[外電] Shapiro轉檯對藍鳥和印地安人的影響

[Fitzwilliam (Out of touch)]

MLB官網記者Anthony Castrovince談Mark Shapiro轉檯的影響。
"How Does Shapiro's Move Impact Indians, Blue Jays?"
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/146532214


CLEVELAND -- The Indians and Blue Jays are playing a three-game series in
Toronto this week, because that's just odd and happenstance enough to make
total sense in the odd and often happenstance industry of professional sports.

This is a strange series because Mark Shapiro is leaving one organization for
another. We all know that now. As announced by both clubs on Monday, the
president of the Indians will be leaving to become president and CEO of the
Blue Jays and Rogers Centre.

But while the move is official, it is not yet in effect and won't be until
the Blue Jays' season ends. Which means Shapiro is still a member of the
Indians. Which means his rooting interest this week is the same it's been the
last 24 years.

"Until I leave this building," Shapiro said at the press conference announcing
his pending departure, "which is not going to be until the end of September, I
am a Cleveland Indian and it's probably going to take a long time to feel any
differently. The day I strap on a Blue Jays uniform, all my energy and all my
focus will be on the Toronto Blue Jays, but that is not happening for a month
or maybe longer."

And that just speaks to the uncertainty still surrounding what is an otherwise
certain situation. Shapiro is going to the Blue Jays, sure. But his move from
one organization to the other comes with various as-yet-unanswered questions
for both sides.

在印地安人作客Rogers Centre和藍鳥三連戰的同時，兩隊的老闆也宣布，
印地安人隊總裁Mark Shapiro即將接任藍鳥隊總裁。

但這項人事案球季結束後才會正式生效，因此在這三連戰，以及球季最後一個月之中，
Shapiro仍然是印地安人隊的一員。他本人也是這麼說。

Shapiro轉檯到藍鳥，同時為這兩隊帶來了一些有待解答的問題。

首先看藍鳥隊這方面：


What this means for the Blue Jays

When Dave Dombrowski accepted the president's position with the Red Sox
earlier this month, it was his intention to keep Ben Cherington aboard as
general manager. But with Cherington's power almost certainly undermined by
the hands-on presence of Dombrowski, that was never really a realistic
scenario. Less than two years after hoisting a World Series trophy in Boston,
Cherington opted to step down.

The industry assumption at the moment is that Shapiro's arrival in Toronto
will not prompt a departure -- either by resignation or dismissal -- of GM
Alex Anthopoulos. Of course, the one caveat there is that Anthopoulos'
contract expires at season's end. And if the Blue Jays continue their
second-half surge -- one very much enabled by his midseason wheeling and
dealing -- and go deep into October, Anthopoulos might be something of a hot
commodity in an industry undergoing an enormous amount of upheaval at the
moment.

Now, granted, one would assume the Montreal native has no intention of
leaving the Blue Jays. Furthermore, the existence of a strong past personal
relationship between Anthopoulos and Shapiro would lead you to believe
they'll work well together. When Shapiro ascended to the presidency in
Cleveland, Chris Antonetti took over as the true general manager in every
sense of the title. Antonetti would certainly bounce ideas off Shapiro, whose
office remained five feet away, but the final decision rested with him. This
was most evident in the 2011 trade the Indians made for Ubaldo Jimenez --
Shapiro wasn't in favor of the move, but he firmly backed Antonetti's
decision to make it.

A similar relationship could perhaps exist between Shapiro and Anthopoulos.
That is by far the safest bet, and it is clear that Shapiro values the
business opportunity of his pending gig at least as much if not more than any
of the baseball-related responsibilities.

But to blindly assume that the baseball operations power structure in the
Toronto front office will remain unchanged is probably a mistake. Heck, just
a few weeks ago, a lot of us blindly assumed Shapiro, entrenched in the
Indians' organization and the local community (where his wife was born and
his children were raised), was unlikely to leave. Things change in this
business.

