Tim Marchman at SI.com, who I’m not all too fond of, decided to waste a bunch of time by ranking all of baseball’s GMs because he knows lists are page view machines and he also realizes that it’ll drive me crazy.*

A few points where Marchman didn’t get it wrong [Ed. Note--See! I can be magnanimous] followed by the most egregious list inclusion I’ve ever seen:

1. Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay Rays. I agree that he has done wondrous things with a limited budget and the Rays are filled with talent both at the Major League Level. I will say this though: it’s never a good thing when you add $20M to your payroll ($43M in 2008, $63M in 2009) and then miss the playoffs after winning the AL Pennant the previous year. Still, not a bad choice. He would have been my #2.

2. Theo Epstein, Boston Red Sox. Far and away the greatest GM in all of baseball, maybe even the world. Forced to spend a lot of money to compete with a team who is wholly insensitive to the recession, Theo has managed to add talent without going overboard on spending. This is the first year a player on the Red Sox earned more than $14M. Great job, Theo. Give yourself a raise.

3. Brian Cashman, New York Yankees. Are you facking kidding me? What kind of horseshit is this? Cashman has been given a bottomless purse and free rein to steal any player from any team and that makes him a good GM? It takes finesse to do what Theo and Friedman do so to put Cashman in the same stratosphere as them is insulting to the fine art of wheeling and dealing. Cashman probably pays sticker price when he buys a new car. Cashman roots for the dealer in blackjack. Cashman won’t go to Mexican markets anymore because he’s tired of losing his shirt in the negotiation. [spits] If anything Cashman should be set aside in his own category: GMs it’s impossible to judge because they don’t have to work as hard as the rest of the league. With his payroll though, Cashman should have won more than one WS in the past 10 years. [smirks] Read the rest of this entry »

In his column the other day Peter Gammons gave a list of young players that impressed MLB GMs and front office people this Spring.  Making the list:

1. Mike Stanton (Red Sox offered Manny for him straight up)
2. Matt Weiters (#1 prospect in Orioles organization)
3. David Price (5 playoff appearances last year resulting in 1 ER over 5+ IP)
4. Carlos Santana (catcher of the future for the Indians)
5. Brian Matusz (4th overall pick)
6. Tommy Hanson (#1 prospect in Braves organization)
7. Pedro Alvarez (2nd overall pick)

The reason I bring this up is because everyone who’s been following baseball for the past few years has heard all of these names a million times.  These are not suprising names.  These are not names that make you say, “hmm…maybe the conventional wisdom is wrong.”  Really, David Price is impressive?  He pitched brilliantly in the only game the Rays won in the World Series last year.  He beat the might Red Sox twice.  But he’s impressing you in Spring Training?

Matt Weiters is impressive, huh?  I haven’t heard anyone else mention his name in the lead up to this season so I guess I’m going to have to take your word for it. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the first installment of Who’s Spending Money Wisely. I will try to get back to this often since one of my favorite parts about baseball is team development through drafting and trades. One of my favorite graphs on this subject can be found here.

While interesting on many levels–nice juxtaposition of salary ranking vs. league ranking over time–it is by no means perfect. For one thing, the only way the Yankees could get a blue line is if they were in first place since they have spent the most money (consider the Kansas City Royals on May 2nd). For another thing, who cares if you’re winning more than your respective slot if your team is still awful? That is, what difference does it make if the Pirates are the 6th worst team in Baseball and spent the 6th least amount of money? Does that make it okay? Are they getting an equal bang for their buck? Does that satisfy the citizens of Pittsburgh?

This graph does, however, do a nice job of showing who’s doing the most with the least. So far, we must commend the following teams: Florida, Oakland, Tampa, and Arizona. All of these teams are producing far beyond their financial expectations (we’ll get into their preseason expectations at a later time).

And of course, let’s not forget to chastise the poor spenders in the group. I’m looking at you, Yankees, Tigers, Mariners (?!?), and Padres. We expect it of New York and Detroit, especially after this past offseason, but San Diego and Seattle are surprises. First of all, I had no idea that Seattle spent almost $118 million this year. I know Adrian Beltre and Erik Bedard were living large, but that’s amazing. Secondly, the Padres are the worst team in the Majors right now. Worse than Washington and Pittsburgh and Kansas City. The worst. How many experts picked these guys to compete in the NL West based on pitching alone?

As a point of record, here is the graph for last year.

EDIT: Last year’s graph isn’t working, so here’s 2006.

Welcome to the first installment of Who’s Spending Money Wisely. I will try to get back to this often since one of my favorite parts about baseball is team development through drafting and trades. One of my favorite graphs on this subject can be found here.

While interesting on many levels–nice juxtaposition of salary ranking vs. league ranking over time–it is by no means perfect. For one thing, the only way the Yankees could get a blue line is if they were in first place since they have spent the most money (consider the Kansas City Royals on May 2nd). For another thing, who cares if you’re winning more than your respective slot if your team is still awful? That is, what difference does it make if the Pirates are the 6th worst team in Baseball and spent the 6th least amount of money? Does that make it okay? Are they getting an equal bang for their buck? Does that satisfy the citizens of Pittsburgh?

This graph does, however, do a nice job of showing who’s doing the most with the least. So far, we must commend the following teams: Florida, Oakland, Tampa, and Arizona. All of these teams are producing far beyond their financial expectations (we’ll get into their preseason expectations at a later time).

And of course, let’s not forget to chastise the poor spenders in the group. I’m looking at you, Yankees, Tigers, Mariners (?!?), and Padres. We expect it of New York and Detroit, especially after this past offseason, but San Diego and Seattle are surprises. First of all, I had no idea that Seattle spent almost $118 million this year. I know Adrian Beltre and Erik Bedard were living large, but that’s amazing. Secondly, the Padres are the worst team in the Majors right now. Worse than Washington and Pittsburgh and Kansas City. The worst. How many experts picked these guys to compete in the NL West based on pitching alone?

As a point of record, here is the graph for last year.

EDIT: Last year’s graph isn’t working, so here’s 2006.