MLB Network analyst DAN O'DOWD spent 15 years as Rockies GM from '99-'14, including a trip to the '07 World Series. With his wealth of experience, O'Dowd is no stranger to the MLB trade scene. As the clock ticks towards Monday's league-wide deadline, he took some time to dish on how deals come together, the pressure GMs are under and his biggest deadline regret from his front-office career. O'Dowd will be featured on the net's "MLB TONIGHT" starting Sunday at 4:30pm ET and then will be a prominent member of the deadline coverage on Monday starting at 10:00am.
LEAGUE-WIDE KNOWLEDGE: I'll spend my time this weekend focusing on each organization’s strengths and weaknesses. Basically what I would do if I were in their shoes. I do a breakdown of each club, look at the industry, look at best fits. I fly up to N.Y. on Saturday where we’ll have our production meetings to gear up for our coverage. This is totally different than anything I’ve done prior in my career. When you’re running a club, you’re so hyper-focused on your own needs. In this world you spend so much time looking at each individual organization. You analyze their decision making process for consistency ... or lack there of. Ultimately, you look at each individual decision within a bigger picture. It’s a different mindset in this analyst role.
PHONE LINES ARE OPEN: The trade deadline and the Winter Meetings were the biggest adrenaline rushes for me with the Rockies as you can change the direction of your club's future in such a short period of time. The engagement you have with your staff is very significant -- that’s where you augment your relationships within the process of your culture. It’s a creative brainstorm because you go into the deadline with a set of ideas that you think you want to pursue but you change course dramatically and quickly. You have to be very adaptable to what the market presents and how that market fits your needs. Then you get to know the team you’re dealing with. Both internally and externally. You know there’s some GMs that will make a deal with you, and you know there’s some GMs that are just shopping. You have to know the personalities of those you’re dealing with. And then you have to have an internal process too, which is your negotiations with your ownership group, as well as the business side of your organization which creates all the revenue that allows you to do what you do.
SELF-REFLECT: In my experience teams find themselves in three areas at the deadline. The first is that you know you’re good enough to win. The second area is you’re trying to get into a position to know you’re good enough to win and the third is you know you’re not there yet. You’re in a rebuilding process to acquire as many assets as you possibly can. The second area is the problematic one. GMs need to have an understanding of the pulse of their organization, to know where they’re at within the process and then block out all of the white noise. When you know what you are, you’ll make really good decisions that will allow you at some point in time to be not just a club that’s competing but a club that has a chance to be great. Some clubs do wait until the last minute because they feel that’s how they can maximize the assets they have. Early in my Rockies’ career we’d be counting down the seconds to the deadline with the commissioner on one line and the team we were dealing with trying to make a decision if they would give up player X or Y.
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY: When I was with the Indians in ’98 we were trying to get RANDY JOHNSON at the deadline and we were right there at the witching hour. That was nerve-wracking because at that point in time we had never made such a huge deal for a rental player. We didn’t end up getting him and I’ll always have some regrets on that. One thing I always kept in mind at the deadline is you work very hard to build a culture, and that starts with players who are playing for something bigger than themselves. You want to make real sure players you add to the organization aren’t just going to help you statistically but also add a human element to your clubhouse.
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