I like Brian Cashman. He has kept the Yankees competing for the World Series year in and year out.

 

I would also argue that the GMs for the big payroll teams have a tougher job than small market guys from the sense that one or two bad years can cost them their job. There is no rebuilding in New York or Boston. The Marlins and A's can tear down and build up (which is, of course, very difficult) with less pressure from the fan base and ownership.

Jocketty of course...

 

 

When Jocketty was in St. Louis I always thought he was the best GM in the game. I hope he doesn't disappoint with the job he does in Cincinnati.

Epstein from the Redsox.

I like Brian Cashman.

 

Really? Would have never guessed...

Billy Beane of the A's. Every year it seems they trade away their star players that they have develpoed because the owner does not want to pay them, but he is such a good GM the no-name players he puts on the field win!

Not that Epstein and Cashman haven't done great jobs, but life is a lot easier with a 54 billion dollar payroll. You make a mistake, you just write it off and try again. We have seen what happens when a somewhat small market team makes a financial mistake.

 

I agree with that especially with Cashman. He is handed the biggest payroll in baseball and can't get it done. At least Epstein has 2 WS titles this decade.

 

I would go with Beane, Jocketty, Minnesota, Tampa Bay and the Marlins GMs. They have low payroll teams and the Rays are in 1st and the Marlins unload every few years but still stay near the top.

Billy Beane does a fantastic job.

 

I personally like Dave Dombrowski, of the Tigers. Won it all in Florida and is part of the Jim Leyland / Gary Sheffield connection. Really turned the Tigers around too, although they're struggling this year.

 

I thought that Walt Jocketty was one of the best while in St. Louis. Hopefully that'll remain to be true in Cincinnati.

What Terry Ryan, and now Bill Smith have been able to do in Minnesota is amazing...IMO

 

When they dealt Santana, I thought their run would be over. And here they sit 1/2 game behind the White Sox on Aug. 6th.

 

I also believe Ron Gardenhire is one of the top five Managers in baseball.

No doubt. 100% agree.

I like Theo Epstein and the Florida Marlins GM (not sure of his name), but he does a great job of maintaining a great-caliber team with a low payroll (only $22 million I believe)

Keith Foulke from the White Sox

Traded Nomar for Mientkiewicz & Orlando Cabrera

Dave Roberts from L.A.

 

All of which played huge roles in coming back from the 3-0 deficit against the Yankees and winning the World Series in 2004....Those were some good acquisitions.

I like Brian Cashman. He has kept the Yankees competing for the World Series year in and year out.

 

 

Really? When was the last time they made it there?

 

The Yankees are on the decline right now, and Cashman is partially to blame for that IMO.

The one thing I like about Epstein is that he doesn't wait too long to trade veterans. He lets them go or trades them while he can still get good value.

 

It's easy to downplay how good he is by saying anyone can succeed with a large payroll, but that's not necessarily true. It also doesn't change the fact that the majority of his moves turn out to be good. Having a large payroll doesn't make you a good decision-maker. Epstein is deserving of the title of best GM and I wouldn't argue with it.

 

I also like Billy Beane. Seriously, who can argue with what he's done in Oakland with a smaller payroll?

 

I like the job Mark Shapiro has done in Cleveland, despite them having a down year this year. He rebuilt that team through trades and development of young talent. They're in a good position to contend for the future and were expected to do so this year, but it just didn't work out.

 

My vote would have gone to Terry Ryan if he were still the Twins GM. Bill Smith hasn't been in the position long enough for us to know how good or bad he will be. But, I think Ryan did a great job.

 

I suppose I'd have to cast my vote for Billy Beane. He consistently has Oakland in the hunt and often in the playoffs with a payroll that's roughly 1/3 of Boston's and 1/4 of the Yankees...a payroll that is consistently one of the lowest in the league. What he's done is pretty amazing. Also, Epstein, to a large degree, is using the same system as Beane.

Really? When was the last time they made it there?

 

The Yankees are on the decline right now, and Cashman is partially to blame for that IMO.

I believe the last in '03. Was Cashman the GM then, during the 3 out of 4 trips to the WS.

Really? When was the last time they made it there?

 

The Yankees are on the decline right now, and Cashman is partially to blame for that IMO.

 

I wouldn't blame Cashman as much as I would blame his superiors who seem to force him into most of his moves.

 

That's why I didn't bother mentioning him. He's GM in name only...the Steinbrenners are still calling the shots in NY. I don't think we know what he's capable of because we've never seen him allowed to run a team the way he wants. He may get to run the operation to some degree, but not enough, IMO. I think they'd be much better off if they'd leave him alone and let him run the team. Until that happens, Brian Cashman isn't on my list.

Also, he gets some heat for trading away Hanley Ramirez but without Beckett and Lowell there is no way that they get to, let alone win the World Series last season. With them they managed to win it with Julio Lugo at short so while they may have traded a future MVP they accomplished the goal of every team--win a World Series. He also did a great job of replacing Manny while still giving the team a chance to compete this season and next. He's shown an uncanny knack so far for knowing when to say goodbye to veterans and replace them--no matter how popular the player. It is really hard to find much to criticize in what he's done from a business persepctive.

You make a lot of good points, but as I recall, the Red Sox were pretty much forced to take Lowell in the deal ... at the time, he had a hefty contract and was coming off a bad season and the Marlins had Miguel Cabrera ready to take over.

 

If the Red Sox weren't as well-heeled as they were, I don't know if they could have made that deal.