Top 5 Worst GMs in Baseball

[fifawcs]

I just felt like starting this thread to see people's personal choices. Try to stick to current GMs. Here are my top 5 with number 1 being the worst:

1. Neal Huntington (Pirates)
2. Jim Bowden (Nationals)
3. Brian Sabean (Giants)
4. Dayton Moore (Royals)
5. Dave Dombrowski (Tigers)

[mtneer1212]

Neal Huntington the worst? He has been there one year, and has traded Bay and Nady for a decent bounty. Way too early to pass judgement, let alone call him the worst. His predessor, Dave Littlefield, could be called the worst, but not Huntington. As a Pirate fan, I finally see a hope that there is an end to futility in 3-4 years.

[element1286]

No way Huntington is the worst. The Pirates finally have a plan. I agree with the other 4, and would add Ned Coletti (Dodgers).

[etothep]

Sabean would be at the top of my list

[Willie Bee]

I'd put Bowden No. 1 and give the new guy in Pittsburgh more time to prove or hang himself. Sabean I wouldn't argue with ahead of Bowden.

[fifawcs]

It was hard determining who the worst of the GMs is. I chose huntington based on his moves this trade deadline. How can you say those trades were good? I knew of all the free agents he got in return for Nady and Marte. None of them are anything special. Karstens sucks. The only one who could be alright is Ohlendorf. In return for bay, he got Andy Laroche (sucks), Brandon Moss (nothing special), Craig Hansen (has absolutely no control of his 95 mph fastball, and Bryan Morris (not enough info on him). To me, that seems like a bad trade, especially since Bay is only 30 and gave them a sick offense. Before those trades, the pirates had one of the better offenses in the league. Marte is a solid left handed reliever. Now the Pirates have a depleted bullpen, a much worse offense, and little starting pitching. They have nothing.

Sabean is pretty bad as well. I was considering Colletti for the number 5 spot, but he doesn't seem as bad compared to the rest of his division.

[element1286]

It was hard determining who the worst of the GMs is. I chose huntington based on his moves this trade deadline. How can you say those trades were good? I knew of all the free agents he got in return for Nady and Marte. None of them are anything special. Karstens sucks. The only one who could be alright is Ohlendorf. In return for bay, he got Andy Laroche (sucks), Brandon Moss (nothing special), Craig Hansen (has absolutely no control of his 95 mph fastball, and Bryan Morris (not enough info on him). To me, that seems like a bad trade, especially since Bay is only 30 and gave them a sick offense. Before those trades, the pirates had one of the better offenses in the league. Marte is a solid left handed reliever. Now the Pirates have a depleted bullpen, a much worse offense, and little starting pitching. They have nothing.

Sabean is pretty bad as well. I was considering Colletti for the number 5 spot, but he doesn't seem as bad compared to the rest of his division.

Ohlendorf possible three starter, Karstens/McCutchen possible 4/5/6 starters, Tabata possible star, LaRoche top prospect who never got a chance, Hansen good stuff/project, Morris number 1 starter stuff, Moss 4th outfielder. The problem with your assessments is that all the players the Pirates got are still in/just above prospect status, and to judge a trade like that after so little time is wrong.

Karstens/McCutchen/Ohlendorf will be competing for a spot in the rotation next year. Tabata will be start the season at AA at the age of 20, after having a great second half.

LaRoche could be Carlos Quentin next year, he was a top prospect who got hurt and never got a chance, the Pirates bought low. Moss could be a decent 4th OF or fringe starter. If Hansen figures it out he could be dominant. And Morris has the potential to be a number 1 starter.

That for a very good player in Bay, and for two above average players in Nady/Marte. As far as getting quality/quantity it was a great trade. The reality of baseball forces teams like the Pirates to build through their system. They weren't winning anything with the team they had in place, NH sold high and bought low. The Pirates have a plan. This was a Billy Beane type trade.

