1.21.10 Baseball Prospectus interview here, for your convenience.  As y'know, we live to serve.

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BP Q:  Is it fun being a big-league GM?

Psychobabbler jemanji Sez:  Note that Laurila would not ask this question of Jim Bowden or Pat Gillick or Walt Jocketty. :- ) 

Sabermetricians subconsciously see Jack Zduriencik as "one of us," one of the 21st-century crowd of math dweebs who broke into the ranks, gets to use Fangraphs to whup up on opponents, all that jazz.

The 59-year-old Zduriencik is a dyed-in-the-wool field scout, but sabes have affectionately adopted him as a kindred spirit to, say, J.P. Ricciardi and Paul DePodesta (who were genuine sabes-turned-GM).  Cool!  One of our guys is showing the Gillicks and Jockettys how it's done in the 21st century!  :- )

SSI continues to good-naturedly remind that if you actually look at them objectively, most of Zduriencik's moves are more scout than sabe. His trade of Brandon Morrow for Brandon League, and his trade of Jeff Clement-and-half-a-farm-team for Jack Wilson and a floundering Ian Snell, are examples.

Zduriencik's apparent intention to deal Jose Lopez isn't a Fangraphs move!  Compare Lopez' value to his projected salary.  This desire to trade Lopez stems from the fact that Lopez isn't Zduriencik's kind of player.  Given $10m of low-OBP, high-SLG performance from Lopez at $2m salary, or $10m of high-OBP, low-SLG performance from Orlando Hudson at $6m, Zduriencik evidently wants the stylistic fit.  This isn't sabermetrics.  It's the opposite of sabermetrics.

One year of Cliff Lee, vs. six years of Aumont, Ramirez, and Gillies does not pencil out if you assume any kind of decent 6-year ML performance for even two of the minor leaguers.  It's precisely the same paradigm used in the Erik Bedard trade.  But Zduriencik's planning transcends the $/WAR paradigm.  His thinking is 4-dimensional.  Trying to match it to a 3-D paradigm is going to result in confusion.

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John Madden used to say that every NFL broadcaster he ever watched, came to the game with a script and then fit the developing game to his script.  :- )  Cap't Jack's script is to whoop his opponents using Fangraphs.... nobody has noticed that only a minority of his moves check out per that paradigm...

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But SSI is fine with the Adopt-a-GM program.  It's more fun to read that every move is great, than it is to read that every move is feebleminded.

Anyway:

Cap-O-Vision Translated Answer:  Successful brain surgery, trial-lawyering, CEO'ing and GM'ing -- those aren't "fun" like rotisserie baseball is fun, quoth Jack.   They're focus and, hopefully, satisfaction.

Can tell you this much, lad, CEO'ing and GM'ing is 14 hours a day, every day.

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SSI Kibitz:  I love this answer.  Ichiro isn't having fun when he lines a baseball back up the middle, because on his way to first he's too busy reading the outfielder, and planning his cat-and-mouse with the pitcher.

Jack's answer neatly captures, IMHO, the difference between doing something as a hobby-of-choice, and doing it for money. 

At 59 years of age, Zduriencik has the drive of a young man.  Not because of this one answer, but just watching him work, this dude is just. all.  business., 24/7.  His is grim, iron determination to win is something special.

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Blengino Angle:  On Blengino's latest Hot Stove appearance, he led off the "Stat Of the Day" explanation with a bit of perspective...

Sabermetrics, said Tony, give you a check-and-balance.  They serve as a reality check.  A GM doesn't run over to Fangraphs to plot his next five chess moves, but he does bounce his ideas off his saber (and other) departments because, sometimes, one of those departments is going to point out an imminent error.

That is where scouts and sabes can synergize each other so well.  David Aardsma, let's just say, might look terrific on Fangraphs -- sign 'im up for 4 years!   But the scouts jump in and say, not so fast, we've got a guy throwing one pitch and the league is going to catch up to that...

The GM might be toying with playing Adam Dunn at first.  The sabes jump in and say, hey, not so fast, did you know how many runs this guy will cost you there?  We figure -27 runs a year...   Slap me silly, is it that much?  O-kayyy...