ST. LOUIS -- J.P. Ricciardi isn't coming to the All-Star Game.
That's not really news, because few major-league general managers come to All-Star Games anymore. But there was a day when a GM like Ricciardi, with a player to trade like Roy Halladay, wouldn't have missed a trip to the All-Star city.
"I never missed it," said Pat Gillick. "It was a good mid-summer meeting we had."
Everything's changed now, partly because the All-Star Game is now more about marketing than about baseball, partly because communication has changed and partly because the job of GM has changed.
"In defense of today's general managers, there's a lot more days that they're working now," said Gillick, who retired as Phillies GM last October. "There's a lot more 24/7. If they can spend three days with the family, it's worth it."
Besides, even time with family (as Ricciardi will have this week) isn't time away from the job.
"The game has changed so much with cell phones and BlackBerrys," Ricciardi said.
Or, as one baseball official said this weekend, "The GMs will be back home texting each other."
One general manager told a story earlier this year of a trade conducted completely via e-mail, without a single phone call.
So no, there's no need to come to the All-Star Game, particularly since most of the other GMs won't be here, either.
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