Reply With Quote
No mention of Dave Dombrowski at all.
Generally speaking, these are baseball's best
Jan. 24, 2007
By Larry Dobrow
Special to CBS SportsLine.com
Identifying baseball's worst general managers is quite easy -- emotionally liberating, too, if you're a fan of one of the afflicted teams. The slow-blinkers stand out like a zit on a starlet's cheek: Dan O'Dowd running through organizational philosophies like a newborn through Pampers. Bill Bavasi cornering the market on punchless designated hitters and limp lefties. Dave Littlefield devoting the past four months of his life to the acquisition of baseball's 14th-best first baseman.
But how do you judge the smart'uns? On the number of World Series trophies hoisted above one's shoulder or on sustained success for a period of years, les or no? And how do you compare individuals operating under wildly disparate working conditions (read: big-budget vs. skinflint)? I don't have the answers to these questions.
Take San Fran GM Brian Sabean. On the surface, his track record looks reasonably solid: In 10 or so years on the job, his Giants have won a gaggle of division les and come within a few slugwitted Dusty Baker decisions of a World Series victory.
At the same time, he walked into a dream situation -- a team centered around one of the best players in baseball history in the prime of his career -- and failed to surround the guy with enough complementary talent. With the exception of a few high-ceiling pitchers, the Giants prospect cupboard is bare; the team hasn't developed a single budget-preserving young positional player under Sabean's watch. He keeps signing old guys -- the 2007 Giants project to be as quick and limber as your average seniors' aquarobics class -- and will never live down trading away Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser for a single season of catcher/irritant A.J. Pierzynski.
What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that ranking baseball's GMs is as futile and subjective an exercise as ranking the superhunks of reality TV (Donald Trump, you had me at "yuh fi-ahd"). Nonetheless ...
Bubbling under
Brian Cashman, New York Yankees and Theo Epstein, Boston Red Sox: Even as a highly interested observer of the Yanks/Bosox death feud, I don't know if either of these guys have truly earned their boy-wonder bona fides. Both have access to gobs of cash, and both have been credited with results largely attributable to moves made by their predecessors.
As much as dealing Nomar in the middle of 2004 took globe-sized stones, the core of that team was assembled by the wildly charismatic Dan Duquette, who signed Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon and pilfered Pedro Martinez (for the brittle dyad of Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr.), Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek (who arrived together in exchange for Heath Slo b) from lesser administrative lights. Epstein ought to be judged on the speed with which he delivers the next Red Sox le, not his contributions to the last one.
That last statement holds for Cashman as well. He assumed the GM post well after Gene Michael rebuilt the Yankees during George Steinbrenner's short stint in baseball purgatory. Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Paul O'Neill, Andy Pet te ... Cashman had nothing to do with any of these players joining the organization. On the other hand, much of the blame for the team's comparatively soggy past few seasons lies with the Yankees' shadowy "Tampa contingent"; the wait staff at Malio's Steak House might have had as much to do with the Tony Womack and Jaret Wright signings as Cashman did.
Terry Ryan, Minnesota Twins: He lords over a developmental machine that has produced a steady flow of A-listers: Torii Hunter, Johan Santana, Joe Mauer et al. Over the years, though, he hasn't been able to transform the system's grade-B and -C prospects into useful major league talent via trade. Just think what the Twins might have accomplished during the past few seasons if they had consistently productive players at shortstop, third base and the corner outfield slots. Ryan's Shannon Stewart man-crush? Beyond my limited realm of comprehension.
Omar Minaya, New York Mets: His biggest achievement: People actually take the franchise seriously. He gets points for a decided lack of sentimentality -- fare thee well, Signore Piazza -- and for swimming in the big boys' end of the free-agent pool (Pedro, Billy Wagner, Carlos Beltran). Still, let's not forget that he almost single-handedly rebuilt the Cleveland Indians during his short tenure as the GM of the Little Orphan Expos (Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips for a few minutes of Bartolo Colon).
Kevin Towers, San Diego Padres: I'm no bean counter, but it appears from afar that Towers has done as well on a limited budget as his much-worshipped peer in Oakland town, the Jason Bay/Oliver Perez-for-Brian Giles deal notwithstanding. Cheaping out on Bruce Bochy could be a decision that the should-contend 2007 Padres will regret.
Ken Williams, Chicago White Sox: Four or five years ago, he couldn't be trusted to barter a jar of raspberry jam at the local flea market. Since then, whoa. He seems almost immune to public opinion, going the unconventional route with his most recent manager hire and bringing in players (Jim Thome, Pierzynski, Javy Vazquez) thought by "smart" baseball pundits to be cooked. His screw-conventional-wisdom approach was on fine display during this most recent offseason, as he dealt away his starting-pitching surplus (home-run-prone Freddy Garcia and Brandon McCarthy) for a heaping of the young, cheap prospects who should give the franchise flexibility for seasons to come. I wonder if Williams would accept a fruit basket by way of apology for everything I said about him around the time of the Koch/Foulke deal.
