Some threads linking these young execs, as described in a recent USA Today feature story, seem to be an Ivy League (or other eastern elite) education and a non-playing background. They and the next generation of GMs are described as bringing a refreshing, outside-the-box view to a stuffy game.

What’s new about that? Fifteen years ago, Tigers’ president, Dave Dombrowski, then 31, blazed that same trail with the Expos in an era in which former major-league players dominated the profession and statistical analysis was in its infancy.