Former Mets GM/ESPN analyst Steve Phillips — most recently employed by Fanhouse and WFAN — saw his day begin with former paramour Brooke Hundley making an appearance on CBS. Believe it or not, that wasn’t the biggest bummer for Zipper Problem Steve, as he later found himself roundly mocked by SNY/NY Baseball Digest columnist Howard Megdal, as part of the latter’s very public campaign to have himself named the new General Manager of the New York Mets. Though Phillips surely isn’t a candidate to reclaim his old position, Megdal’s pretty eager to debate him just the same.
As someone who has followed your career with great interest, I have noticed that in recent weeks you have taken great pains to explain what you, a former General Manager, would do in terms of running a baseball team. For instance, on Monday, you wrote a piece entitled, “Here’s How a GM Sizes Up Trade Market.
But even clearer is how sure you are that while many people (for example, me) want to be General Manager of a baseball team, you also wrote, (caps yours) “NOBODY UNDERSTANDS WHAT THE GENERAL MANAGER’S JOB REALLY ENTAILS!”
In order to better understand any gap that exists between my plans once I am elected and your experience as actual GM of the New York Mets, I propose that we have a friendly debate over my candidacy for General Manager, your experience as General Manager, and the future direction of the New York Mets. Matthew Artus of NJ.com has graciously agreed to moderate, and we would be open to a debate either online or in-person.
Please let me know if this would be amenable to you. As an aspiring GM, I think this would be immensely valuable, and could go a long way toward reminding fans (and potential front offices) of your decisions while running the New York Mets. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Howard Megdal