You be the GM: In our mailbag, fans crave Tarik Skubal, a Red Sox revamp and $1 beer night

Many readers put together trade packages for Tarik Skubal when asked what they would do if they were in charge of their favorite team. Jason Miller / Getty Images

What would you do if you were in charge of your favorite MLB team?

That’s the scenario we recently asked readers to imagine: You’ve been named GM for a day. The only rule is that you must execute one major move in those 24 hours in order to meaningfully improve the organization.

Now that the spell has been broken, it’s time to look at what you came up with in the mailbag. We begin with a fan of the back-to-back champs stepping into the shoes of Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. It’ll be a quiet 24 hours in L.A. … right?

Reader submissions have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Dodgers: I’m ending the Kyle Tucker experiment and trading him to a non-contender (the Mets 😂) for prospects. Then, I’m trading Zyhir Hope and Emmet Sheehan for Tarik Skubal. I’ll take the money once earmarked for Tucker and put together a fat offer for Skubs this offseason. — David K.

You just had to poke the bear. If the Mets weren’t compelled to beat the Dodgers’ four-year, $240 million offer to Tucker this winter, I don’t think they’ll be forking over prospects to take on that contract now.

Even before the back spasms, Tucker was having his worst season by far. He’s batting .212 in June. He’s striking out more, walking less and barreling the ball half as frequently as last year. His 98 OPS+ is 29 points lower than his previous full-season low. After six consecutive seasons with fWAR between 4.2 and 4.9, Tucker is sitting at 0.6 fWAR through 75 games. History suggests this is but a blip for a remarkably consistent outfielder. But sorry, David, you’re stuck with that contract for now.

That Skubal return is in line with what Jim Bowden drew up for a Dodgers-Tigers deal. The Athletic’s Keith Law has Hope as the No. 28 prospect in baseball. Sheehan has lost some of his shine this season, as he lugs around a 5.32 ERA, but he still holds considerable value as a controllable starter.

The question I have about your big, bold move is: Do the Dodgers need to do this? They have two healthy frontline starters (Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani) and two others on the injured list (Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell). Skubal would undoubtedly upgrade the Dodgers’ playoff rotation, but you don’t need five starters in October, and you’ve already got several strong fill-in options in Sheehan, Justin Wrobleski and Roki Sasaki.

Unless trading for Skubal would radically change my odds of signing him long-term, I might stand pat. Plus, with so many other one-day GMs trading for Skubal in this mailbag, the price could go way, way up.

St. Louis Cardinals: Buy Chaim Bloom the beverage of his choice. — Tony M.

So we hand you the keys to the Cardinals organization for 24 hours, and your first instinct is not to make your mark but to celebrate the man you’re replacing. It’s his job, you’re just giving him a day off.

I actually dig that.

Cheers, Chaim.

Washington Nationals: I’d implement a complete rebrand and overhaul of the Nats uniforms/logo/etc. It’s a new Nats era, yet they have a very boring and nondescript current uniform combo. Time to embrace something other than the Walgreens curly red W. — Joseph G.

First thought: This in no way falls under the purview of a GM.

Second thought: Let Joseph cook.

The Nats might have the most vanilla brand in the game. The curly W, an homage to the Washington Senators, belongs in the rotation but shouldn’t be a primary logo. The uniforms have never been anything more than OK. Every rollout looks more corporate than the last. The only Nationals uniforms I’ve loved are their now-retired City Connect uniforms — the cherry-blossom special. That’s why I’m on board with Joseph’s vision to start with that cherry-blossom theme in his rebrand. He also suggested a U.S. Navy theme since Nationals Park is in the Navy Yard neighborhood.

While you’re at it, you might trade for a couple of pitchers. But if all you accomplished was an all-new look and watching James Wood and CJ Abrams from the suite level, I’d consider that a non-Walgreens W.

Boston Red Sox: Sit down with part-owner Theo Epstein to understand what went wrong. Promote farm director Brian Abraham to No. 2. Hire back the scouts Craig Breslow fired. Call a meeting of all front-office staff and tell them they’ll be empowered, not ignored. — Aaron M.

