Up Close with Jimmy Ma$e

1. You are one of the more quiet GM's here. Describe yourself a bit. Tell us why you think New Canaan, CT is awesome.

Yeah I'm around a lot, but don't really get into real talk very often. I guess that is pretty much who I am on a day to day basis though. I drop a line here or there, try to add a little humor, or anything non-serious. That's pretty much me, I try not to take things too seriously and I'm pretty easy going. I like that I can get along with most people, I don't like rubbing people the wrong way, and don't like making enemies. That's a little preview of who I am, I'm also kind of crazy, but my pals love that. As for New Canaan, for all the flak of being a bunch of rich kids, I've always thought it was a great place to grow up. I was lucky enough to have friends who are down to earth and a blast to be around.

That's what's up right there. If that's your style, then I can feel that. My town of Bronxville, NY is sorta like New Canaan in that it's full of wealthy kids, although I was one of the few that wasn't particularly wealthy. It's also real cool that you and your boys have stuck together for so long. I for one only have kept in touch consistently with maybe 2 or 3 high school friends after high school ended. Been disconnected with everyone else for years, besides the occasional times when I run into them in town.

2. How have you and the rest of the NC clique been able to stay so close after high school and into your mid 20's? Are you guys gonna still be very close 50 years from now? All of you plan on living in the same area in the future? If you had to pick a set of TV characters to represent you and your 4 closest friends here, what would you choose?

We have had a Facebook thread going since the end of high school. I can't even estimate how long it must be, but it's filled daily. Just a bunch of best friend talk filled with hilarity. I don't see it ending anytime soon, maybe when one of us crazy kids gets married, but even then who knows. I love these guys so they'll be in my wedding for sure, heck I might marry one of them. Probably Mark. I can just be myself around them and I always have a blast. We will be friends forever. lol. I'm not sure if we will all settle down in the same area though, time will tell. As for a set of TV characters, I've never thought about it. I'd like to think we are like the Always Sunny crew. I'll pin Mark as Dennis, Fernando obviously Mac cause he's the muscle, I'll satisfy myself and be Charlie, Aaron can be sweet dee, and Dan the man is obviously Frank. What a scrapper.





A group Facebook thread? That's pretty cool. I was thinking you all would be like the Entourage guys. Dan would be E for obvious reasons. Habes would probably be Turtle. Nanz as Drama, if he really is the muscle man. I guess James would be Vince because I seen he used to grow his hair out back then. That leaves Mark as Ari simply because I haven't gotten to know him as well.





3. How exactly did you become an Orioles fan? Hatred toward the Yankees? Cal Ripken? Another particular reason?

You pretty much nailed it on the head. The rest of my family are Yankee fans, my dad grew up in the Bronx, but I've always wanted to be different. I can remember rooting for the Indians in 97 and rooting for the D-backs to beat the yanks in 01. I just really hated the Yankees starting in the 90's early 2000's. My Uncle was an O's fan and I always loved Cal so becoming an O's fan just happened and I love them.

That's actually quite fascinating you became an O's fan to be different than your family. If my parents were born and raised here in New York and liked the Yankees growing up, I probably would have been a Yankee fan all this time. However, my dad is from Russia and my mom is from Minnesota, so it wouldn't have made sense to become a Twins fan. Then, in what I think was late 1997, I was watching the Yankees and Mets both play, and keep in mind I was like 7 or 8 years old. So I saw the Mets with their blue and orange uniforms and I liked those colors so I simply decided that based on the team colors, I was going to be a Mets fan and I haven't looked back since.

Speaking of the Mets, had your uncle not been an Orioles fan, does that mean the Mets would have been your favorite team if that had not been the case?

4. You also happen to be a Jets fan. What is up with that team? How annoying has the media circus there become? What do you think their plan is to become successful again and how long do you think it will take to happen? Will Geno Smith be the starting QB, and if so, what will happen to Sanchez?

My football fandom is quite a random story as well. When I was younger, I was obsessed with the 49ers. But once Steve Young left I stopped following them and didn't really have any allegiance. I always rooted for the Jets as the team from my area, so a couple years back I just committed to them. Its definitely more exciting having a team to root for, even if they suck now. I'm done with Mark, even if he starts the season as the starter, I don't think it will last. I am excited to see Geno play and I hope he can be successful because if there is one thing I need from this team is a long term QB. Hopefully new management can turn things around because the Jets are really a fucking mess.

