To be fair - you folks understand you're not the GM of anything other than your own spreadsheet, right???
Once again, a select few folks miss the entire point of the post.
Nobody here gets paid, not even a gold star, for being the smartest GM on the internet message board. This stuff isn't rocket science - no matter how much some people try to make it out to be - and the vast majority of posters here are quite aware of what an overpay is and what the consequences for overpaying are. The difference with those who don't mind an overpay here and there is that they grasp the fact that they don't care about it - they want to win now, and couldn't give less of a *hit what that causes to happen 5 years from now because they're not asked to deal with that.
The rant I referred to came from a host - not any of the former GMs who a blackjack dealer thinks he's infinitely more intelligent than - who makes some sense. His point was that he's grown so tired of hearing fans calling in and saying "I don't want Harper/Machado/insert whatever player you like because of the situation he'll put the organization in 8-10 years down the road". What the *ell do you care? Are you the owner? A Liberty Media shareholder? Do you even go to SunTrust Park more than a couple times a year??? It's not your money, so what difference does it make? MLB baseball is entertainment, and it's much more entertaining when your team has lots of very good players and a chance to win.
It's great to understand the inner-workings of the baseball business, but there's no award for doing so - and just because people enjoy being impatient fans doesn't preclude one from knowing whether decisions are "smart" business decisions or not. They simply don't care since it's not their money or job on the line. Those who lose sleep over those things seriously need to take a step back and consider what's actually important in their lives. There's honestly no harm going to come from wishing the Braves would have signed Harper, Machado, Kimbrel, and Corbin to go with Freeman, Donaldson, and Acuna and taking a shot while you have them - I promise. If you think those wishing those things don't understand that it wasn't possible or would be a bad business decision, you're obviously not half as smart as you think you are - this isn't Reddit, MLBTR, or an ESPN message board.