[cobra_king]

1) J.P Riccardi
2) J.P Riccardi
3) J.P Riccardi
4) J.P Riccardi
5) J.P Riccardi

and for good measure

6) J.P. Riccardi

[element1286]

1) J.P Riccardi
2) J.P Riccardi
3) J.P Riccardi
4) J.P Riccardi
5) J.P Riccardi

and for good measure

6) J.P. Riccardi

Yea, he is pretty bad.

[fifawcs]

I don't think he is bad enough to be one of the worst. He puts together one of the best pitching staffs in the majors each year. As for the Huntington trade, I may be wrong abotu some fo the guys. But from what I have gathered, it doesn't seem too good. Laroche sucks. I don't care what you say. His brother is much better. The way I see how the trade went down, the Pirates traded quality for quantity. Of the pitchers, Ohlendorf is the only one with promise. Tabata hasn't proven anything in the majors yet. It seems like Huntington traded a feared offense for a bunch of unproven guys. He should have at least focused on pitching or offense alone when making those trades instead of trying to get everyone.

[element1286]

Laroche sucks. I don't care what you say. His brother is much better.

Did you see what he did in the minors? You are going to judge a guy after getting 300 ab's in the majors, some of which he was hurt, and only 160 as a regular.

The way I see how the trade went down, the Pirates traded quality for quantity. Of the pitchers, Ohlendorf is the only one with promise.

Quanity and quality, McCutchen, Karstens, Hansen, Moss fit into the quantity mold. Tabata, Morris, LaRoche, Ohlendorf fit into the quality mold. Traded three players whom they weren't going to sign, and should not have signed, and got eight in return.

Tabata hasn't proven anything in the majors yet.

Yea, cause he is a prospect. He is 20 and in AA. Not many guys are that advanced at that age.

It seems like Huntington traded a feared offense for a bunch of unproven guys.

Do you even realize how teams with low budgets win? They don't sign veterans to second contracts, Cleveland, Minnesota, Milwaukee and Oakland. They flip their guys when they are about to get their second deals.

He should have at least focused on pitching or offense alone when making those trades instead of trying to get everyone.

When you have one of the 5 worst farm systems in baseball quantity is important.

[cobra_king]

Riccardi's only positive in regards to the pitching staff is the bullpen. He has been able to find guys pretty much off the scrapheap and cobble together a pretty good bullpen. As for the starters, Halliday was already there, Burnett had a solid 2008 but has been a mediocre pitcher at best in his other two years at an extremely hefty price tag. Marcum and Mcgowan were never part of his pitching plans, and he was only forced to use them when an injury took out Chacin in 2007, and his scrapheap guys Tomo Okho, John Thompson and Victor Zambrano failed to stick. That's right, he had such little faith in Marcum and Mcgowan that he brought in these 3 stiffs in spring training and put them ahead of Marcum and Mcgowan on the depth chart. His coup de grace however was paying Reid Johnson and Frank Thomas about $13 million between them to play for other teams. And of course the original signing of Frank Thomas in the first place. He's a joke and worthy of all 5 spots in the poll.

[bigboydan]

The Pirates finally have a plan.

They have been saying that for the last 16 losing seasons though sir.

[rjt721]

No Omar Minaya?

[Richkas]

The Cards new GM is horrible. All he does is kiss butt.

[Sinister Cat]

How about Jon Daniels? He stands out, to me, as being the worst:

* Alfonso Soriano for Wilkerson & Armando Galarraga
* Chris Young & Adrian Gonzalez for Adam Eaton (!!!!)
* Teixera for Saltalamacchia

[element1286]

How about Jon Daniels? He stands out, to me, as being the worst:

* Alfonso Soriano for Wilkerson & Armando Galarraga
* Chris Young & Adrian Gonzalez for Adam Eaton (!!!!)
* Teixera for Saltalamacchia

He has built up an impressive farm system though. But I agree he has made some poor deals.

[element1286]

No Omar Minaya?

Oh yea, he is awful. Good call.