As far as the business end is concerned, Shapiro was attractive to the Blue
Jays because of his rare dual blend of expertise on both the baseball and
corporate fronts. Fundamentally, the recent renovations he spearheaded at
Progressive Field give him experience to draw from in leading the updating of
what he called a "mature stadium that needs some redevelopment."

Shapiro, though, will be challenged in this new role. He'll be new to
Toronto. He'll be new to Canada. He'll need to make connections and develop
relationships at City Hall and on Bay Street. For the first time in his
baseball life, he'll be a fish out of water.

This excites Shapiro.

"I'm a lot about wanting to become better, wanting to grow, wanting to
develop," he said. "To do that, you have to take on new challenges and
sometimes be a little uncomfortable."

老虎隊前領隊Dave Dombrowski接任紅襪隊總裁之後，
本來並不想換掉領隊Ben Charington；
但他事必躬親的作風不可避免會侵奪領隊的職權，
因此兩年前才為紅襪贏得世界冠軍的Charington終究還是離職了。

但業界公認，Shapiro和藍鳥現任領隊Alex Anthopoulos之間不太會出現這種問題。
首先，Anthopoulos今年年底約滿，下半季大爆走的藍鳥若是真能挺進季後賽，
Anthopoulos明年絕對不愁沒有地方去。

而出身蒙特婁的Anthopoulos看來不太會離開藍鳥。
那麼，Shapiro和他應當還是能相處愉快：
首先，兩人私交深厚。
其次，Shapiro升任印地安人隊總裁之後，
完全放手讓領隊Chris Antonetti發揮而不予干涉，
就連2011年Antonetti決定用即將養成的新秀換來Ubaldo Jimenez，
Shapiro即使個人不贊成，仍然力挺自己的領隊。

因此Shapiro和Anthopoulos應當能夠相處愉快。
而且Shapiro也被公認是業界難得的既有棒球頭腦，又有商業才能的球團行政主管。
但實際相處起來會怎樣還是不能打包票，畢竟一開始誰也沒料到，
已經以克利夫蘭為家這麼久的Shapiro竟然會決定離開。

Shapiro同時兼具棒球事務和商業經營的才能，是藍鳥隊極力延攬他的主因，
特別是他最近一手策劃與主持的Progressive Field更新（再開發）計畫。

但是初來乍到多倫多的Shapiro，必定要從頭開始建立人脈和熟悉環境。
這點他倒是不擔心，他始終期待挑戰與成長。

而在印地安人隊這方面呢？


What this means for the Indians

When the Blue Jays asked permission to speak with Shapiro about this opening,
Indians owner Paul Dolan granted it. When Shapiro decided to take this
position, Dolan did not seek out compensation from the Blue Jays in exchange
for letting Shapiro out of his contract with Cleveland.

That speaks to the character of how this ownership operates. And the fact
that Shapiro rose from a low-paid gofer in the John Hart front office all the
way to club president speaks to the rare stability this front office has
enjoyed lo these many years. People here were and are empowered and entrusted
with increasing levels of responsibility as they prove themselves, and
ownership is loyal to them.

Shapiro was the biggest branch of the Hart family tree, and the ripples of
his departure are sure to be felt for some time.

Granted, he's leaving the Indians organization in a stable place. Antonetti is
very much capable of handling the baseball decision-making and two-time World
Series-winning manager Terry Francona, who is under contract through at least
2018, but had an opt-out clause in the event that Shapiro left, making it
publicly clear that his affinity for working alongside Antonetti outweighs any
allure that might be associated with a bigger market. Dolan, meanwhile, will
essentially absorb Shapiro's duties at the top of the front-office food
chain, in that Antonetti and his underlings will report directly to him, just
as Shapiro once did before he was elevated to the president's position.

So no major changes are expected here at the moment. Shapiro will leave at
the end of September, he'll join the Blue Jays whenever their run comes to a
close and he'll take his time to evaluate the inner-workings of that franchise.

