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Last week, we asked baseball fans to tell us about general managers and front office teams around the league. We created a short survey using Qualtrics that asked fans the following questions:
1. What is your favorite team?
2) How confident are you in your General Manager and his front office team? (Very confident, confident, neither confident nor unconfident, unconfident, very unconfident)
We also solicited narrative feedback, asking fans to explain the reasoning for their answer.
Front offices were rated on a five point scale, with five being the highest, and their scores were averaged to create a composite rating for each general manager/front office team. We received more than 3,300 responses (3,343, to be exact), a sharp increase over the number of responses we received when we previously solicited fans’ feedback in August of 2015 and April of 2016. No team received fewer than 25 responses, and 22 teams received 50 or more. The mean composite score for this survey was 3.6. Of the teams to finish in the bottom third of our initial survey, seven of the ten have changed general managers in the last year.
While we will be checking back all week to talk about these responses in more depth, these were the final results of last week’s survey:
1. Chicago Cubs – 4.9
“The incredible talent at the big level, a competent on field manager (and staff), and a loaded minor league system, and they fortified the big league bullpen to make a run at the series. What more can be said?” - anonymous
2. Texas Rangers – 4.8
“JD has made a number of exceptional trades and signings over the years and has kept the Rangers in near constant-contention since 2009. Even the Ian Kinsler for Prince Fielder trade isn't all bad, considering the Rangers needed to make room for Odor and Profar who are a much better value than Kins or Prince.” - @JJtheTexan
3. Washington Nationals – 4.7
“A very-end-of-career Christian Guzman (he played only 15 more games after the trade) for Tanner Roark? Two months of Matt Capps for 6 years of eventual All-Star Wilson Ramos? An average-to- fine starting OF in Steven Souza for BOTH Joe Ross AND Trea Turner? Alex Meyer straight up for Denard Span? There have been misses (Ben Revere seems to have forgotten how to hit) but Rizzo is a magician.” – anonymous
4. Milwaukee Brewers – 4.5
“The painful rebuild hasn't been as painful as expected David Stearns has shown the Brewers fans the light early with key trades for young talent, good drafting, and some key reclamation projects (Vilar, Guerra, and is it too early to say Broxton) have given us fans in Milwaukee something to stand behind.” - anonymous
5. New York Yankees – 4.5
“I honestly believe that Cashman is one of the most underrated GM's in the league and has been for a long long time. Just being able to handle the Steinbrenners and keeping that ship steady is an impressive feat in it of itself. Sure, there have been some bad contracts but his ability to always find players to plug holes is incredible. And his recent moves to stack the Farm system giving them one of the best in the entire MLB speak for themselves. #BelieveinCash” - @Ymlevine
6. San Francisco Giants – 4.5
“SF's All-Star IF is locked up thru at least next season (if you include Nunez at 3B). All 5 starters are under contract thru next season (Bum, Cueto, Samardzija, Moore, Cain). As a fan of a championship winning team all you can reasonably expect from your GM is stability and hope. I'd suggest the Giants are at forefront of stability and hope.” - Anonymous
7. San Diego Padres – 4.4
“Preller and his team have a track record of finding and developing young talent, and it appears the focus has rightfully returned here. There's strong evidence to suggest the bad MLB deals were heavily influenced by ownership/CEO Mike Dee, but it won't be until the Padres are competing again that we'll see whether or not Preller is actually as rash as last year's moves made him look. For now, I'm mostly satisfied since the club dropped the facade of competing right now.” - Anonymous
8. Philadelphia Phillies – 4.4
“Klentak has done a good job at showing restraint with the rebuild. He hasn't made trades just to make them, but, at the same time, as done a good job cashing in on the few true valuable players he inherited who didn't fit cleanly into the team's timeline for contention.” - @cf_larue
9. Atlanta Braves – 4.3
“I have mostly been impressed by the moves Coppolella has made in rebuilding the Braves. He has outright swindled the Diamondbacks twice, and has managed to turn nothing (e.g., waiver pickups) into something on multiple occasions. But, I'm also a bit concerned about his focus on pitching, a couple odd moves (e.g., the trade for Olivera, signing Markakis), and his failure to use trade chips to land a high-impact bat, prospect or otherwise (obviously, depends on how high-impact you view Swanson, who I think is a great get but not necessarily a star hitter). Understanding that the rebuild is far from over, however, I'm willing to give him and the rest of the front office the benefit of the doubt.” - BrockSampson
10. Seattle Mariners – 4.2
“He has an understanding of sabermetrics and actively uses them in his decision making. Background as a player makes me feel good about his eye for raw talent. They have a development plan they keep consistent from rookie ball to the majors. But sometimes they make odd choices, like continuing to employ Adam Lind, sometimes seeming restless to make moves, and selling low on guys they got that didn't work out like Miley. Though I do appreciate that they're willing to admit a mistake and move on fast.” - @BrettMillerWCB
11. Kansas City Royals – 4.0
“Dayton Moore has undeniably done amazing things as the Royals GM. Those things are well documented. But almost every decision he has made since last November has turned out poorly. Chris Young has been awful. Ian Kennedy has been bad. Alex Gordon has underperformed. He stood pat at the trade deadline when it was clear the team did not have the horses to make another playoff run. All of that is minor compared to his successes though, which is why I remain confident in the Royals front office.” - Anonymous
12. Cleveland Indians – 4.0
