Open the Floodgates
We have another crying GM, this time the Braves’ Alex Anthopoulos when asked about moving on from Freddie Freeman
Two weeks ago, we showed you Tennessee Titans general manager Jon Robinson bursting into tears when asked about what he would do differently if the Titans had another shot at this year’s AFC Divisional loss to the Bengals. Nevermind the fact that Robinson never takes the field, doesn’t call the plays, and isn’t involved in the game plan in any way. He took the L about as hard as a fella can.
At the time, we thought this was a one-off—a tired guy on a bad day in desperate need of a hot cup of coffee. It happens to the best of us, even if you won't admit it. But as it turns out, this wasn’t an isolated incident. Robinson’s waterworks apparently kicked off Crying GM SZN, which continued on Monday when Atlanta Braves front-office honcho Alex Anthopoulos got a bit of warning-track dust in his eyes when asked about the imminent departure of franchise legend Freddie Freeman.
Anthopoulos and Freeman have been through a lot together. An MVP season, a pandemic, a blown NLCS, and a triumphant World Series. It’s completely normal that Anthopoulos would be emotional about the decision to let Freeman walk and bring in the Athletics’ Matt Olson as his ostensible replacement. What is significantly less normal, however, is shedding actual tears in front of reporters about it. We think of GMs as be cutthroat, spreadsheet mercenaries. To them, players are supposed to be nothing more than pieces on a Monopoly board. In recent weeks, both Anthopoulos and Robinson have forced to us to reconsider.
That said, we’re not ready to declare this trend a full-blown phenomenon. At least not yet. Not until Pat Riley sheds a tear. Then and only then will this thing have jumped the shark.