[element1286]

They have been saying that for the last 16 losing seasons though sir.

Yes and no. Littlefield/Bonifay were incapable of executing any type of plan. We shall see how NH does, but he is getting more help from ownership than anytime in the past 16 years.

[Bluehorseshoe]

No Omar Minaya?

The worst. All he's done is spend money the previous GM wasn't allowed to. He throws over 100 million at Beltran and over 100 million at Johan and still can't out of the division.

He picks up an 8 million dollar option on Moises Alou after he was hurt half of the previous season. So what happens? Moises follows it up by missing a whole season due to injury. That's so surprising for a player in his 40's.


Minaya is a joke.

[Chi_archie]

If you are a GM for Pittsburgh, you are in the top 5 worst GM's... just by saying yes to that position.

I got excited when Bonifay took over, I was hopeful when Littleyield took over, I'm not expecting too much from a new GM anymore...

Syd Thrift... now there was a GM

[St. Andrew]

I knew Dayton Moore would be on here, but he shouldn't be...Royals have turned the corner

[rjt721]

I knew Dayton Moore would be on here, but he shouldn't be...Royals have turned the corner

Trading Nunez for Mike Jacobs was atrocious. Similarly, giving Jose Guillen $36 million was laughable and a complete waste of KC's limited resources.

[Immortality]

No way Huntington is the worst. The Pirates finally have a plan. I agree with the other 4, and would add Ned Coletti (Dodgers).

Agreed Coletti is a horrible GM.

[Victor]

I don't have the list but I completely agree Neal Huntington is the most horrible amongst all the horrible ones... don't wanna see him on the television even

[Deuce]

No way Dombroski makes the list. A huge improvement of the Tigers.

[fifawcs]

Dombrowski sucks. He was given one of the larger payrolls to work with and only focused on offense. That's why their team sucked this year. Pitching had always been a problem for the tigers in past seasons. Yet, he planned on sticking with the same starters and bullpen guys. Todd Jones has always been a shitty closer. It took him this year to finally figure that out.

Element, I am a Yankees fan and know a good amount about some of the youngsters that were apart of that deal. To me, Tabata is not worth anything. He may show promise, but when you are that low in the farm system, it seems hard to base a trade around someone as unproven as that. I happen to like Jack Wilson at SS and I think it will be a mistake if they trade him for crap. I am not arguing against trading Bay, Nady, and Marte. I am against him trading those guys for very little in return. Marte could have definitely gotten a lot of value on the market down the stretch with so many teams in need of bullpen help. The Mets could have given a top prospect for him. Nady and Bay were two powerhouses in the outfield. If the Pirates traded those guys for some quality pitching prospects, then maybe they would be fine. Instead, they get Ohlendorf (who I like) and a bunch of other guys who aren't great. Hansen has no control. If the Pirates were known for their coaching staff, then maybe I would understand the move. But what makes you think that he will become a late inning reliever with the Pirates. This team needs to take a page out of the Rays book and focus on solid pitching and defense. I like Sanchez and Wilson. I think they should re-sign Mienkiewicz and keep him at third, at least until Andy LaRoche can prove himself. And I like Adam LaRoche. Moss is nothing special in the outfield. Just a decent player.

I guess I would consider Minaya average. He made a good trade with the Nationals that brought Church and Schneider to New York. That at least proved to me that he is capable of more than just buying players.

Colletti isn't that great, but you can't argue with his trade deadline acquisitions that sent the Dodgers to the NLCS.

Dayton Moore is terrible. He traded away a late inning reliever who showed much promise for a slow, bad defensive first baseman. His power numbers from this past season were merely an aberration. Plus, he struck out a lot. DM did this knowing that his team already had 3 first basemen. Now they have 4 1st basemen and one less quality reliever. He also traded a good reliever by the name of Ramon Ramirez for Coco Crisp. Coco is crap. He doesn't hit well, all he can do is track balls down. He has no arm strength.


