SI's Jon Heyman on MLB GMs

by DarthYoshi on Feb 18, 2008 7:04 PM EST Comment 24 comments

I found this link through MLBTR, but SI's Jon Heyman ranks what he believes are the top ten GMs in MLB today. The full list looks like this:

Theo Epstein, BoSox
Billy Beane, A's
Dave Dombrowski, Tigers
Mark Shapiro, Indians
Brian Cashman, Yankees
Pat Gillick, Phillies
Josh Byrnes, Diamondbacks
Omar Minaya, Mets
Dan O'Dowd, Rockies

10 (tie). Kenny Williams, Kevin Towers

Now, some of these picks I agree with (Epstein, Dombrowski, Shapiro, and to a degree Minaya). But putting Kenny Williams on the list boggles me. The best thing that Heyman can say for Williams is that he was at the helm for the first White Sox championship team in decades, but then goes on to concede that a lot of Williams's recent moves have done more harm than good. Heyman doesn't mention any of the numerous bad trades Williams has made or the fumbles he made during the offseason (such as letting Torii Hunter slip through his fingers). If I were making a list of the ten worst GMs in baseball today, well, then I'd feel compelled to include Williams.

But this is not a diary entry solely dedicated to basing Kenny Williams (fun as that activity is). Other points worth noting from my perspective:

I'm not sure just how high I'd rank Brian Cashman solely because he so consistently overpays for FA's that end up redefining the term "horrible."

I'd rank Towers way higher than 10th, and certainly not in a tie with Williams--that's just an insult to Towers. Some say Towers may be one of the best GMs in baseball today, if not the best.

One of the warrants Heyman gives for ranking the Diamondback's Byrnes so high is the Haren trade. I'm willing to see this one pan out, but the D-Backs took a huge risk with that trade--they completely gutted their vaunted farm system for the guy. Heyman seems to like risk-taking GMs, but right now, I'm still neutral at best on the Haren trade.

It'll be interesting to see how Michael Hill does at the Marlins under the thumb of the cheapest franchise owner in MLB today.

Here's the link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/02/18/heyman.bestGMs/index.html

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Oh, and GMDM got mentioned as a

good "up and coming" GM for the Royals. Can't believe I forgot to put that in the original diary entry.

by DarthYoshi on Feb 18, 2008 7:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

i have a hard time considering theo first

ohh, it was so genius signing Beckett

yea right

the red sox wallet saves him from a lot of tough decisions, like resigning lowell and varitek to sweetheart deals

I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me

by LeoBloom on Feb 18, 2008 7:07 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Epstein is a pretty ruthless GM

He let fan favorites like Martinez, Damon, and Lowe walk, and he has yet to sign any athlete to those long, expensive contracts that end up being an albatross around the team's neck for years to come (See: Jason Giambi, Mike Hampton, Kevin Brown, et al). Epstein has more money to play with than most GMs, but that hasn't led him to making the same kind of boneheaded FA/trade decisions that Brian Cashman has (with a few exceptions, like Coco Crisp).

by DarthYoshi on Feb 18, 2008 7:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Can't forget....

Julio Lugo, J.D. Drew, handing $8+MM to the "closer" Keith Foulke, and paying 4.40-ERA Dice-K to pay him.

I agree that Epstein probably deserves to be on this list, given his keen eye for young talent, but let's make no mistake that he's overpaid on occasion for some pretty marginal talent.

Become a member of Royals Nation!

by Royals Nation on Feb 18, 2008 10:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That's the difference

If you have a $150+ million payroll, you can afford to make multiple big contract mistakes. You can waste a lot of money on Lugo, Drew and others and have it not adversely impact the team. If you are the GM of a small market team, one bad big contract can cripple a team for multiple years.

If you give the average knowledgeable baseball a $150-200 million payroll to work with and a merely competent front office and scouting staff, he'd put his team in contention every year, win some pennants and make it onto Heyman's list.

I probably disagree with you.

by NYRoyal on Feb 18, 2008 11:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I type too quickly

If you give the average baseball fan a $150-200 million payroll...

I probably disagree with you.

by NYRoyal on Feb 18, 2008 11:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That's One Smart

Baseball. Actually, I make that point to my friends often. There's a lot of GM peace of mind to be had in an enormous payroll. If a high dollar acquisition really craps out, you just get rid of him and get another. Eventually, you have a pretty good team, even if you are a baseball.

I'm not getting older....oh, wait, yes I am....and slower.... and weaker. God, this is great!

by philofthenorth on Feb 19, 2008 12:55 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yea

i dont doubt that epstein is a good GM

just no way he's #1

I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me

by LeoBloom on Feb 19, 2008 12:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Minaya - Bannister trade =

2007 division title...

by doublestix on Feb 18, 2008 7:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

THANK YOU!

How about Kazmir for Zambrano? VICTOR Zambrano!

Reyes and Wright were already in the system when he got there.

Overpaid horribly for Delgado, Glavine, Alou, Kaz Matsui and Pedro.

Huuuge payroll advantage in the little boys' league and he has ONE playoff series victory plus the biggest stretch collapse of the divisional era.

What a frickin' joke.

by howserfan on Feb 20, 2008 11:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Kazmir for Zambrano

I think that was before Minaya got there.

