As MLB slowly but surely keeps heading into an era which features more defense and less power, which general manager has become the best and most important in the game.
Do you remember that baseball phrase from the late 1990s that we all came to hear so often?
It was the lovable and awe-inspiring phrase that is “chicks dig the longball.” Even Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine realized this was reality.
Fast-forward over a decade and we’ve grown accustomed to a new baseball realization: General Managers have become the rock-stars of Major League Baseball.
Guys like Theo Epstein, Brian Cashman, Andrew Friedman, and of course, Billy Beane, have led the way through a new era of baseball. One that has seen the young, analytical-type announce their presence with authority.
General Managers have become the rock-stars of Major League Baseball.
No longer was baseball stuck with the old, stale boss. Rather, guys who look barely old enough to drink were suddenly in charge of major league ball-clubs.
Most thought of it as another soon-to-fail fad.
Those people were quickly waived away after Epstein slayed that 86-year dragon in Boston, Andrew Friedman did the impossible in Tampa Bay, and Beane continued remarkable consistency with very little payroll help in Oakland.
Suddenly, the last 10-plus years have featured the young front office phenom who was garnering all the attention from fans (and the chicks of course). For each guy has seemingly built a better farm than the next through Sabermetrics and in-depth analysis.
These guys have now become the face of the game to some. They represent the individual everybody adores and all fantasy baseball nerds want to emulate. Even movies are made about them.
The question we tackle today is, who are the 10 best in the game?
It’s an interesting question with a plethora of variables.
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For one, it’s obvious MLB is the most unique of the four-major sports as it concerns the collective bargaining agreement. Unlike the NFL and NHL where we see a hard-cap, and the NBA which features a “Charmin-soft” cap, baseball has no salary-cap. While the rigors surrounding the luxury-tax has gotten tougher, there’s still an incredible difference between the top payroll and the lowest.
General Managers who work with less will naturally have a leg up in our rankings.
Gauging prior success and how they’ve positioned their ball-club for the present and future was also a top consideration.
Another factor is determining whether the general manager is actually the top voice in the organization. Oftentimes, in this day and age of the game, there is a guy with another title who is really the man making the tough calls (see the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks for examples).
Here are our rankings on the Top 10 General Mangers in Major League Baseball:
H/T: Spotrac for payroll information and Baseball America for mentions of organizational and prospect rankings.
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