83 replies to this topic

[Pedro Cerrano]

Any guesses on who #1 will be?  Is it automatically gonna be Rickey?

[RShack]

Any guesses on who #1 will be?  Is it automatically gonna be Rickey?

 

Unless there's somebody I'm blanking on, you bet...

[BSLChrisStoner]

#21: Brian Cashman

 

Cashman has made some shrewd moves, and I agree he is a bit tougher to rate... but the advantages he has had, make it hard for me to believe he rates that high.

Now if he went somewhere with limited resources, and did well there... I think legacy would be strong.

[DJ MC]

Unless there's somebody I'm blanking on, you bet...

 

Ed Barrow, maybe. He was arguably the first true GM. George Weiss is possible.

 

But Rickey invented the farm system, built the Cardinals from nothing into the model NL franchise, built the Dodgers into the dominant NL team of the 50s while breaking through 60-plus years of active racial discrimination in the sport, THEN went to a moribund Pirates franchise and began laying the groundwork for the team that won in 1960.

 

It's like asking what player had the most impact on baseball history. You make good arguments for a few players, but the answer is Babe Ruth beyond any doubt.

[RShack]

Ed Barrow, maybe. He was arguably the first true GM. George Weiss is possible.

 

But Rickey invented the farm system, built the Cardinals from nothing into the model NL franchise, built the Dodgers into the dominant NL team of the 50s while breaking through 60-plus years of active racial discrimination in the sport, THEN went to a moribund Pirates franchise and began laying the groundwork for the team that won in 1960

 

So it's the MFY's vs. half of the NL  

 

Between Barrow and Rickey, most things got invented....

[DJ MC]

I mentioned Rickey starting the Pirates job in the 1950s, and today's GM is the guy who finished it, then kept it up for two more decades.

 

#18: Joe L. Brown

 

Until recently, front offices were much smaller and the road to becoming a general manager was much more haphazard.  Joe L. Brown may have been the first to consciously and successfully aspire to be a general manager at a young age.

[RShack]

So where is Bill Veeck gonna show up?

[DJ MC]

So where is Bill Veeck gonna show up?

 

I'm guessing he's a "bonus" guy like Finley, since he was an owner.

[DJ MC]

#17: Dan Duquette

 

As of this writing there are reports that Duquette could be headed to Toronto to become CEO.  If so, this might put an end to an impressive general manager career, with undeniable success improving three franchises over 14 years.

[RShack]

I'm guessing he's a "bonus" guy like Finley, since he was an owner.

 

Good point.  The counter-argument is that the only way he managed to be an owner (of multiple teams over the years) was by being an amazing GM.  He wasn't a rich guy.  Rather, he GM'd his way into success, buying and selling players, buying and selling teams.  So, while Finley was a rich owner first and a GM by interest, Veeck was a GM through and through who somehow managed to parlay his GM-ness into being a multi-team owner.

 

You're probably right though...

[DJ MC]

Honorable Mention: Larry MacPhail

 

Larry MacPhail ran three ballclubs (Cincinnati 1933-36, Brooklyn 1937-42, Yankees 1945-47). In all three cases he acted more as a team president, making decisions outside the scope of baseball operations....When considering MacPhail for this list, we tried to separate MacPhail the president from MacPhail to team builder.  He could easily have made this list anyway and was on the first version we considered, but ultimately we decided his career was a little short.

[DJ MC]

#16: Theo Epstein

 

If Epstein pulls this off, if he wins in Chicago after winning in Boston, he will deserve a much higher ranking than this, well into the top ten and talk of Cooperstown.

[DJ MC]

#15: Walt Jocketty

 

Jocketty has always relied on his ability to identify still productive, moderately-priced, mid-career major leaguers, and he is one of the very few GMs to have successfully pulled this strategy off.

[DJ MC]

#14: Brian Sabean

 

As much as any modern GM, he represents a successful bridge between the old and new approaches.

[DJ MC]

#13: Al Campanis

 

In 18 seasons, Campanis’s Dodgers won six division titles and finished second in either seasons, three times by a single game.  After years of working in the organization to help develop major league players, Al Campanis did a fine job once given control of the big league team.

[DJ MC]

#12: Sandy Alderson

 

Before Alderson, general managers had been hired after a long apprenticeship in the game (unless they were related to the owners).  Alderson was different: he was Ivy League educated and an attorney. 

[PatrickDougherty]

#12: Sandy Alderson

Changed the game and made what at the time was at best a hobby analyzing baseball into a Real Thing.

[DJ MC]

#11: Billy Beane

 

His ranking here would indicate that we believe the introduction of analytics has advanced front office decision making, which we do, but we also believe his impressive record fully justifies his standing.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Thought Beane would be in the top 10 because of how he changed the way a lot of people look at the game.

 

I think his teams' lack of post-season success is held against him (fair or not).

[DJ MC]

Thought Beane would be in the top 10 because of how he changed the way a lot of people look at the game.

 

I think his teams' lack of post-season success is held against him (fair or not).

 

I'm guessing it's more along the lines of him popularizing something that was actually started by his predecessor. So he deserves some extra credit, but not all.