The Five Best MLB General Managers
An Inside Look at the 5 Best GMs in all of Major League Baseball.
Apr 5, 2007
It's not easy being a general manager for a Major League baseball team. Just imagine if all of the decisions you made at work were dissected and criticized on Sportscenter for the whole world to see. That would really stink. But it's a daily reality that comes with the job. That would be a lot of pressure.
Here are the top five general managers in baseball today, who make this list largely because of their ability to ignore the critics, have faith in their baseball and financial judgment, and get a little bit lucky every now and then.
5. Brian Cashman
Yes, he has the most money to spend. But even with all of that money, Brian Cashman’s accomplishments are still amazing. Since he became GM in November of 1997, the New York Yankees have won nine straight division titles, fielded the second greatest team in history in 1998, won five American League pennants, and three World Series rings.
Remember, money can’t always buy happiness. The Baltimore Orioles have consistently had very high payrolls but haven’t finished any higher than fourth place in the last decade. The Mets had the highest payroll over the 2002-03 seasons and finished dead last each year. It’s not just the money. It’s what the GM does with the money.
4. Omar Minaya
For the past two seasons, Minaya has transformed the New York Mets from cellar dweller to runaway division champions by assembling a mix of star free agents (Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez, Billy Wagner and Carlos Delgado) and very talented youngsters, such as Jose Reyes and David Wright. The results have been amazing. The Mets won the National League East by 12 games in 2006, and came within one victory of reaching the World Series.
Minaya also gets credit for building a competitive team in Montreal during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. At a time when the team was in danger of being destroyed by league contraction, Minaya’s teams played so well that Commissioner Bud Selig and the owners just couldn’t vote them out.
3. Terry Ryan, Minnesota Twins
What makes him so great? For starters, he drafted Justin Morneau, who won the 2006 AL MVP. He also drafted Joe Mauer, who won the 2006 AL Batting title. Furthermore, Ryan acquired Johann Santana in a 2001 trade. Santana won the 2004 and 2006 Cy Young awards. Just for those who are curious, Ryan traded a minor leaguer named Jared Camp in order to land Santana. Camp never appeared in a Major League game.
Ryan obviously knows baseball talent when he sees it.
But he is also a great financial manager for the team. Each year, the Twins payroll is in the bottom 10 in the league, and (almost) each year, Ryan assembles a team that wins its division. If the Twins could win the World Series this season, Ryan will probably become as well known and respected as the two men who are above him.
2. Dave Dombrowski
When Dombrowski took over as GM for the Detroit Tigers before the 2002 season, the once proud franchise had become an embarrassment. The Tigers had finished last or second-to-last in eight of the previous ten seasons. They were awful.
Dombrowski favored a youth movement for the team during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. Talk about growing pains. The 2003 team lost 119 games. Despite that record, the team had some promising young pitchers. Dombrowski used that sales pitch to land quality veterans Kenny Rogers, Todd Jones, Ivan Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez.
The pitching fully developed by 2006, and the Tigers became a powerhouse, winning 95 games and making it to the World Series.
That accomplishment, and the fact that Dombrowski was the GM for the 1997 World Champion Florida Marlins, make him the second best in the game.
1. Billy Beane, Oakland Athletics
A lot of people in baseball criticize Billy Beane. They say he’s arrogant and that he sometimes speaks like he invented baseball; or at least the general manager position. Well, if anyone has a right to feel that way, it’s Billy Beane.
Since 2000, the Oakland A’s have won four American League West division crowns and one American League Wild card. That’s five playoff appearances in seven seasons. The other two years they finished in second place. The team also has the second best record in baseball since the turn of the century, trailing only the New York Yankees. But, over the past seven years, Beane has had an average annual payroll of $47 million. The Yankees average yearly payout across those same seven years has been $153 million.
Billy Beane gets the best bang for the buck, and that is why he is the best GM in baseball.