I probably disagree with you.

by NYRoyal on Feb 20, 2008 11:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Shapiro

is so good in Cleveland. He's made a couple of bad moves (Delucci, Nixon), but overall he has developed a nice team through stats/scouting. GMDM probably would get consideration if the Royals have a winning season since these GM lists are the equivalent of fashions what's hot/whats not list. Agree Kevin Towers is probably top 5 in my book.

by lordbyronk on Feb 18, 2008 7:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think these rankings are a joke

Kenny Williams in the top 10 is laughable. Take this year for instance. He's gone for a win-now strategy which has dumped the best 5 prospects in the organization so that they can maybe have a .500 season. So, they won't contend this year and his trades have made sure they won't contend for the next 3+ years. Great job, Kenny!
Cashman and Epstein. They have certainly been successful, but it is hard to be unsuccessful with $150-200 million payrolls which have been 25-100% greater than the #3 payroll in MLB and two to three times the average MLB payroll. How much of their success is their wise moves and how much of it is the fact that they can afford to buy and retain the best talent? How good of a job would these guys have done with $40-70 million payrolls?

I probably disagree with you.

by NYRoyal on Feb 18, 2008 8:08 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

In general

Heyman seems to love the big-market teams, which is one reason why I don't like him and tend to disagree with him a lot. The initial subject line for this entry was actually "What the @#$% is Jon Heyman smoking?" but I changed it because I thought it would be too inflammatory/not in good taste.

by DarthYoshi on Feb 18, 2008 8:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Gillick

not really sure he belongs in the top 10. I wouldn't say he is spectacular by any means.

I'd have Beane lower, Towers and Byrnes higher, and I'd probably have Friedman and Daniels up there and Williams around 27 or so.

by wildthang on Feb 18, 2008 8:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Agree

Except I think Jon Daniels has been an awful GM.

I think Jim Hendry is kinda underrated, I'd have him in my top ten.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Feb 19, 2008 9:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

huh

Did he mean to put a "3" instead of a "1" in the number next to Kenny Williams?

by doublestix on Feb 19, 2008 12:57 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

why all the love for Towers?

I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me

by LeoBloom on Feb 19, 2008 1:00 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Pads are consistent contenders

Never all that great (they did reach the World Series in 1998), but they are usually good year in and year out. When he took over the Pads, they were the worst team in the NL.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Feb 19, 2008 9:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Just for fun

Here's a shameless plug to the 2007 G.M. Survivor game from Royals Nation. Right now, I'll agree that the RN contest winner, Shapiro, is the best (even though he eerily stood still in 2007-08).

The Good: Epstein, Dombrowski, Beane, Towers, Melvin, Byrnes, O'Dowd, Shapiro,

In-between: Gillick, Hendry (post-2006), Cashman, Ricciardi, Colletti

The Bad: Minaya, Krivsky, Williams, Bowden, Wade, Sabean, Flanagan (who runs the show in BAL these days? Does it matter?), Bavasi

Too soon, but leaning good: Huntington, Daniels, Friedman

Too soon, but leaning in-between: Mozeliak, Wren, Hill

Too soon, but leaning bad: Reagins, Smith

Moves such as trading for Santana and trading for Swisher do not make a G.M. good. Those are moves big-budget teams make. Heyman comes across as a homer for big-market G.M.'s, and one of those analysts who overcredits lavish spending as "aggressiveness" (which is good for ball).

Become a member of Royals Nation!

by Royals Nation on Feb 19, 2008 1:11 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Baltimore GM

Is now Andy McPhail.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Feb 19, 2008 9:11 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It's a pointless exercise.

and a typically pointless listing based on something silly by John Heyman. (who bashed the Royals for signing Guillen... not because they overpaid... not because he think he was fluke.. not because he think it's blocking someone... but simply because he was on the Mitchelles report WTF?! that entire article didn't give a damn about talent and look at everything from a so called chemstry perspective.)

As for the GMs it's sipmly impossible to judge. they're working under different circustances, with different goals (short run anyway) , different budgets, different level of autonomy.

Brian Cashman will never be rated well even if he wins like 20 strait WS title . Dayton Moore should receive praise but no one is looking at KC. Ned Colletti and Bill Bavasi are abosalute morons but are saved by their big budget and carry over super talents from their predecossor or simply getting really lucky.

It's a pretty fruitless exercise. had luck shifted a little and the Red Sox say... not made the playoff last year (say if Curt Schilling blew out his shoudler before last year and not after and the Yankees didn't have such a poor start) wouldn't everyone be piling on Theo for spending 100M on a league average Dice-K and trading away Hanely Ramirez while having the likes of Julio Lugo at short?

by RollingWave on Feb 19, 2008 7:40 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I can't believe

I am going to say something nice about the Red Sox, but here it goes:

Epstein traded Ramirez for a young ace who has now pitched two teams to the world series title (Josh Beckett) and one of the AL's best 3B (Mike Lowell). Epstein then had the foresight to buy out Beckett's first three years of free agency years with a ridiculously below market deal that covers his prime (age 28-30 seasons).

Matsuzaka at age 26 was better than league average last year, and actually pitched very well until the end of August -- his ERA was 3.88 on September 1. It is a little early to write him off.

And if Curt Schilling had blown his shoulder out, the Sox would have been just fine with Clay Bucholz and Jon Lester sitting around. The Red Sox player development system is one of the industry models. Every year, it produces a couple of above average major league regulars, who the team then pays close to nothing for the next few years. The depth, as much as the money, allows the Red Sox to survive bad deals like Julio Lugo, Joel Pineiro, and Eric Gagne.

by Gopherballs on Feb 19, 2008 1:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs