Assessing the GMs, Part 1

So I had a fun idea to try to draw a parallel between the real AL and the fantasy AL. At least, my version of the fantasy AL. So I'm going to try to characterize each of the AL general managers in this blog, and then in Part 2, I'll say which manager most resembles which GM. Below is a listing of each AL GM. Note that this is a characterization of their tenure. I try not to cast judgement on whether they are a good GM or not. I am merely trying to boil down their tenure as GM to a few salient points.

AL East:

Brian Cashman - I've alway thought he was underrated. People assume that with a big payroll, anyone could do the job. But I find Cash to be very clever. He is known to decisively fill holes when he sees them (see the Abreu trade), and always seems to have a stacked offense. He doesn't fare quite as well with the pitching staff, occasionally chasing the bad/old free agent, and seems to have a hard time building a decent bullpen (beyond Mo at least).

Theo Epstein - Another guy with a big budget. Theo is prone to falling in love with guys, and once that happens, he eventually gets them (Coco Crisp, JD Drew, Daisuke Matsuzaka), not sure if this is a plus or a minus. He's also a guy who seems willing to go the extra mile. Theo sees a high turnover in his offense, especially infield, but generally is able to field a strong offensive club. Likewise, his bullpens are seemingly always in a state of flux, and he can't seem to nail down a closer for long. The starting rotation could be good, but has its questions (Schilling & Wakefield's age, Daisuke's transition to the US, Papelbon's shoulder woes, Beckett's continued transtition from the NL.)

Andrew Friedman - He's been on the job a fairly short time, so it's harder to get a read on him. Friedman, like his predecessor, seems to have a hard time swinging a trade for an obvious need. He has a stacked, up and coming young offense, but can't seem to compile anything like a quality pitching staff, either in the rotation or bullpen. He's known to hoard young players, even when he has a surplus at a position.

Mike Flanagan - It's hard to know how much of the Os struggles are his fault. His tenure has been characterized by overpaying older players. Some (Tejada) have lived up to their pay, others (Sosa) have not. He is hamstrung by bad ownership so I don't like to dump on him. Also, their incoming young players have had an up and down time of it (Hayden Penn, Adam Loewen, Daniel Cabrera, Erik Bedard), but there's some hope here for improvement.

JP Ricciardi - JP has appeared to overpay for pitching on occasion, but still can't seem to put a good staff together. Signing Burnett and Ryan was looked at as a big expenditure, but those moves have worked out. However, he can't seem to build the back half of a rotation, or a quality pen. On the offensive side, he has some blue chippers, however, the Jays have shown a propensity for trotting out truly awful offensive players at several positions each year (I'm looking at you Russ Adams).

AL Central

Dave Dombrowski - Before last season a Detroit columnist (Rob Parker) made the asinine assessment that Dumbo was the worst GM in Detroit Rock City. Not even close, Matt Millen runs laps around him in the suck ass department. All this is to say he's a good GM. He's turned around a moribund franchise (for which I will forever love him). His tenure has been characterized by building a team around young power ams. His tenure has also seen big money signings of older/injured players (Pudge Rodriguez, Magglio Ordonez, Kenny Rogers, Troy Percival). His offenses are generally solid but unspectacular, with no true superstar. The man also knows how to build a bullpen.

Kenny Williams - Kenny has really improved since he got the job. He used to be a sub-par GM, but now he's one of the better ones. Kenny's a guy who always seems to have a few irons in the fire. You can pretty much trust in Kenny to make one big trade every year, normally one that takes everyone by surprise. He's not one to sit on his laurels and is aggressive about improving his team. The team he's built is built around a strong, deep pitching staff, complimented by a balanced offense.

Dayton Moore - He's the new guy on the block so it's a bit hard to get a read on him. I like what he's done so far. He's unwilling to accept the status quo and has thrown caution to the winds that the Royals are going to aggressively try to improve. Most of his early tenure has involved trading older guys for young power arms and offensive players who haven't been given a real shot to contribute (Shealy). With 3 premier prospects on the way, it'll be interesting to see how the Royals look in a few years.

Mark Shapiro - He took over the Indians at the end of their dominant late 90's run. He was given the unenviable task of tearing it all down and rebuilding right and boy does it seem like he did a good job of it. His team is characterized by a powerful young lineup (albeit one that sometimes underachieves), and a decent rotation. Rotation depth still is a problem for the Tribe, as is their bullpen, which was just awful last year.

Terry Ryan - One of the best in the business, and maybe the most underrated. Terry drafts very well, and his teams are built around young homegrown talent. Always has one of the best bullpens around. His offenses are generally decent, but don't really have any big boppers. The starting rotation is headed by the best pitcher in baseball (Santana), and for a time last year, a worthy adversary to that title (Liriano). Beyond that, the rotation is questionable.

AL West

Bill Bavasi - Let's get this out there right away. I think Bill is the worst GM in baseball. But I'm not looking to assassinate his character, but to sum up his regime. Bavasi isn't afraid to make a splash, or to pay out big money free agent contracts. His problem is that he seems to pursue the wrong guys, and his free agent signings so far have been mediocre at best (Beltre, Sexson, Washburn). He can't seem to figure out how to augment the beginnings of a decent offense (Ichiro, Jose Lopez, Beltre, Sexson, Johjima) and has made some truly awful moves (acquiring Jose Vidro, he of the .395 slugging percentage last year, to be your DH is cringe-worthy). Bavasi also can't seem to put together a good rotation, and falls on shaky guys instead (Jeff Weaver, Horacio Ramirez).

Billy Beane - Everybody knows he "wrote" Moneyball about how much of a genius he was, and how all hitters should try to take walks. Joe Morgan's antiquated misunderstandings aside, Beane is regarded, rightfully, as one of the best. Beane's teams have been characterized by always seeming to be in contention, despite fairly consistent roster turnover through the years. The A's always have a good bullpen, and their hallmark is young, talented, starting rotations. The "Big Three" (Hudson, Mulder, Zito) may all be gone now, but the A's still have young studs in their starting rotation (Harden, Haren, Joe Kennedy - kidding about Joe!). On the offensive side, the A's, at least recently, don't blow you away, but they always have enough there to get the job done. And they like to take walks. And hit home runs. And they hate stealing bases. And they hate drafting high school players. Sorry, just venting on some of the misconceptions of Moneyball.

Bill Stoneman - Bill Stoneman likes the players that he drafts. Stoneman's regime has been a big success, the Angels are consistent contenders. However, Bill Stoneman can be accused of hoarding his prospects too long. For that matter, he can be accused of hoarding his veterans too long, well after they should've pushed them out the door (thank god for their sake Darin Erstad is finally off the team). Stoneman's a guy who can put together a bullpen, probably better than anyone else. He seems to turn up a guy or two each year and get great success out of them (remember herky jerky Ben Weber?). Similarly, he always seems to have a good starting staff. Angels offense are generally good, with at least one or two millstones each year (this year's stiff is Garret Anderson).

Jon Daniels - Daniels hasn't been on the job all that long either, so an opinion is still being formed. Daniels has a nice young offensive nucleus to build around (Teixeira, Young, the ghost of Hank Blalock's potential) but man, that rotation always needs help. The Rangers just cannot seem to figure out how to trot a decent pitching staff out there. Good offense, bad pitching, is the story of this team.

Alright, that's a rundown of the GMs, soon I'll be drawing parallels between real world GMs, and fantasy GMs. This is guaranteed to draw the ire of at least one of my fellow managers, so that should be fun.