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Baseball’s Longest-Tenured GMs

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It’s been an unusually quiet offseason for general manager turnover — so far. The Rockies re-structured their baseball operations department, the Marlins are mulling changes, and the White Sox are expected to promote two top executives. Otherwise, it’s been relatively slow, with no dismissals midway through a month that’s often filled with GM turnover.

Using Baseball America's executive database I’ve compiled a list of baseball’s longest-tenured general managers. The list shows how long GMs have been with their current teams, not when they got their first gig running a team. That list would look different, with Dave Dombrowski, Sandy Alderson and Dan Duquette at the top (I'm using the term 'GM' loosely; some of the executives below have different titles on their business cards). 

The Bay Area has two of the sport’s three longest-tenured GMs in Brian Sabean and Billy Beane. There's been lots of turnover in the past five years, as nearly half (14) of baseball's GMs were hired in that time. Here's the complete list:

  1. Terry Ryan, Twins, 1994 (stepped aside from 2007-11)
  2. Brian Sabean, Giants, 1996
  3. Billy Beane, Athletics, 1997
  4. Brian Cashman, Yankees, 1998
  5. Dan O'Dowd, Rockies, 1999 (Bill Geivett assumes many GM duties as Sr. VP of Major League operations)
  6. Kenny Williams, White Sox, 2000 (expected to be promoted, replaced by Rick Hahn)
  7. Larry Beinfest, Marlins, 2002
  8. Dave Dombrowski, Tigers, 2002
  9. Doug Melvin, Brewers, 2002
  10. Jon Daniels, Rangers, 2005
  11. Andrew Friedman, Rays, 2005
  12. Ned Colletti, Dodgers, 2005
  13. Dayton Moore, Royals, 2006
  14. Neal Huntington, Pirates, 2007
  15. Frank Wren, Braves, 2007
  16. John Mozeliak, Cardinals, 2007
  17. Walt Jocketty, Reds, 2008
  18. Jack Zduriencik, Mariners, 2008
  19. Ruben Amaro, Jr., Phillies, 2008
  20. Mike Rizzo, Nationals, 2009
  21. Alex Anthopoulos, Blue Jays, 2009
  22. Kevin Towers, Diamondbacks, 2010
  23. Chris Antonetti, Indians, 2010
  24. Sandy Alderson, Mets, 2010
  25. Jed Hoyer, Cubs, 2011
  26. Josh Byrnes, Padres, 2011
  27. Jerry Dipoto, Angels, 2011
  28. Jeff Luhnow, Astros, 2011
  29. Ben Cherington, Red Sox, 2011
  30. Dan Duquette, Orioles, 2011

Check out MLBTR's 2010 series on the reaction each GM generated upon taking his first GM job: AL East, AL Central, AL West, NL East, NL Central, NL West.

Latest On Boston’s Managerial Search

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Padres special assistant Brad Ausmus and Dodgers third base coach Tim Wallach are candidates for Boston's managerial opening, but the former MLB stars aren’t the only ones being considered for the position. Here’s the latest news on the managerial search…

  • Wallach was “very impressive” in his interview with the Red Sox, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter). It’s not clear if Wallach’s interview will be enough to land him the job, however.
  • DeMarlo Hale's interview will take place Thursday, according to Tim Britton of the Providence Journal (on Twitter). Ausmus will interview Wednesday, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter).
  • Alex Speier of WEEI.com provides a complete rundown of Tony Pena, the Yankees coach who's a candidate for Boston's managerial job.
  • The Red Sox will interview Yankees bench coach Tony Pena today, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. The 55-year-old managed the Royals from 2002-05 before joining the Yankees, who have today off and will resume the ALCS in Detroit on Tuesday.
  • The Red Sox have plans to interview Hale, the Orioles' third base coach, for the position at some point this week, according to Bradford.
  • Joe Torre said he has no plans to manage and isn't a candidate for the Red Sox position, John Tomase of the Boston Herald reports. Nick Cafardo reported yesterday that there's talk Torre would consider managing again.

How To Use MLBTR

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An explanation of the many ways to enjoy MLB Trade Rumors:

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Reds Extend Dusty Baker

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The Reds announced that they've agreed to a two-year contract extension with manager Dusty Baker (Twitter link). Baker, whose previous contract expired at the end of the 2012 season, will be under contract through 2014 on his new deal.

Dusty Baker - Reds (PW)

The Giants eliminated the Reds from the playoffs last week after a season that included 97 regular season wins and the NL Central title. Baker, who has managed the Reds since 2008, recently missed some time after suffering a mini-stroke. However, both sides have maintained interest in working out a new deal.