Jon Daniels isn't a bad GM. He has managed to build up a stacked farm system. He had one of the best offenses in the game this past season with much less of a budget than the Tigers. Mozeliak, the new Cards GM, is doing a fine job in my opinion. He is shopping Ludwick, which is smart. Ludwick will not have a season as good as this past one. He is shopping him while his stock is high. I agreed with his re-signing Lohse, since he is still young and shows promise.

[element1286]

Element, I am a Yankees fan and know a good amount about some of the youngsters that were apart of that deal. To me, Tabata is not worth anything.

I don't understand how you can say Tabata is not worth anything. There are plenty of prospects who have a tough time in their first year of AA, especially when they are 19. I think he has shown his talent is no mistake when he put up a .964 OPS after joining the Pirates.

He may show promise, but when you are that low in the farm system, it seems hard to base a trade around someone as unproven as that.

You seem to basing a lot off of it considering you said he was the worst GM in baseball. And this trade being the main reason.

I happen to like Jack Wilson at SS and I think it will be a mistake if they trade him for crap.

Depends on the return.

Marte could have definitely gotten a lot of value on the market down the stretch with so many teams in need of bullpen help. The Mets could have given a top prospect for him.

They wouldn't give a top prospect for Fuentes, why would they have given one for Marte?

Nady and Bay were two powerhouses in the outfield.

Bay, very good player, top 5 LF in the league, the Pirates got 4 players in return for him.

Nady, above average player, doubtful that he hits for that high an average, or that much power again. But he is certainly a good player.

If the Pirates traded those guys for some quality pitching prospects, then maybe they would be fine. Instead, they get Ohlendorf (who I like) and a bunch of other guys who aren't great.

I certainly don't agree with that. Ohlendorf, McCutchen, Karstens will all be battling for a rotation spot. If one of them becomes a regular in the rotation it is a win for the Pirates. That is the reality of prospects. Get enough of them, and see what sticks.

Hansen has no control. If the Pirates were known for their coaching staff, then maybe I would understand the move. But what makes you think that he will become a late inning reliever with the Pirates.

Sometimes guys just need to change scenery. If he doesn't work out then move on, if he does great, classic low risk/high reward type.

This team needs to take a page out of the Rays book and focus on solid pitching and defense.

They acquired 5 pitchers in those two deals.

I like Sanchez and Wilson.

They are alright.

I think they should re-sign Mienkiewicz and keep him at third, at least until Andy LaRoche can prove himself.

Andy LaRoche deserves every opportunity to prove himself at the major league level. 150 abs as a regular is not enough to know if the guy can play or not. If Meinkiewicz comes back he will be a super-sub like last year.

And I like Adam LaRoche.

He is decent.

Moss is nothing special in the outfield. Just a decent player.

Agreed.

[fifawcs]

Like I said, they went for quantity over quality. Karstens is not good. He is extremely streaky. He will have his occasional hot streak followed by a longer cold one. That's why he almost no hit the Dbacks, but sucked after that. Nady has been good throughout his career. The only concern is his health. If he stays healthy, he is a great outfielder. I think alternating Andy LaRoche with Mienkiewicz at third is a good idea. I don't know enough about McCutcheon to make judgments about him, but I'm pretty sure Ohlendorf was the center of that deal. Your justification for this deal is that they are low risk pickups. I don't see how they are low risk if the Pirates gave up their very good offense for a bunch of players that aren't anything special. If there are thousands of prospects out there, the chances that one of them proves himself is slim. So how can you expect these players to all pan out. If 1 pans out, which is what I predict, then they are worse off since they gave up their awesome offense.

The reason why the Mets wouldn't give up for Fuentes at the deadline was that they weren't 100% sure they needed relief help that badly. Remember, the Mets didn't collapse until september. Also, the Rockies wanted a lot more in return since they were still contenders in the NL West. The Pirates were way out of the race.

