Written by Greg Fertel
|
19 February 2008
I have loads of respect for Jon Heyman, but I have to disagree a little bit with his recently released top-10 GM list in the majors. Hat tip to
MLB Trade Rumors. The list:
- 1. Theo Epstein
- 2. Billy Beane
- 3. Dave Dombrowski
- 4. Mark Shapiro
- 5. Brian Cashman
- 6. Pat Gillick
- 7. Josh Byrnes
- 8. Omar Minaya
- 9. Dan O'Dowd
- T10. Ken Williams / Kevin Towers
I have a few issues here. First off, I think that
Theo Epstein is a tad bit overrated. He's a great GM, but he's hardly had a poor payroll, organization, and base to work with. I'd rank him #4.
Ken Williams is no where near #10 - since 2005, he's slowly destroyed that organization. Williams will learn this year what "bad timing" means. It means that you don't sell the barren farm after Detroit just loaded up.
Dave Dombrowski has done a great job rebuilding Detroit, but hasn't been perfect.
Dan O'Dowd at #9? Someone needs to check Heyman's memory. It took O'Dowd the better part of Phil Hughes' lifetime to find a winning formula in Colorado, and as recently as two years ago was being discussed as one of the worst in the game. Todd Helton and Mike Hampton, anyone?
Omar Minaya has still yet to prove to me that he's a good GM. The Santana trade is a plus in his favor, but Minaya has mostly a) Spent a ton of money b) Fallen Short and c) Capitalized on the success of past GMs.
My list:
- 1. Josh Byrnes
- 2. Billy Beane
- 3. Pat Gillick
- 4. Theo Epstein
- 5. Mark Shapiro
- 6. Brian Cashman
- 7. Kevin Towers
- 8. Dave Dombrowski
- 9. Wayne Krivsky
- 10. Jon Daniels (solely for his work with the Ranger's farm system)
I am a massive
Josh Byrnes fan. From budgeting team finances on a 3-year basis to using Micah Owings as a backup 1st baseman to his work with the farm system, Byrnes has displayed amazing outside-the-box thinking. We saw last year what happens when a well-structured team truly understands what leverage means to a ball game. He traded Valverde at the perfect time, and put himself in a position to get Dan Haren without giving up major league talent.
Regular readers of this blog know that I'm a
Billy Beane believer. Very few, if any, GMs would have committed so thoroughly to rebuilding once they began the process. I have a hard time believing that he's finished. Look for Blanton, Ellis and Street to go somewhere else at the trade deadline. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the A's make a play for the AL West as soon as 2009.
Pat Gillick doesn't get the respect that he deserves. Everywhere that he has gone, the team has flourished. He doesn't get the respect that he deserves for the 1992-1993 teams, and his Phillies should compete for the division yet again this year. Now, if he'd only find a new manager...
I love what
Kevin Towers does with his pitching staffs and limited resources, though I may attribute a lot of that to
Paul DePodesta. DePodesta was one of my favorite GMs when he was with the Dodgers, possibly the best in the league. We can look back at the contracts given to Derek Lowe, J.D. Drew, and Jeff Kent, the contract not given to Adrian Beltre, the trade of Lo Duca, Mota, and Encarnacion (all of whom flopped post-trade) for Brad Penny, the drafting of Matt Kemp, James Loney and Russ Martin, and the rest of his moves were almost entirely met with incredibly success despite criticism at the time.
Jon Daniels made some really bad trades, but he's really invigorated that Texas farm system. That team should be due for a turn around in the next two years.
Wayne Krivsky should get a lot of credit for the Arroyo, Kearns, and Phillips trades, plus his work building the major's current 2nd best farm system.
