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Kenny Williams is a hotheaded tool, but I'd certainly put him above Hendry. He has made some good moves.

Beane always seems to get a pass because of Moneyball. Maybe he'll figure out to put together a team that wins a playoff series.

How on earth can Minaya be top 5 when his 2007 rotation includes Oliver Perez and El Duque?

Hungary Jack wrote: Maybe he'll figure out to put together a team that wins a playoff series.

He finally won one last year.

With probably the worst playoff team he's had.

--P--

RC21 wrote:-There are eight- EIGHT!- GM's behind Beane who have won a WS. He has not. Yeah, yeah, the post-season is a crapshoot, but isn't the goal a WS championship?

Supposedly Beane's goal is to make money. That is the name of the book after all. That said, Beane wouldn't be as highly regarded if (a) he didn't go around spouting buzzwords from Squawk Box or (b) he hadn't inherited such a strong group of pre-FAs. Hand him a mess more like the recent vintage Royals and Michael Lewis doesn't give two tweets about Beane.

JDE wrote:I have never understood all the hype for Beane. Yeah, his teams are usually good, but not great. He took over in 93 and hasn't seen a WS yet. In fact, his teams haven't even been that great in the postseason. He's hyped for having great regular season teams. Him, just likeSchuerholz, is praised for basically being average.

The postseason is a crapshoot. Last year of all years should tell you that. Small sample size leads to unexpected results. Getting to the postseason consistently is the true test of a GM, especially one with as limited a payroll as Beane's. Winning in the postseason is almost entirely out of their hands. I'm no fan of Beane's, but to chastise him for failing to win a World Series during his tenure as GM doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

RC21 wrote:-There are eight- EIGHT!- GM's behind Beane who have won a WS. He has not. Yeah, yeah, the post-season is a crapshoot, but isn't the goal a WS championship? Or at least one of them? And no, I'm not saying he should be much lower. Just that I don't buy the #1 hype. He's done some dumb stuff too, just like every other name on that list. He's not infallible and I don't think he's #1.

Who do you put in front of him? He's had quite a string of success with significantly fewer resources than most of his playoff competition. I don't think there's much a GM can do to win the world series outside getting the best possible team and hoping that they can get through the short serieseseses(serii?) that make up the playoffs.

Maybe Beinfest or Schuerholz?

Transmogrified Tiger wrote:Who do you put in front of him? He's had quite a string of success with significantly fewer resources than most of his playoff competition. I don't think there's much a GM can do to win the world series outside getting the best possible team and hoping that they can get through the short serieseseses(serii?) that make up the playoffs.

Gillick and Schuerholz. In fact, Schuerholz is the unquestioned #1 in my mind. And yes, he's only won one in Atlanta.... but also has won one in Kansas City. Both have long track records of building winners. Beane might get there some day but he's not there yet.

I might put Jocketty ahead of Beane as well, though I think it's kind of a push with them.

RC21 wrote:

Transmogrified Tiger wrote:Who do you put in front of him? He's had quite a string of success with significantly fewer resources than most of his playoff competition. I don't think there's much a GM can do to win the world series outside getting the best possible team and hoping that they can get through the short serieseseses(serii?) that make up the playoffs.

Gillick and Schuerholz. In fact, Schuerholz is the unquestioned #1 in my mind. And yes, he's only won one in Atlanta.... but also has won one in Kansas City. Both have long track records of building winners. Beane might get there some day but he's not there yet.

I might put Jocketty ahead of Beane as well, though I think it's kind of a push with them.

I agree, especially with Schuerholz, yeah he only won one in Atlanta..that's one more than Beane.

RC21 wrote:

Transmogrified Tiger wrote:Who do you put in front of him? He's had quite a string of success with significantly fewer resources than most of his playoff competition. I don't think there's much a GM can do to win the world series outside getting the best possible team and hoping that they can get through the short serieseseses(serii?) that make up the playoffs.

Gillick and Schuerholz. In fact, Schuerholz is the unquestioned #1 in my mind. And yes, he's only won one in Atlanta.... but also has won one in Kansas City. Both have long track records of building winners. Beane might get there some day but he's not there yet.

I might put Jocketty ahead of Beane as well, though I think it's kind of a push with them.

I think Beane is #1 because of how innovative and influential he's been. Schuerholz is a fine pick through.

ToughGuy_BlueShirt wrote:I agree, especially with Schuerholz, yeah he only won one in Atlanta..that's one more than Beane.

That's some awful logic. Schuerholz has 1 title in 17 years as the Braves GM, Beane has only been around for 10 in Oakland. Never mind that Schuerholz doesn't have to compete with teams that can and do spend twice or three times as much as he's able to. Or the fact that WS titles aren't a very good barometer of a GM.

I can understand preferring someone like Schuerholz because he's got a longer track record. But to me the potential to do more with the gaps in their tenures is why I prefer Beane.