I am not against trading Wilson, since he's getting older and more expensive. But if they screw this up, I will be very pissed at huntington. As far as im concerned, their front office doesn't have their priorities in order. They are just signing as much as they can. Did you hear about those two indian guys they signed? Or that south african? I think it's great that they are trying to promote international expansion, but they are wasting their time on these moves when they should be worrying about their atrocious bullpen and starting 5. Zach Duke, Dumatrait, Gorzelanny, Snell, and one of the guys they acquired isn't that bad, but any close game will be blown by the bullpen. I like Matt Capps, but since getting rid of Marte, the only other somewhat reliable guy in that pen is Grabow.

Tabata may pan out, but even if he were to pan out, it will not happen quickly. You and huntington are justifying these moves by saying "they are for the long term" and "they are low risk/high reward." No long term plan will ever be successful without a solid foundation. The Rays had a solid foundation in Crawford, Upton and Delmon Young. Although Young got traded, Garza and Bartlett came in return. Then bringing up Longoria helped also. It was the acquiring of these players that led them to a world series. The Pirates have no one close to these guys in their system. If they had been smarter with Bay, Nady, and Marte, maybe they would have a Rays-type run.

If you want my opinion on a team that is doing it right, look at the Pirates' long time division rivals: The Reds. They are a solid team that is building their team around solid pitching and defense. They will be a surprise team in the NL Central next season, you wait and see.

[TWEETS]

Dayton Moore shouldnt be on the list. He made decent trades for Jacobs and Crisp. Add power on the corners and speed in between. Yeah we have a lot of first baseman but none of them were a definite answer there. We have trade bait now. I will trust Moore with trading pitching because he does know what he is doing there. The Guillen signing wasnt bad at all, he had 20 homers, 100 rbis and lead the league in doubles most of the year. He gave KC a threat in the middle of the lineup for the first time in a while.

[purecarnagge]

I just felt like starting this thread to see people's personal choices. Try to stick to current GMs. Here are my top 5 with number 1 being the worst:

1. Neal Huntington (Pirates)
2. Jim Bowden (Nationals)
3. Brian Sabean (Giants)
4. Dayton Moore (Royals)
5. Dave Dombrowski (Tigers)

tigers just played in a world series so no...
Royals don't have the payroll to do anything...or make any moves other than give up stuff for $$
Giants are still moving past barry bonds....
Nationals don't even have a owner...
Pirates don't have a owner willing to pay the $$$ to be good...same thing as the royals

[fifawcs]

Those are bs reasons. There are plenty of teams with little money that do just fine. Look at the A's, Marlins, Rockies, Rays, Twins to name a few. Jacobs and Crisp suck. Those were two of the worst trades a young team like the Royals could make. Jacobs is not worth anything except the occasional homer. Crisp is just speed. He has no arm and doesn't hit too well. They got them for two great relievers with promise. Now, the Royals went from having a decent pen to no pen at all with the exception of Soria.


Just because the Tigers played in the World Series doesn't mean their GM was the reason why. First of all, they lost to the Cards, who had a really weak team in '06. The Tigers are merely a team of overpaid sluggers. Verlander is the only solid guy in their starting 5. The rest are all old besides Galarraga. And their pen is absolutely atrocious. So don't tell me they have a great GM.

If success in baseball was directly related to amount of money spent, then the Yankees would win every year. The small market teams have prospects, which are just as good as money. There are plenty of small market teams that excel. The Mariners have one of the higher payrolls in the league and they managed to be one of the worst this past season. And how can you say the Giants moving past Bonds is any excuse for the way their team has been playing. Sabean just signs guys like Zito to ridiculous contracts and they don't pan out. He has two things going for him: Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. I also like Fred Lewis. But that team is in bad shape. The organization is also to blame because they aren't inspiring a competitive spirit in a team that desperately needs one.

[Bluehorseshoe]

Minaya is going to give K-Rod 37 million. This needing a left fielder, middle relief, starters...etc.


Now they have a shot at the wild card.