George Costanza once thought he could apply to be the general manager of a baseball team, even though he had no practical experience.
So how does one practice to become a general manager? That’s easy—call WFAN with a trade proposal.
Okay, maybe that doesn’t work for everyone, but it just might have been a spark for Jon Daniels, the President of Baseball Operations and General Manager of the Texas Rangers.
Daniels grew up in Bayside, Queens. He has been the GM of the Rangers since 2005 when, at 28, he become the youngest GM in baseball history. Along the way he’s made blockbuster deals involving Mark Teixeira, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and others.
Daniels had told me years back that he grew up listening to WFAN. My hunch was that the first trade proposal he ever made was not as a baseball executive, but rather a call into our radio station.
“I called into the FAN one time and it was about the Knicks,” Daniels admitted during a conversation at Yankee Stadium a few years back. “I think it was when the Knicks were looking for a point guard. It must have been before they got Derek Harper (in 1994). And I called in and wanted to pump up the idea of Sedale Threatt being the guy.”
Threatt was nearing the end of a 14-year NBA career, but was coming off a terrific two-year stretch with the Lakers from 1991-93 when he averaged 15 points and 7 assists per game.
“I don’t remember who the host was, but when they picked up and went ‘Jon from Bayside’ or whatever it was, I just went straight panic. Total stage fright, I couldn’t even spit it out. I think I hung up.”
Ah, but Daniels grew better at that part of the job. He is one of the longest tenured GM’s in all of sports and was named Baseball America’s Executive of the Year in 2010.
And it’s probably not a surprise that he doesn’t get his ideas for trade proposals by listening to callers on the local radio stations in Dallas.
“We have to make our own evaluations on what’s good, what’s bad, what we like, what we’re concerned about,” Daniels told me. “And I get all the feedback I want—and good feedback—from our people. I think if you start making decisions (based on) the way the wind’s blowing, that’s not healthy for the club.”
And it’s a good thing Daniels no longer freezes when he picks up the phone to make one of those calls to another GM.