The Reds have won the NL Central twice since Baker was hired, and their overall winning percentage for the five year period is .517.  The 63-year-old earned $3.5MM per season on his first contract with Cincinnati. In 19 seasons managing the Giants, Cubs and Reds, Baker has a 1581-1432 record, one NL pennant and three Manager of the Year awards.

General manager Walt Jocketty has said the contract situations of the team's coaches will be addressed once Baker's situation is resolved.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

 

AL Central Notes: Tigers, Valverde, Twins

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The Tigers, now just two wins away from advancing to the World Series, have the day off before hosting the Yankees in Detroit tomorrow night. Here are some links from the only division in baseball that did not feature a 90-win team in 2012…

  • Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski built Detroit's starting rotation for the postseason and it's working, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com writes. "These four guys have the capability of shutting down anyone when they're throwing good," Dombrowski said of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister and Anibal Sanchez.
  • John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press examines the dynamic between Jose Valverde, the closer who can no longer be relied upon, and Jim Leyland, the manager who must juggle egos and matchups as a result of Valverde's poor performances. In my opinion Valverde's free agent stock has diminished considerably this past month. If MLB executives share this view, agent Scott Boras could have difficulty finding serious interest in his new client.
  • Twins senior director of minor league operations Jim Rantz announced that he will retire at the end of the year, the team announced. Rantz, 75, has been a member of the Twins' organization since its inception in 1961.

Arbitration Eligibles: Colorado Rockies

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The Rockies are next in our 2013 Arbitration Eligibles series.  Matt Swartz's salary projections are below.

With an 8.19 ERA in the Majors, Outman seems a candidate to be non-tendered.  Herrera had a rough year with multiple DL stints, and could be cut loose as well.  On the other hand, neither player projects to make even a million bucks, so if the Rockies prefer to keep their options open, they could be retained.

Chacin, slated as the Rockies' number two starter entering the season, was optioned to Triple-A by May.  His early struggles may have been due to a pectoral issue, about which he was less than forthcoming.  After Chacin rejoined the rotation in late August, he posted a 2.84 ERA, 4.7 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, and 0.61 HR/9 in nine starts.  The strikeout and walk rates aren't encouraging, but there's no doubt Chacin will be tendered a contract for 2013.

Colvin's service time is right at the projected cutoff of two years and 139 days, so if that holds up he'll be arbitration eligible as a Super Two.  He had a great year, at least at Coors Field, and started at least 18 games at three different positions.  He'll enter next year with a prominent role on the Rockies.

Fowler had the best offensive year of his career, though he too was much better at Coors.  Only three center fielders had a better OPS, though the advanced defensive metrics rated Fowler poorly.  There's still enough here to merit an extension, which MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith discussed at length in late August.  If Fowler is not extended, his somewhat low counting stats will limit his arbitration raise.

Assuming only Chacin, Fowler, and Colvin are retained, the Rockies are looking at an estimated $7.5MM for three arbitration eligible players.

Matt Swartz's arbitration projections are available exclusively at MLB Trade Rumors.  To read more about his projection model, check out this series of posts.

Offseason Outlook: Arizona Diamondbacks

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The Diamondbacks will look to reinforce the left side of their infield and acquire starting pitching depth while weighing trades for their outfielders.

Guaranteed Contracts 

Arbitration Eligible Players (estimated salaries)

Contract Options

Free Agents

Some general managers prefer to keep their offseason plans private, speaking in abstractions instead of specifics and offering up vague or evasive answers. It’s their prerogative, of course, and a case can be made that controlling information leads to a competitive advantage. At the same time, it’s a whole lot simpler to listen to someone like Kevin Towers outline an offseason plan.

Justin Upton - Diamondbacks (PW)

When Towers recently explained his goals to Barry Bloom of MLB.com he didn’t leave much to the imagination. The Diamondbacks will pursue veteran pitching via trades, look for upgrades on the left side of the infield, trade an outfielder and exercise J.J. Putz’s option. As for the team’s payroll, Towers said it could rise as high as $85MM or so. 

Longtime Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew leads a relatively unremarkable class of free agent shortstops, but he's "probably not" coming back to Arizona in the words of his former GM. If Towers looks to free agency for solutions on the left side of the infield, players such as Marco Scutaro and Kevin Youkilis could catch his attention. Yet the trade market might offer more variety, especially if Towers looks to acquire a long-term answer. Shortstops such as Elvis Andrus, Yunel Escobar or Jed Lowrie could draw trade interest from Arizona this offseason if Towers decides to bypass the free agent market.

Toward the end of the regular season, the Diamondbacks seemed content to rely on internal options at third base, and they have a fallback plan of using Chris Johnson (vs. RHP) and Cody Ransom (vs. LHP). Staying within the organization at shortstop seems less likely, as Willie Bloomquist and John McDonald aren't viewed as everyday options at the position.

Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, their most prominent organizational strength — outfield depth — happens to be a strength of the upcoming free agent market. There will still be demand for Arizona's outfielders, and at least one of Justin Upton, Chris Young, Jason Kubel and Gerardo Parra figures to be traded. The presence of Adam Eaton and A.J. Pollock means Towers can — and should — explore potential trades.

Upton, the 25-year-old right fielder whose name surfaced in trade rumors all summer long, would likely bring the most substantial return. The Rangers, Mariners, Mets are a few of the many teams that could have interest in completing a deal for Upton. The former first overall selection battled thumb injuries this past season, before finishing strong, with six September home runs. Towers knows Upton could play at an MVP level again as soon as next year, but the GM can't justify an exorbitant asking price for a player whose overall performance was good but not great in 2012. It means the Diamondbacks could keep Upton and trade someone else.

Kubel would draw interest coming off of a 30-home run season. So would Young despite a so-so season at the plate. And Parra, the youngest and most affordable of the three with a projected salary in the $2MM range, would appeal to many teams as well. Towers and other top Diamondbacks executives will have to weigh numerous possibilities with so many trade candidates to choose from — it's a good problem to have.

The Diamondbacks could seek an experienced starting pitcher in a trade for an outfielder. Though they have an assortment of promising young starting pitchers, Towers has said he'd like to acquire a veteran starter this winter. Rival teams will no doubt have interest in the likes of Tyler Skaggs, Patrick Corbin and Trevor Bauer, but to this point there's been no indication those young starters will be available. While manager Kirk Gibson figures to enter Spring Training with an enviable selection of starting rotation options, such depth can disappear quickly so it'd be imprudent to make moves based on the assumption that the rotation will always seem so deep.

Josh Johnson, a ground ball pitcher with one year remaining on his contract, might appeal to the Diamondbacks, who pursued top-of-the-rotation arms this past summer. His $13.75MM salary could be prohibitive, so a pitcher like Jon Niese might be preferable.

Reliever J.J. Putz will return, assuming the Diamondbacks exercise his 2013 option, as expected. Retaining a shutdown reliever for one additional season at a net price of $5MM makes sense for Arizona. As challenging as it can be to predict reliever performances accurately, the right-hander adds lots of value and the Diamondbacks can afford the $6.5MM commitment. Conversely, Matt Lindstrom's option could safely be declined. The hard-throwing right-hander looks more like a $2MM player in this market, so it'd be unnecessarily expensive to exercise his option at $4MM. Instead, free agents like Jeremy Affeldt, Randy Choate and Tim Byrdak could appeal to Towers, who has indicated he's interested in adding left-handed relief.

The Diamondbacks have committed approximately $55MM to next year's payroll, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts. This gives them $20-30MM to work with, using Towers' estimate of next year's payroll. About half of that sum would go to the team's arbitration eligible players, assuming Brad Ziegler, Matt Albers, Chris Johnson, Gerardo Parra and Ian Kennedy are tendered contracts. That scenario has Arizona non-tendering Ransom, Wil Nieves, Mike Zagurski and Brad Bergesen instead of retaining them for another year.

Though Kennedy didn't appear to have interest in an extension last offseason, the Diamondbacks could explore the possibility of a new contract with agent Scott Boras this winter. Towers might also ask Aaron Hill about his interest in a contract extension that would cover 2014 and beyond.

There's no ambiguity about Towers' offseason goals. If he hasn't bolstered the left side of his infield and acquired starting pitching depth by Opening Day, the offseason will arguably have been a disappointment. But if the Diamondbacks follow the path they've traced for themselves and their fans, this team should enter the 2013 season with the expectation of contending again.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

Week In Review: 10/7/12 – 10/13/12

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On a day jammed full of American League and National League Championship Series games, let's take a break in the action to catch up on the week that was here at MLBTR…

