As any Cubs, Red Sox, Angels, Padres or Orioles fan will tell you, the last few months have featured more than their share of general manager turnover. This summer’s trade deadline doesn’t seem so long ago, yet six teams have replaced their GMs since then. MLB's ‘new’ GMs include two first-time general managers and two others who have been at it for decades.
Thanks to Baseball America's executive database, I’ve compiled a list designed to show when and where each team’s top executive got his first GM job (not including interim positions). I'm using the term 'GM' loosely; many of the executives below have different titles on their business cards. Apologies to Michael Hill and Jed Hoyer, the two GMs who report to their clubs’ respective presidents of baseball operations. They aren’t on this list below, but interim Twins GM Terry Ryan appears because of his previous experience running Minnesota's baseball operations department.
Here's the list of baseball's longest-tenured general managers, plus the teams with which they got their first GM jobs:
- Sandy Alderson, Athletics, 1983
- Dave Dombrowski, Expos, 1988
- Dan Duquette, Expos, 1991
- Doug Melvin, Rangers, 1994
- Terry Ryan, Twins, 1994
- Walt Jocketty, Cardinals, 1994
- Kevin Towers, Padres, 1995
- Brian Sabean, Giants, 1996
- Billy Beane, Athletics, 1997
- Brian Cashman, Yankees, 1998
- Ed Wade, Phillies, 1998
- Frank Wren, Orioles, 1998
- Dan O'Dowd, Rockies, 1999
- Kenny Williams, White Sox, 2000
- Larry Beinfest, Marlins, 2002
- Theo Epstein, Red Sox, 2002
- Jon Daniels, Rangers, 2005
- Andrew Friedman, Rays, 2005
- Ned Colletti, Dodgers, 2005
- Josh Byrnes, Diamondbacks, 2005
- Dayton Moore, Royals, 2006
- Neal Huntington, Pirates, 2007
- John Mozeliak, Cardinals, 2007
- Jack Zduriencik, Mariners, 2008
- Ruben Amaro, Jr., Phillies, 2008
- Mike Rizzo, Nationals, 2009
- Alex Anthopoulos, Blue Jays, 2009
- Chris Antonetti, Indians, 2010
- Ben Cherington, Red Sox, 2011
- Jerry Dipoto, Angels, 2011
Brian Sabean has spent the most time running his current team. He, Billy Beane, Brian Cashman, Dan O’Dowd and Kenny Williams are the five GMs to have held their current positions for at least a decade.
