In Major League Baseball, the general manager (GM) of a team typically controls player transactions and bears the primary responsibility on behalf of the ballclub during contract discussions with players.
In Major League Baseball, the general manager (GM) of a team typically controls player transactions and bears the primary responsibility on behalf of the ballclub during contract discussions with players.
The general manager is normally the person who hires and fires the coaching staff, including the field manager who acts as the head coach. In baseball, the term manager used without qualification almost always refers to the field manager, not the general manager.
Before the 1960s, and in some rare cases since then, a person with the general manager title in sports has also borne responsibility for the non-player operations of the ballclub, such as ballpark administration and broadcasting. Ed Barrow, George Weiss and Gabe Paul were three baseball GMs noted for their administrative skills in both player and non-player duties.[ citation needed ]
In the first decades of baseball's post-1901 modern era, responsibilities for player acquisition fell upon the club owner and/or president and the field manager. [1] In some cases, particularly in the early years of the American League, the owner was a former player or manager himself: Charles Comiskey of the Chicago White Sox, Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics, and Clark Griffith of the Washington Senators are three prominent examples. Other owners tended to be magnates from the business world, although some, like Brooklyn Dodgers' president Charles Ebbets, worked their way from front-office jobs into ownership positions. Most deferred player personnel evaluations to their on-field managers. One notable exception, cited by Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Leavitt in their book In Pursuit of Pennants, was German immigrant Barney Dreyfuss, owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1900 to 1932. Dreyfuss had no playing background, but was one of the most astute judges of talent of his time. [1] Under Dreyfuss's watch, Pittsburgh won 6 National League pennants and two World Series titles (1909 and 1925). The New York Giants' John McGraw, who also held a minority ownership stake in the team, is an example of a powerful manager who, during his three decades at the Giants' helm, exerted control over off-field aspects of the team's operation. [1] McGraw managed the Giants from 1902 to 1932, piloting them to 10 National League pennants and three World Series titles (1905, 1921, and 1922) along the way.
According to Baseball Almanac, the first man to hold the title of general manager was Billy Evans when he was appointed by the Cleveland Indians in 1927. [2] However, the duties of the modern general manager already had been assumed by two executives — Barrow of the New York Yankees and Branch Rickey of the St. Louis Cardinals — whose formal title at the time was business manager. Both were former field managers of big-league teams, although Barrow had no professional playing background. [3] [4]
They assumed those positions (Barrow in 1920 and Rickey five years later) when clubs could legally control only 15 minor league players on option, and most young players were purchased or drafted from independently owned minor league teams. Rickey, creator of the modern and extensive farm system during the 1920s and 1930s, played a critical role in inventing the need for a general manager as well: with most teams coming to own or affiliate with multiple minor league teams from Class D to the top tier, and with dozens (and in some cases hundreds) of players under contract, they needed a front-office infrastructure to oversee the major league club, scouting and player procurement, minor league operations and player development, and business affairs. The general manager, in lieu of the "owner-operator", provided that oversight.
But both the owner-operator and the field-manager-as-GM models survived into the 1980s. Owners Charlie Finley of the Oakland Athletics and Calvin Griffith of the Minnesota Twins functioned as their own chiefs of baseball operations. During the 1970s and 1980s, Alvin Dark of the Indians, Billy Martin of the Athletics (after Finley sold them in 1981), and Whitey Herzog of the Cardinals combined manager and general manager duties, while Paul Owens of the Philadelphia Phillies and Jack McKeon of the San Diego Padres were general managers who appointed themselves field managers and held both posts.
During the second decade of the 21st century, a trend began in Major League Baseball that saw the creation of a new layer of authority between ownership and the general manager, typically called the "President of Baseball Operations" (POBO). These executives may work in concert with others in the organization styled as presidents but having non-baseball-centric responsibilities, such as President/CEO or President/COO. Larry Beinfest has been credited as the first person to hold a POBO title, promoted as such by the Florida Marlins in September 2007. [5] However, three months earlier, the Associated Press reported that Andy MacPhail was hired into a POBO role by the Baltimore Orioles. [6]
Writing for Sports Business Daily in March 2015, legal academic and sports lawyer Glenn M. Wong observed: "No longer is it always true that the GM is the final decision-maker with respect to baseball decisions." [5] One of the reasons for the creation of this new position was the soaring costs and revenues associated with modern MLB operations: "Ownership is often heavily involved in major investments and decisions ... Installing another layer creates a sort of checks-and-balances system and a checkpoint for the decision-making process." [5]
In June 2015, another article by Wong revisited the topic and compared the evolving job descriptions and career trajectories of GMs and POBOs. [7] In 2016, Sports Business Daily writer Eric Fisher cited the growing importance of data analytics in playing personnel evaluations and long-term planning (in addition to in game strategy), and heavier investments in player development, domestically and internationally, as contributing to the POBO movement and other structural changes in baseball front offices. [8]
The Baseball America Annual Directory of 2019 listed 12 POBOs among the 30 MLB teams, as well as one "chief baseball officer" and four "executive vice presidents of baseball operations", operating above the GM level or also holding the GM title. [9] In April 2024, a ranking by The Athletic of the top 10 front offices in MLB included seven teams with a president of baseball operations, and three without. [10]
In some instances, a team may operate with a POBO or chief baseball officer and leave the GM role vacant. Two examples involve the Boston Red Sox: from 2017 through 2019, Dave Dombrowski served as POBO and the team had no GM; and in 2024, Craig Breslow served as chief baseball officer and the team again had no GM.