But there is very little doubt that Shapiro could come calling about some of
the people he brought aboard to the Indians. Assistant GM Mike Chernoff is a
rising name in this industry. Would Shapiro be interested in luring him to
Toronto (or, furthermore, might Chernoff be a name in the mix for one of the
multiple GM vacancies springing up across the landscape)? Andrew Miller, the
Indians' senior vice president of strategy and business analytics, is
basically Shapiro's right-hand man. Might he be taking his talents north of
the border?

Bottom line is there is the potential for some poaching here.

"Paul, Chris and I have talked openly about that," Shapiro said. "Right now,
I'm not considering anyone. I still care deeply about [the Indians']
organization. If that's a conversation going forward, it's one that I'll have
with the utmost respect for what's being done here. My web in the game is
pretty deep, runs deep. They're doing well [in Toronto]. My nature is to go
in and meet the people there, understand their own challenges, the structure,
the process, who's there, and after that we can see if there will be any
changes."

In other words, stay tuned. This move might be official, but the
repercussions are still very much a work in progress.

藍鳥隊要求和Mark Shapiro會談時，印地安人隊老闆Larry Dolan既沒有反對，
也沒有在Shapiro合約未滿而提前離隊的狀況下向藍鳥隊要求補償。

Castrovince認為這充分說明了印地安人隊經營者的運作本質。
而Shapiro從John Hart的打雜小弟一路當上球隊總裁的歷程，
在這個球團的員工之中則是多年難得一見的穩定。
球團的員工職位越高，權力和責任也隨之越重，而老闆也全力支持他們。
Shapiro是當年Hart團隊碩果僅存的元老，他的離開必定產生影響。

他離開時的印地安人隊已經運作得相當穩定：
領隊Chris Antonetti在棒球事務，
以及和兩屆世界冠軍總教練Terry Francona的相處上都能駕輕就熟，
Francona的合約在2018年屆滿，但在Shapiro離開之後可選擇行使脫逃條款，
這清楚說明了他和Antonetti的合作無間可能更重於任何大市場球隊挖角的誘惑。
Dolan則將接手Shapiro的職權，Antonetti等人以後都要直接向他報告。

因此印地安人隊往後的運作大概不會有太大的改變。
一旦球季結束，Shapiro正式加入藍鳥，熟悉藍鳥的運作方式之後，
無疑也會再從印地安人隊帶走一些他在印地安人隊任用的人才。
副領隊Mike Chernoff就是有可能被Shapiro挖角，或是接任其他球團領隊的人選之一。
策略及經營分析副總裁Andrew Brown（注意，不是洋基隊的那個前選秀狀元RP！），
身為Shapiro的左右手也有可能被挖走。他必定是要帶走一些人的。

Shapiro的說法是：他仍然關切印地安人隊，任何面談必定在尊重老東家的前提下進行。
而他會先到新球團了解人們的挑戰、經營結構與運作流程，以及現任的負責人，
再決定要不要有所更替。

總之，Shapiro的轉檯對這兩隊的影響才正要開始而已。


--
→ Fitzwilliam: 其實我還是看不太懂Dolan放Shapiro走又不要補償說明
→ Fitzwilliam: 的是怎樣的經營本質。Francona以Shapiro離開為條件的
→ Fitzwilliam: 脫逃條款，豈不是說明他只在Shapiro底下工作嗎？又
→ Fitzwilliam: 如何解釋他和Antonetti的合作關係能抵擋大市場招手？
→ JustinIdiot: 為什麼要翻成領隊...
推 Eddward: 有點忘了2011換來U-ball結果是好還是壞啊
※ 編輯: Fitzwilliam (1.162.170.237), 09/02/2015 04:32:25
→ Fitzwilliam: 否則GM應該翻成甚麼？
→ Sulstan: 總管?
推 nwn: General Manager直接翻譯就是總經理，相當於中華職棒的領隊。