Forbes has ranked all the general managers with at least 3 years experience from the 4 major sports (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA). Detroit Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski came just about in the middle at 48th. In terms of baseball GMs though he did pretty well.
The highest rated baseball GM was Billy Beane at 26. Dombrowski ranked 9th among MLB general managers behind Beane, Minaya, Epstein, Sabean(?), Gillick, Schuerholz, Beinfest, and Jocketty.
If you’re wondering about the other Detroit general managers, only Joe Dumars garnered a favorable rank (9th). Red Wings GM Ken Holland came in 90th. Amazingly Matt Millen didn’t come in last (which is just one more reason to question the validity of the rankings), placing 96th out of 98 general managers.
Methodology
Hat Tip Baseball Think Factory
Wow. What a clearly worthless methodology.
How is Dombro behind Brian Sabean? How the hell is Kenny Holland at 90? And Kevin McHale is #1?
I guess winning championships isn’t a factor they considered.
If I were the editor at Forbes and saw those results, there is no way in hell I would’ve published them. It’s basically equivalent to convincing someone at the New York Times to write a story that there is scientific debate over global warming…oh wait…that did happen.
I think most fans can look at the results and see a worthless method…this proves what, exactly?
It favors small-to-medium size markets (payroll containment) who manage to remain somewhat competetive, often due to existing talent, but have never achieved the “next level,” because that would cause a spike in payroll…or a large market team that slashed payroll. Either way, the GM’s job is to spend wisely, not avoid spending for success.
Silly.
Yes, a real wasted exercise. Sabean caught my attention. The Sixers? Third? John Paxson beats Dumars? Dave Taylor and Bobby Clarke are unemployed. Even Elgin Baylor beat DD. Except for Millen near the bottom it looks like a joke. 18 of the top 30 have not won a championship. And I’m sure that ranking will help Glen Sather when the Rangers miss the playoffs, again. Terry Ryan at 53. I’d like to see Sabean deals with the Twins’ issues. Hah.
What a terrible and ridiculous list. Tim covered most of the problems with it.
To add to my previous comment… They have McHale ranked as the #1 GM in sports! That is ridiculous there isn’t an owner in the NBA that would take him over someone like Paxson, Dumars, or West.
Heck they have Vandeweghe listed you know who he is working for now? ESPN!
My top 5 in the MLB is Beane, Schuerholz, Ryan, Epstein, and Stoneman.
Minaya? Sabean? Not even in the discussion. The fact that they rank Flanagan only two spots behind Dombrowski overall shows how ridiculous this list is.
Looking through the list I see several people that have been fired or are under serious heat. It is pretty obvious to me they have no clue how to judge general manager success.
One word: Forbes.
Not exactly known as a bastion of critical analysis.
Millen not last!? Instantly, I know this is a joke. Dombrowski not in the top 20? All he has done is fill a constantly losing organization iwth lots of young talent to keep wining for the next 5 years. 53 huh?
Well, Buddha Edwards was 53, he was a pretty good player.
There was someone below Millen?