Rebuild a team with right-handed power bats at any cost. — Andrew N.

Trade any other older or marginal player that other teams want for younger players/prospects. Point out to ownership that actually achieving a salary cap would force them to sell the team, since spending efficiently is the furthest thing from their established approach. — Andre M.

Allow Chad Tracy to hire his coaches and sign him to a four-year contract. Ask him to play solid traditional baseball. Apologize to the fans for the past year. Go on TV every week and tell the fans how the past week was and give details. — J B.

We received more “GM for a day” fantasies from Red Sox fans than from any other club, so we spliced a few together. Much of what was left on the cutting-room floor (read in full here) was a desire to fire: Fire Breslow. Fire the hitting advisors. Fire the MLB staff. Fire every hitting and pitching coach. And since you can’t fire the owner or team president, use your 24 hours in charge to air your frustration to them.

That sums up the vibe in Boston.

A disastrous season that has featured a managerial firing, numerous injuries and a last-place standing in the AL East could see even fewer wins down the stretch if Boston unloads veterans — Aroldis Chapman, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Jarren Duran, et al — ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline. The Red Sox entered play Tuesday with MLB’s second-fewest homers (64) and only three regulars batting better than league average: Contreras (153 OPS+), Wilyer Abreu (118) and Ceddanne Rafaela (117).

All of that to say: It’ll be a busy day at Fenway for these one-day GMs.

Colorado Rockies: First, I’d trade any outfielder without plus range and play three center fielders at Coors to help the most beleaguered pitching staff in baseball. Then: dollar beer night after every loss. — Kurt T.

Look out, Paul DePodesta! This guy’s got ideas.

Curious about the validity of your assertion about Colorado’s pitching staff,  I looked up which staffs have the worst opponent BABIP on non-homer fly balls and line drives to the outfield. Indeed, the Rockies are ranked last (.433 BABIP). But they have also induced considerably more such batted balls than any other team. So I’m not sure who is hurting whom: these poor pitchers that can’t buy an out, or the outfielders being run ragged chasing baseballs across all that Colorado grass.

The Rockies don’t have an unrangy outfield at the moment, but I would like to see what sort of success they’d have with three truly S-tier defenders out there. Start making some calls, Kurt.

And if it doesn’t work? More dollar beer nights.

Losses are wins, baby!

Milwaukee Brewers: Convince Byron Buxton to waive his no-trade clause and get him for Jett Williams and Coleman Crowe. — Marc K.

Gotta hear more about your plans to woo Buxton. He sounds unbudged.

New York Yankees: I’d make the Dodgers look cheap. Skubal. Paul Skenes. Mike Trout. Juan Soto. (Steve Cohen made his point. Now give him back.) Then I start buying land and build an epic New York experience around the stadium: offices, retail, bars, restaurants, living space for players and visiting clubs. All owned by the team. — Matt B.

Whoa, once you got going, you started to sound like a seasoned MLB owner. Everyone wants to scoop up more land around their ballparks, build mixed-use development and profit, as the Atlanta Braves have.

But this mailbag didn’t make you an owner, Matt. Eyes on the roster.

You want to acquire superstars. You also indicated you plan to trade Ryan McMahon, Giancarlo Stanton, Jasson Dominguez, Ryan Weathers, Carlos Rodón, Elmer Rodríguez and a bunch of low-minors lottery tickets. Taken together, it certainly qualifies as a major move, or a flurry of them.

But then we get back to the idea of making the Dodgers look cheap. (Not a line you’d hear a seasoned owner say.) It’s been a while since the pack caught up to the Yankees in the payroll column. To land all those stars, you’ll need to stop by Hal Steinbrenner’s office and ask him to up your allowance.

Braves: Package Sean Murphy, JR Ritchie, Tate Southisene and two lower-level prospects for Skubal. — RM C.

The Tigers need everything but a catcher. Offer again.

Detroit Tigers: Trade Skubal for controllable pitching and an everyday bat. Get rid of guys who can’t hit above .200. Call up the kids producing in Toledo. — Todd B.