The Jets have a LOT of work to do before becoming relevant again. I've never understood Woody Johnson and some of the decisions he has made. He might even be a worse owner than Fred Wilpon. Not sure if he is at James Dolan's level though. Anyway, bringing in Tebow was a waste and amounted to nothing more than a media circus. It's just odd that the Jets want to do whatever it takes to make the front pages of newspapers, even if it's bad off field news. Keeping Rex also didn't make any sense. As for Sanchez, he needs to go. The Geno Smith era should begin immediately and Sanchez needs to go back to the West Coast or anywhere else and get his shit right. Good luck to the Jets though! I am a Giants fan, but I've always been on good terms with the Jets.





5. Back to business. The NL East has been one of the most competitive divisions in the entire league throughout its history thus far. Yet, your Mets have been at the bottom pretty much the entire time. Did you envision the NL East becoming so competitive at the very beginning? Or are you surprised that the other four teams have found ways to be very competitive at the exact same time?

I definitely did not expect the division to be this competitive. I think every year you could predict someone different to make the playoffs and it wouldn't be a bad decision. Except for the Mets... don't pick us yet. But I like the challenge.

I thought the Braves were gonna dominate the NL East for many many years. Never would've predicted the Expos or Phillies to be relevant at one point or another by 2001. The Marlins in real life made some surprising moves, so I knew anything could be possible with them. Definitely didn't think all 4 of those teams would be legit right at the exact same time. That's just scary to think of.





6. After the 1996 season, you decided to break up big parts of the Mets' core and made a lot of bold moves. You traded longtime closer John Franco to the Mariners, Carl Everett to the Reds and eventually, Jeff Kent to the Marlins. What made you decide to break up the Mets' core and rebuild right away? Did you think the Braves were originally going to dominate the NL East for a while? Do you regret any of those trades?

From the start I wanted to put my own stamp on the team, but I think I was too quick to get rid of some of the players. I knew the Braves were going to be a better team so I tried to rebuild from the start. Clearly it has been a process, but I'm close. I think I regret trading Carl and to be honest I don't even remember the trade. But I thought I got rid of Kent at the right time and I actually ended up getting good value out of Franco. Brought back Tim Harikkala in that deal and at the time it was really just a toss in player.

Haha you traded Everett for Aaron Boone straight up. And then I tried to get Stutter to re-sign him, but he never ended up doing so. And that's how Broph was able to sign him and turn him into a star.

The Kent trade was good and we all saw it coming that you were going to move him though. I didn't like the Franco trade. It was good for you, don't get me wrong. But seeing Franco in another uniform was just weird. If I had the Mets, I probably would've kept him just because he's a true Met inside and out.

I can definitely understand the concept of putting your own stamp on the team. I never really considered that approach at first, but looking back, I probably should've at least thought about that a little more.





7. Speaking of trades, in 1999, you decided to send your superstar ace Paul Wilson to the Cubs for 5 prospects and a 2001 1st round pick. How has this trade worked out for you so far? Good or bad trade in retrospect? Do any of those prospects have a particularly bright future, aside from Pena?

I have no regrets about that trade. It was 100% worth it, I got some good value from 1 player. Obviously Pena will be a key bat in my lineup for years to come. I got Brandon League with that pick this year and he looks like he can become a solid reliever. Damian Moss has been really solid in the rotation for the past year or so and Nicholson has been solid as a backup. So I really can't second guess myself. I loved Wilson at the time, but I got the value I wanted from him.

Yeah overall that was a legit trade. Plus, you now have tons of pitching prospects to make up for it, plus a bat to build around in Carlos Pena. That is unless he's striking out every other at-bat. Sucks Wilson kept getting hurt in reality and never showed his full potential. He could've been something special for the Mets back then.





8. You have been loading up on pitching in recent drafts, but lack at least 2 or 3 big bats in your future lineup. Was drafting high level pitching and eventually buying bats through free agency always part of your plan? Or do you have another way to get the big bats you need?

A lot of the time I took pitching because I never liked the hitting prospects. But behind it all I definitely took an approach to grow the arms. I like stockpiling guys because even if they fail as starters I can turn them into relievers. For being 15 games under .500 and have a top 5 ERA in the league shows I've done pretty well accomplishing that. And thats without Jake Peavy. Hopefully I can get the bats cause I desperately need them for my team to be successful in the NL East.

You should definitely focus on hitting in at least the next draft, if not the 2-3 drafts. Drafting a Votto or Prince would give you a second lefty slugger in your lineup. Then, in 2003, you boy Adam Jones will be in the draft with Matt Kemp. One of Votto or Prince in 2002 and either Kemp or Jones in 2003 to go along with Pena would make your future lineup scary good.

You might also want to try to trade some of your excess pitching talent for some offensive upgrades at some point.