The Elite
5. Billy Beane, Oakland A's: Clearly, Billy Beane is the smartest guy in the game, a Giamatti in a sea of Seligs. He reads 12 books per week, speaks seven languages, teaches microeconomics at Stanford, advises the State Department on sub-Saharan diplomacy and holds multiple patents for water-filtration devices. He once fashioned a crude transistor radio out of a seas and two plastic sporks.
What's there left to say about him that hasn't been said, repeated ad infinitum, and misinterpreted by Joe Morgan? The idea that Beane "discovered" on-base percentage remains as ludicrous now as when it was semi-posed in Moneyball; the Yankees of the late-1990s, not to mention most high-scoring teams in baseball history, were OBP machines. Beane's real strength seems to lie in striking fast, like last year's free-agent acquisition of Esteban Loiaza about three minutes before the starting-pitching market exploded. He also knows when to cut bait on his own stars, as witnessed by the trades of Mark Mulder (which panned out quite well) and Tim Hudson (which didn't) at the precise moment their perceived value peaked.
4. Mark Shapiro, Cleveland Indians: I want to rank him higher, simply because I believe the Indians are on the cusp of a half decade of dominance. He ties up his key cogs before they hit free-agency, anticipates market conditions months in advance (notice how the Indians were one of the few teams not to have any starting-pitching-related angst this offseason) and doesn't handcuff his team with overlong commitments. To be fair, you have to wonder about Shapiro's loyalty to manager Eric Wedge and his throw-it-at-the-wall-and-hope-it-sticks approach to bullpen construction.
3. Larry Beinfest, Florida Marlins: The most underrated GM in the game. Like Epstein, he doesn't deserve full credit for the le won shortly after his arrival in 2002, despite some inspired midseason strokes (elevating Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, bringing in crusty ol' Jack McKeon to manage and delight reporters with his salty language). Still, he's already seeing returns from his post-2005 jettisoning of any player earning more than a Starbucks barista: Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez and Ricky Nolasco should be key parts (gills? dorsal fins?) of the Marlins for years to come. Most impressively, Beinfest manages to succeed despite receiving his checks from maddeningly passive-aggressive owner Jeffrey Loria (build me a stadium! no, I'll build it myself ... in San Antonio! no, I want a retractable dome with built-in GPS!). Imagine what he could do with a $50 million payroll.
2. John Schuerholz, Atlanta Braves: If you're a newbie baseball GM and you're approached by Schuerholz with a trade offer, shouldn't you run, shrieking, in the opposite direction? You're going to get taken; it's just a matter of how badly. During his lengthy tenure with the Bravos -- 16 years and counting -- Schuerholz has committed a strategic gaffe or two, most notably cutting bait on Jason Schmidt and Jermaine Dye before they flourished. Pretty much everything else he has touched turned to gold. Remember that Fred McGriff deal from back in 1993? The Padres do. Atlanta fans don't deserve him.
1. Walt Jocketty, St. Louis Cardinals: Yes, he benefits from competing in a division where the other GMs lack common sense, cash or both (say, Mr. Krivsky, interested in trading for a few more relievers?). That said, name another GM who has pulled off three franchise-altering megadeals (Scott Rolen for Placido Polanco, Mike Timlin and Bud Smith; Mark McGwire for a trio of nobodies; and Jim Edmonds for the since-returned Adam Kennedy and an arm) in the past 10 years. Jocketty locks up the players who fit (Chris Carpenter) and discards the ones that don't (J.D. Drew). If every GM had similar courage of his convictions, baseball would be a lot more interesting.
No mention of Dave Dombrowski at all.
This whole article is suspect w/o even a mention of Dombrowski. He's all ready won one World Series, helped Florida get quality young guys after the fire sale, and has revamped a dying farm system in Detroit, and has made some sounds trades for the Big League club. Polanco for Urbina (who is sitting in jail right now) Sean Casey (the only guy on offense who was worth a damn in the World Series) for some scrub minor leaguer. He at least deserves to be in the discussion.
He's right, Epstein is very over-rated. He's made some really questionable moves over the years, but when you have money, you can cover up your mistakes (as opposed to say an Allard Baird, who had to live with his mistakes in KC).
Wow... ain't that the truth. (about KC)
john daniels, cashman, beane, epstein have to up there. but best in basball has to be billy beane. anyone would look like a good GM in New york and Boston.
Absolutely agreed. Bill Beane does it with an artificial cap by ownership yet the A's just keep rolling and rolling and rolling....
Jesus Christ! If Liriano comes back healthy, and Bonser reaches projections this could be the worst trade of all time.He keeps signing old guys -- the 2007 Giants project to be as quick and limber as your average seniors' aquarobics class -- and will never live down trading away Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser for a single season of catcher/irritant A.J. Pierzynski.
Right up there with Jim Edmonds for Adam Kennedy and Kent Bottenfield.
yeah, because Adam Kennedy wasn't a big contributor on a World Series team.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
