Get Your Short, Balding Guys!

A friend of ours — one of those overeducated, statistically minded fellows who believes an MBA, a cellphone and lots of Diet Coke can solve all the world's problems — says that if he were owner of a sports team, he'd pay three times what everyone else pays for high-quality general managers, because they're the ones who are really important. This strikes us very much like what Neal Pollack in Slate called "the deathly dull machinations of the general manager"; we're getting to the point where we're actually congratulating the short bald guy more than we are the fella who actually hits the homers. Is Theo Epstein more valuable than Manny Ramirez? Legitimate debate in Boston right now.

Anyway, we bring all this up because New Yorkers are all in a lather over whether or not GM Brian Cashman (the very definition of a short, balding guy) will return to the team. He has been offered a three-year deal worth $5 million, which sounds like a lot until you consider that's less money than, say, Tony Womack.

Our favorite part of this ongoing nerd GM saga is that Epstein is considering a career outside the sports world, if he decides that the Red Sox haven't offered him enough money. We'd love to see his resume: "STRENGTHS: Ending 86 years of misery. WEAKNESSES: Carrying heavy things."

Cashman To Decide On Yanks Soon [NJ.com] The Cult Of The General Manager [Slate]