  • Mets GM Sandy Alderson has made it no secret that signing both David Wright and R.A. Dickey beyond 2013 is one of his top offseason priorities, and formal contract negotiations with both players could begin next week.
  • Jim Tracy resigned as the manager of the Rockies after coaching the team for three seasons. Tracy had been under fire after leading the Rockies to a last place finish in the NL West with a franchise record for losses at 64-98. 
  • Following his 50-game suspension for a performance-enhancing drug and word of an alleged cover-up attempt, the odds of the Giants re-signing Melky Cabrera this offseason seemed unlikely. However, there is now more openness within the Giants organization to retain the outfielder.
  • The Reds want manager Dusty Baker back for the 2013 season. Cincinnati won the NL Central twice since Baker was hired, and their overall winning percentage for the five year period is .517. 
  • Contract talks between the Red Sox and Cody Ross have gained some momentum. The Red Sox are attempting to re-sign the outfielder, who is on track to hit free agency once the World Series ends.
  • Five years into Frank Wren's tenure as the Braves' general manager, the team continues contending on an annual basis. Wren will have at least two more seasons to bring a championship to Atlanta, as he has agreed to a contract extension through 2014. 
  • Veteran third baseman Scott Rolen is preparing to retire, though he will delay an official announcement until later in the offseason. Rolen hit .245/.318/.398 in 330 plate appearances for Cincinnati this year, with his playing time limited by both injuries and the Reds' desire to fit rookie Todd Frazier into the lineup.  
  • The Yankees designated right-hander Cory Wade for assignment. Wade, 29, appeared in 79 games for the Yankees across the last two years, posting a 4.23 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 during that stretch. 

NL Notes: Nationals, Rockies, Chris Carpenter

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As the Cardinals and Giants do battle in San Francisco, let's take a minute away from the action to catch up on the latest news and headlines from around the National League…

  • After enjoying a successful regular season with a 98-64 record, Nats Insider's Mark Zuckerman wonders if Washington can repeat a similar campaign next year. Zuckerman says that the team is positioned to be a strong club in 2013, but suggests that there are no guarantees of repeat playoff appearances in baseball even with a talented roster like that of the Nationals. 
  • The Rockies' timeline toward once again becoming a competitive franchise remains unclear given the poor performance of the team's management and ownership, writes The Denver Post's Woody Paige. The veteran columnist points to questionable decisions by the team including installing a four-man rotation, 75-pitch counts and moving the co-general manager's office into a conference room just off the home clubhouse. 
  • Chris Carpenter's rise to veteran leader of the Cardinals clubhouse can be explained by his experience learning from the pitchers who made their mark before him in both Toronto and St. Louis, says Matthew Leach of MLB.com. "My presence has changed, because I'm the only one left," Chris Carpenter said. "So it's definitely changed. I feel like I'm a St. Louis Cardinal. I feel like I always will be in the organization and the clubhouse, the team, I love it all and I enjoy being in there, and I think my presence has changed a lot just because I've been here that long."

AL East Notes: Rays, Buck Showalter, Alex Rodriguez

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It'll be interesting to see how the Rays look to improve this winter given their limited financial flexibility, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.  The Rays, who were last in the majors in attendance, will save more than $22.5MM with Carlos Peña, B.J. Upton, Luke Scott, and Kyle Farnsworth off the books.  However, built-in and projected arbitration increases will cost them around $50MM to keep 17 players.  After opening the season with a higher-than-planned $64MM payroll, the club is expected to try and scale back the payroll this year, leaving them with limited room.  Here's more out of the AL East..

  • Yankees President Randy Levine appeared on ESPN 98.7 FM's Sunday Morning with Ian O'Connor (partial transcript courtesy of ESPNNewYork.com's Matt Ehalt) and did not commit to Alex Rodriguez remaining in pinstripes for the duration of his contract through the 2017 season. "That's like one of those questions: Where's the stock market going to be in 2017, who's going to be president on Nov. 15?" Levine said. "If I had crystal ball to predict all of that stuff, I'd be a lot smarter than I am. I'm not going to go there. That's stuff for people to speculate on your show and elsewhere, but it's irresponsible for me to do so."
  • Orioles manager Buck Showalter says that he isn't ready to start thinking about a contract extension despite the fact that he enjoys being in Baltimore.  Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com wonders aloud if the skipper has his eye on becoming a General Manager somewhere.  Showalter was interested in running the O's front office before Dan Duquette was brought in as executive vice president.
  • The Yankees should have passed on giving Alex Rodriguez a ten-year, $275MM contract following the 2007 season, opines Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News.  Lupica notes that the Cardinals made a shrewd business decision by letting Albert Pujols sign a $200MM+ contract elsewhere last winter and now find themselves in the championship hunt.
  • With Curtis Granderson struggling, the trade that sent Austin Jackson to Detroit for him no longer seems like a smart move, writes Bill Madden of the New York Daily News.  Last year it seemed like both the Tigers and the Yanks came out as winners in that trade, but Madden believes that the W now goes squarely in the Tigers' column.
  • The Orioles will likely be forced to make a decision between Nate McLouth and Nolan Reimold as to which ballplayer will be called upon to man left field next season, writes MASNsports.com's Steve Melewski. While Reimold got off to a strong start to the season before succumbing to injury, McLouth proved to be a valuable asset for Baltimore towards the end of the year and playoffs.

Edward Creech and Daniel Seco contributed to this post.

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