Let’s get you with Dodgers GM David K. He’s got an offer you’ll like.

It’s hard to say which guys can’t rise above the Mendoza Line, but here’s a list of Tigers hitters with sub.-200 batting averages this season: Matt Vierling, Wenceel Pérez (injured), Zach McKinstry, Jahmai Jones, Jake Rogers, Zack Short (DFA’d), Gage Workman (demoted), and others with only a few handfuls of at-bats. Workman was one of the guys producing at Triple A; it often doesn’t translate.

The Tigers just called up their top Toledo hitter, outfielder Ben Malgeri. Maybe you’re on to something, Todd. Since it’s your call now: Max Clark next?

Guardians: Extend Brayan Rocchio. Find a trade partner for Steven Kwan. Ask José Ramírez which statue pose he prefers. Instruct the hitting instructors to do less instructing and more watching; whatever they’re doing doesn’t seem to be helping, so do less of it. — Joe F.

There were other ideas crammed into Joe’s post, and I got a laugh out of discovering statue talk amid the scattered items on a GM’s to-do list.

The Guardians are alive despite losing Ramírez to the injured list. But one does not simply run down the Chicago White Sox without a fight.

Rocchio has rewarded the Guardians’ patience, getting on base at a steady clip this season and playing exceptional shortstop. Still, GM Joe also has an eye on the future of the Guardians infield. His early initiatives include identifying three organizational prospects capable of playing third base, and targeting third basemen and shortstops in the upcoming draft.

Fellow Guards fan Andy J. advocated for acquiring a right-handed outfielder (preferably Taylor Ward or Seiya Suzuki), extending Travis Bazzana and Gavin Williams, and “firing all the hitting coaches.”

So, we have consensus there.

My editor was working a World Cup fixture at Gillette StadiumBoston Stadium last week and forgot to put “MLB” in the mailbag headline, so we got a few non-baseball questions. Because they seemed pressing, and because the readers didn’t appear to be picky about who answers, here are my rapid-fire responses on NFL and NHL team GM questions, featuring no expertise except my roots as a Michigander.

Minnesota Vikings: Fire Kevin O’Connell and promote Brian Flores to head coach. — Cheri B.

I see no reason to save the Vikings when the NFC North runs through Detroit — or will, anyway; that’s what everyone keeps saying. Still, O’Connell is the better option. He’s the man the Lions turned to during the 2009 preseason, coming off a winless season, when beloved backup quarterback (and Michigan State legend) Drew Stanton had knee surgery. O’Connell was under center for two series in the preseason finale against Buffalo. The Lions won. Then they traded O’Connell to the Jets.

Five days a Lion. Forever a Lion.

Detroit Red Wings: Fire Kris Draper and everyone else Steve Yzerman hired. Hire new staffs for training and development, scouting, strength and conditioning. Hire Bruce Cassidy. Try to do-over the under-performing players who were developed wrong; have patience with them, but ship anyone who doesn’t leave it all on the ice. Draft for ceiling, not for boring. Ask Dylan Larkin if he’ll reconsider staying. If not, get a bidding war going and get the best return. — Marney Reeves F.

Sorry, stopped reading when you suggested firing childhood heroes. Draper was my twin brother’s favorite player. Yzerman was my oldest brother’s favorite player. How many rings are on your fingers, Marney? How could letting the old guys run the team ever be anything but a great idea?

[texting Max Bultman]

Me: Hey, did I miss something in the last 20 years of Wings hockey?

Max: Oh, buddy.

New York Islanders: I put in an offer sheet for Jason Robertson. — Christopher O.

Robertson spent a portion of his childhood in the Detroit suburb of Northville, Mich. I fully expect Robertson would prefer to go home to play for the Wings. But, for good measure, I messaged Sean Gentille …

“The Islanders would have to move out some cap to fit his salary,” he said, “but as a fit, I kinda love it.”

Bingo! I’m ready to hire you for Isles GM, Christopher. For a day, at least.

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