William Lamar Beane III is an American former professional baseball player and current front office executive. He is currently senior advisor to owner John Fisher and minority owner of the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) and formerly the executive vice president of baseball operations. He is also minority owner of soccer clubs Barnsley of the EFL League One in England and AZ Alkmaar of the Eredivisie in the Netherlands. From 1984 to 1989 he played in MLB as an outfielder for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, and Oakland Athletics. He joined the Athletics' front office as a scout in 1990, was named general manager after the 1997 season, and was promoted to executive vice president after the 2015 season.
Wesley Branch Rickey was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also created the framework for the modern minor league farm system, encouraged the Major Leagues to add new teams through his involvement in the proposed Continental League, and introduced the batting helmet. He was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967.
Stanley Raymond "Bucky" Harris was an American professional baseball second baseman, manager and executive. While Harris played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators and Detroit Tigers, it was his long managerial career that led to his enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1975.
George Martin Weiss was an American professional baseball executive. Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, Weiss was one of the Major Leagues' most successful farm system directors and general managers during his 29-year-long tenure with the New York Yankees.
Leland Stanford "Larry" MacPhail Sr. was an American lawyer and an executive in Major League Baseball. He served as a high-ranking executive, including club president and general manager, with the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees, and was a one-third owner of the Yankees from 1945 through 1947. MacPhail's sons and grandsons were also sports executives. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978.
Leland Stanford MacPhail Jr. was an American front-office executive in Major League Baseball. MacPhail was a baseball executive for 45 years, serving as the director of player personnel for the New York Yankees, the president and general manager of the Baltimore Orioles, chief aide to Commissioner of Baseball William Eckert, executive vice president and general manager of the Yankees, and president of the American League.
Emil Joseph "Buzzie" Bavasi was an American executive in Major League Baseball who played a major role in the operation of three California baseball franchises from the late 1940s through the mid-1980s, most notably as the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1958 to 1968.
Gabriel Howard Paul was an American executive in Major League Baseball who, between 1951 and 1984, served as general manager of the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Colt .45s, Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees. He also was president and part-owner of the Indians and president and limited partner of the Yankees.
David Dombrowski is an American baseball executive who serves as the president of baseball operations for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Dombrowski also previously served as the general manager of the Montreal Expos, the general manager and president of the Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers, and president of baseball operations for the Boston Red Sox. He has helped build four different franchises into pennant-winning teams, and he has won the World Series twice — with the Marlins in 1997 and the Red Sox in 2018.
Robert Lee Howsam was an American professional sports executive and entrepreneur. In 1959, he played a key role in establishing two leagues—the American Football League, which succeeded and merged with the National Football League, and baseball's Continental League, which never played a game but forced expansion of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 16 to 20 teams in 1961–62.
Samuel Wilson Breadon was an American executive who served as the president and principal owner of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1920 through 1947. During that time, the Cardinals rose from languishing as one of the National League's doormats to a premier power in baseball, winning nine NL pennants and six World Series championships. Breadon's teams also established the highest regular season winning percentage of any owner in franchise history at .570. His teams totaled 2,470 wins and 1,830 losses.
Andrew Bowen MacPhail is an American baseball executive. He has previously served as general manager for the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs, and as president for the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies.
Richard Henry O'Connell was an American front office executive in Major League Baseball. He was executive vice president of the Boston Red Sox from 1961 through 1977 and served as general manager of the team from September 16, 1965, through October 24, 1977, a period during which he played a pivotal role in restoring the Red Sox to contending status, won two American League pennants, and helped make the team a flagship MLB franchise.
Henry Roy Hamey was an American front-office executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). A longtime employee of the New York Yankees, he was appointed the club's general manager in November 1960. Inheriting a pennant-winner from his predecessor, George Weiss, he maintained the Yankees' dominant position in MLB by producing three additional American League champions and two World Series champions in three full seasons before retiring in the autumn of 1963. Hamey also spent nine years as the general manager of two National League franchises, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies, during the period between 1947 and 1958.
Andrew Friedman is an American professional baseball executive. He is currently the president of baseball operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the general manager for MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays, where Sporting News named him Executive of the Year in 2008. That year, for the first time in franchise history, the Rays both qualified for the playoffs and played in the World Series. In Los Angeles, as of 2024, Friedman and the Dodgers have won two World Series, four pennants, and eight division titles since he took the job after the 2014 season. Baseball America called the Dodgers the model franchise in the sport under Friedman’s tenure as President.
William Walsingham Jr. was an American front office executive in Major League Baseball. He spent the bulk of his 30-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals, owned by his uncle, Sam Breadon, from 1920 through 1947. He also served as a vice president of Breadon's Western Automobile Company, later Sam Breadon Inc.
| Pitchers |
|  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defensive players |
| ||||||
| Offensive players |
| ||||||
| Non-players |
| ||||||
| Related | |||||||