebuild impacts, for example, how the minor league strategy works. As a result, the minor league system is meant to help the major league team by either feeding players from the minors, or used in trades. They also draft players who are more likely to arrive in the majors sooner.
In Gar Foreman's situation, once you pay your players, you're essentially stuck with that team, for better or worse, until contracts expire. Every 4-5 years, you can dip into free agency, but most years, you're probably spending a good portion of your time watching college games. That's the only way to add players if the salary cap structure prevents you from adding a premium free agent, but the draft is a crap shoot most years. Trades can happen and mid-level free agent moves can be made, but trades are driven by contracts and mid-level free agents are nice additions, but not direction changing moves. John Paxson is known to attend college games so I'm sure he has opinions on whom the Bulls should draft and is probably working with Foreman on those decisions even if he does concede that Foreman makes the final decision. I'm sure Paxson is attending dinners and assisting in the recruitment of a key free agent. When the Bulls are able to be in the free agent market, Foreman doesn't really need approval necessarily to sign a player. It should be pretty obvious that the Bulls have interest in keeping their own and/or adding a young all-star talent. If a move results in the Bulls having to pay the luxury tax, I'm sure Paxson does need to approve that move after he talks with Reinsdorf.
Point is, for both teams, the GM may be doing most of the daily work, but the Team President is playing a key role.
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