9. Shea Stadium in reality was well known as a fair park that was equally balanced to the likings of pitchers and hitters. But in BBSBL, how would you categorize Shea Stadium, regarding its ratings? More of a hitter's park or pitcher's park? Any certain advantages or disadvantages of any kind? Did you try to build your future around your stadium at all?

I definitely didn't take Shea into account when building my team. That said I've felt like the stadium has been pretty neutral, maybe a little towards a pitching ballpark. My offensive numbers have never been good and my pitchers have always seemed to be pretty decent at home. If you look at my starting 5's splits at home, they are all better at Shea than on the road. Maybe its a comfort thing, but I think its played a little pitcher friendly.

Yeah although the stadium was rather neutral, I always felt like it was slightly more of a pitcher's park. Or maybe that's just because the Mets for the most part have always had better pitching than hitting haha. The splits are certainly more obvious now at Citi Field.





10. With the Mets at year 6 of their rebuild, when do you think your team will finally be ready to compete? Which other NL East teams will be your main competition by then?

I'm hoping next season I'll hit the .500 mark and maybe the year after really start to make a playoff push, but I won't count out next year as a possibility. A lot depends on how free agency goes and whether or not I sell some pieces for a big bat. To be honest, play will rip me for this, but I go back and forth on passing on Drew. I could have gotten him, but I decided to keep Peavy. That's what it all hinged on and I can't say it was a bad decision cause Peavy is FILTHY, but at the same time, having Drew would have made this team a lot more dangerous. As for competition, Montreal is gonna be there every year in my mind. They certainly scare me the most, but that also might be because ashes is leaving. I wish him the best though. Him and Ryan Howard.

It looks like the Braves could start a little rebuild maybe by 2002 or 2003. They are getting older and Chipper is really their only great offensive star right now. Not sure what to think of the Phillies. They could go either way and I'm not really seeing the exact direction they are trying to go in.

Despite Ashes not being here for a little while, I think the Marlins still have a bright future. The Expos obviously have a very bright future as well, but they have yet to actually put together sustained success. I'll need to see 2 90-95+ win seasons from them to really believe in them as the team to beat in the NL East.

It's gonna be tough for the Mets to keep up with the Expos and Marlins by the time they are ready. But in a city that demands excellence at all times, I think James will pull some strings and find a way to win when he's ready to.

11. Evaluate the current NL East. Which of those 4 teams do you think are legitimate contenders? And which are pretenders, more or less?

Montreal is a contender. I think Florida is great and I think Atlanta is really good. Maybe I just don't like Philly because I can't stand any Philly team in real life, but for some reason I'm not a believer. Still a good couple months left in the season so we will see how things shake out. I predicted the Marlins to take it, so I'm going to stick with that.

I definitely agree with you here. I think the Phillies will fall apart and be out of the race by August. Then, the Braves should be next by early-mid September, with the Expos and Marlins duking it out until the very last day. Both those teams look like they'll get to the postseason though regardless of who wins the division,

12. Why don't you post on the forum particularly often? Busy schedule every day? Are you a quiet person generally speaking? Your great sense of humor is a big plus here and we could always use more of it!

Yeah like I said in the start, I am a pretty quiet guy. If you get a couple beers in me and if you get to know me, I really open up. I don't particularly enjoy confrontation so i just put in a couple one liners to make you crazy people smile. I've got a laid back mindset, but I'm always lurking.

4-5 funny jokes per week would be legit.

13. Between you and your NC boys (Habes, Dan, Nanz and Kellman), who will be the first to win a championship and why?

I'll say Dan because I think he is the closest. Nanz and Habermonkey have both done some good things, but I think Dan is really close so I'm gonna go with that loser.

Dan is obviously the closest to really winning it all among you guys. But it's gonna be tough for him with the mighty defending champion A's to deal with, plus the resurgent Yankees, the consistent Red Sox, and the pesky Orioles to deal with from the East. And of course, the Central has the White Sox who have dominated that division in all but 1 season thus far, including this current one. Dan is definitely on the way up though. No doubt about that.

14. Finally, which teams do you predict will get to the World Series this year and who will win it all?

CUBS. I'll keep predicting them to win it all until they do. I love that team. I'll say it will be an all Chicago WS. Cubbies win it all. Thanks to Paul Wilson.

Phew is that it? Took a while, but I enjoyed doing that. That's a wrap. Pitch Perfect.

That's not a bad prediction right there. An all Chi-Town World Series would be real cool to see. It wouldn't be like the Subway Series, but it would be close to that.

And yeah, that's it. Thanks for taking taking time to do this and best of luck with your Mets! I hope to see them being very successful soon.