Top 5 General Managers In Sports?

[Kramer]

TOP CURRENT GENERAL MANAGERS IN SPORTS ...


One Analysis : What Do You Think ?

Only the 98 current GMs with at least three years of service were reviewed.

In terms of enhancing the value of a sports franchise, winning is more
important than payroll.
So we double-weight winning percentage in our scoring to discount GMs (like Mark Shapiro of the Cleveland Indians) who successfully cut costs but in so doing damaged their franchise.
Our rankings will surely raise some eyebrows.
The Timberwolves' McHale has been harshly criticized in the press for not giving superstar Kevin Garnett the supporting cast to win a championship. But McHale has guided the Timberwolves to eight playoff berths and a .539 regular season winning percentage--more than double his predecessor’s .244. Winning improvement under McHale has been so great that it offset a 19% rise in salary against the NBA's median payroll during his 11 years as GM.

Another GM who has been under the gun the past few years is Glen Sather of the New York Rangers. Despite a bloated payroll, which topped out at a then NHL record $76.5 million in 2003, Sather has not been able to win a single post-season game in his six years in New York. His No. 12 ranking is attributed to prolonged success in Edmonton, where Sather paired Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier in building an Oilers dynasty that won five Stanley Cups.
There were also some predictable names atop our list. The highest rated baseball GM is Oakland's Billy Beane (No. 26 overall). Beane has been able to capture four division titles and win almost 60% of his games with the small-market A's by developing prospects. Beane has also kept his team’s payroll at 70% of the major league median. Having scouts emphasize statistics like on-base and slugging percentage has allowed Beane to find capable young talent to replace expensive free agent veterans.
Lou Lamoriello of the New Jersey Devils gained acclaim in hockey circles for his ability to put together championship teams with low payrolls. New Jersey's .592 winning percentage in 18 years under Lamoriello is more than twice that of his predecessor and higher than any other team in the NHL's Eastern Conference. Lamoriello has won with a payroll that has been just 75% of the typical hockey team.
Some team owners double as GMs. The success story here is Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys (No. 13), who turned the Cowboys from a has-been to a three-time Super Bowl champion. To his credit, Jones has actually spent less on players, on average, than his league counterparts during his 18-year reign. The failure?
Cincinnati Bengals owner and GM Mike Brown (No. 97), who has won half as often as his predecessor, despite outpacing the league's median payroll by 4% since taking over the franchise in 1991.
Interestingly, most of MLB's GMs fall in the middle of the pack. One possible explanation is that baseball's relatively long season and greater yearly payroll fluctuations due to free agency create an unintended balancing effect.
Our rankings compare each general manager to the final three years of his predecessor's tenure in two categories: (1) performance (regular season winning percentage and playoff win totals) and (2) payroll spending (relative to the league median). Performance counts twice as much in our scoring as payroll spending. Scores account for all teams where the GM held the office and are indexed to 100. A score of 120 in winning improvement means the GM won 20% more games than his predecessor. A score of 80 in payroll containment means the GM spent 20% more than the previous GM relative to the league median.


1 Kevin McHale 11 235 81 NBA MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
2 Jay Feaster 3 222 71 NHL - TAMPA BAY
3 Billy King 8 215 89 NBA- 76 ERS
4 A.J. Smith 4 209 106 NFL CHARGERS
5 Lou Lamoriello 18 202 75 NHL-DEVILS
6. Don Waddell 6 195 88 NHL-THRASHERS
7 Marty Hurney 5 191 91 NFL-PANTHERS
8 Jerry Angelo 6 186 93 NFL. BEARS
9 Bill Polian 19 176 101 NFL COLTS
10 John Paxson 3 179 76 NBA BULLS
11 Geoff Petrie 11 171 85 NBA KINGS
12 Glen Sather 26 152 131 NHL RANGERS
13 Jerry Jones 18 161 102 NFL COWBOYS
14 Pierre LaCroix 11 172 58 NHL AVALANCHE
15 Joe Dumars 6 155 104 NBA PISTONS
16 Carl Peterson 18 155 103 NFL CHIEFS
17 Jim Rutherford 11 148 98 NHL HURRICANES
18 Dave Taylor 8 141 117 NHL KINGS
19 Rich McKay 12 148 96 NFL FALCONS
20 Scott Pioli 7 141 113 NFL PATRIOTS

[rjb1816]

lol at kevin mchale...probably one of the worst gms in basketball...of course AJ Smith would be the best gm in football...i think thats pretty obvious

[uva3021]

worst article i've ever read, didn't even see billy beane up there

[snapdad]

Polian is hands down the best in the biz

[Kramer]

Originally Posted by uva3021

worst article i've ever read, didn't even see billy beane up there

RATED 26TH
Winning % indexed to 100 = 134...

[Romanowski]

article is old the author was on espn rasio like a month ago..

even he couldnt explain some of the rating

by crossing sports it was very difficult to apply a system or equation to it

[cman]

its is definetly unfair to cross sports.....the differences in spending rules between soft and hard salary caps makes it impossible....

wde

[Gerk]

Kevin McHale isn't a Top 5 GM in Minnesota and there are only 4 professional sports here

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by rjb1816

...of course AJ Smith would be the best gm in football...i think thats pretty obvious

I think Pioli from the Pats is hands down the best GM.

[rjb1816]

Originally Posted by Snowman

I think Pioli from the Pats is hands down the best GM.

it may be close, but that team is run by bellechick...he's the brains, they dont even have that much talent on the team, its a bunch of joes coached to play well

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by rjb1816

it may be close, but that team is run by bellechick...he's the brains, they dont even have that much talent on the team, its a bunch of joes coached to play well

yes don't get me wrong I think they are 1-2 definetely.

[domafia]

all the nba gm's were so f*@king off it's not even funny. that gm article was a bad joke that nobody got, that's why it died off quickly without much discussion on tv.

[rjb1816]

kevin towers