“The Tribe's front office duo, in their short tenure is best defined by moves not made. In the offseason, the organization decided not to trade either Carlos Carrasco or Danny Salazar - adopting a 2015 Mets-like approach to winning with hyper-talented young pitching. The low-key free agent signings of Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis have turned out nicely and the decision to trade some of a stocked prospect pool to acquire a dominate, affordable reliever in Andrew Miller gives this team an opportunity to win now. Of course, not trading for a catcher at the deadline hurts, and the tenure is too short to rate "very confident," but the pair seem off to a great start.” - @ktriskett
13. St. Louis Cardinals – 3.8
“Everything Mozeliak does seems to shore up weaknesses in the roster, sending out expendable minor league players. But I do occasionally worry that he is not bold enough to make a big move if the roster needs it. This offseason the Cardinals could very well be in the market for an outfielder or pitcher, and the route he takes could alter these ratings drastically in a year.” - Anonymous
14. Baltimore Orioles – 3.8
“For a couple years I've had an uneasy feeling that Duquette can't build for long-term success and is mortgaging the futrue to be merely acceptable now, but we're in year 5 of something resembling success so at some point it's about as sustained as you can hope for.” - CStoneNo37
15. Boston Red Sox – 3.8
“Dombrowski has a track record of fielding competitive teams as well as building cores that have won championships in Miami. He has a great foundation in Boston to build with and has done well so far. I don't expect every move to work out, but his past makes me feel comfortable that he knows what he's doing.” - @RMGillenwater
16. Houston Astros – 3.8
“While Luhnow has whiffed on some trades (Carlos Gomez trade was terrible), I am very confident in how he's acquired minor league talent (Correa, McCullers, Devenski, Musgrove, Paulino, Bregman, Reed, etc.). While I think our playoff chances this season are done, I'm confident in our team moving forward, assuming we fill the holes on our roster (CF, 1B, DH, SP)” - War_damn_eagle
17. Toronto Blue Jays – 3.7
“There was worry early, especially after not really trying to re-sign David Price, that Shapiro was hired to simply manage the bottom line of the club, regardless of whether that meant improving the baseball product or not. But there were some great, low-risk moves at the deadline, including flexing some financial muscle, that showed they are here to win. Whether or not that means re-signing one of Edwin/Bautista remains to be seen...” - @jrod19
18. New York Mets – 3.5
“Largely lackluster free agent signings and underwhelming draft performance glossed over by well stocked pitching staff prior to the GMs arrival and a largely successful trade record. Ownership's reputation for intervention in dealings and long term underfunding of the team makes confidence hard to come by even at the best of times.” - @ludichrisspeed
19. Detroit Tigers – 3.4
“Avila really hasn't had time to make significant moves so I don't have reason to be displeased. It will be interesting to see what he does with the aging veterans in the next few years.” - @tyvanwieren
20. Los Angeles Dodgers – 3.4
“They havent traded or signed any big name or anyone that can help us get to the World Series. They have signed all these guys to save money who are injury prone. How are they saving money when we're paying them to be on the disable list and sign someone else to replace when they could've just signed someone better with what theyare paying 2 guys for.” - @Ladodger16
21. Colorado Rockies – 3.4
“The Rockies are a crossroads. They are methodically improving their starting pitching and moving young talent through the system (Estevev, Dahl, Story). They still have some glaring deficiencies - while their defensive prowess is generally high their numerous baserunning gaffes and miscues on a daily basis are inexcusable for a major league team. Bridich still seems to be stuck with the itch to go for broken down relievers on the trashheap and manage to Overpay for them (Logan, McGee, Motte, Qualls). This is a vestige of the Dan O'Dowd area that needs to be purged. Mismanagemnt of the admittedly spotty bullpen has been endemic with Weiss at the helm. He has also been consistently outmaneuvered.” - anonymous
22. Pittsburgh Pirates – 3.3
“I consider Huntington and his staff to be fairly above-average, in the top 7-10 in MLB. However, with the extreme spending limitations imposed by ownership, I'm not particularly confident in his ability to actually assemble a championship team.” - @Mornacale
23. Oakland Athletics – 3.2
“It's not really clear if the A's have a plan for the future—but then again have they ever? It seems like Beane and Forst had the right idea at the trade deadline, as they got back solid value for a 36 year old injury machine and Josh Reddick, who was basically guaranteed to leave in free agency. It seems all too obvious, however, that the A’s are still suffering the 2014 wild card came heartbreaker and that ensuing offseason. They shipped off Josh Donaldson among others, effectively dismantling a team that could have competed in 2015, yet curiously brought in Billy Butler for the sole purpose of angering fans.” - Jake K
24. Los Angeles Angels – 3.1
“Billy came into a tough position. Limited payroll. No farm system. Bad contracts. Give the guy a couple more years and we'll see if there is progress.” - @ballchristo
25. Tampa Bay Rays – 3.1
“The Souza trade was awful, but the more minor deals have been pretty decent. He brought in Brad Miller, but also LoMo. Whitley is off to a slow pro start, while Lowe has been great so far. There's good and bad. He seems average.” - @SandalsNoPants
26. Miami Marlins – 2.6
“Those of us who follow the team closely knew the Marlins had a competitive core in place offensively; it was going to be a matter of finding the pitching to keep them afloat. To the front office's credit, they have continued to mix and match and don't stick with someone who's not working out for too long. I rated them in the middle because while I appreciate their efforts at contention this season they have a longer track record of questionable player evaluation which I can't dismiss entirely.” - anonymous
27. Minnesota Twins – 2.3
“While Antony made some decent trades at the deadline, the Twins have been largely behind the curve since 2008 or so and I feel there needs to be a total system rehaul if possible.” - anonymous
28. Cincinnati Reds – 2.0
“Bad trades (Frazier, Chapman, Bruce), failure to trade Cozart to Mariners (DiPoto said trade was about 30 seconds away). additionally, the GM should tell (Bryan) Price to play Peraza over Phillips regularly to help him prepare for the future.” - anonymous
29. Chicago White Sox – 1.8
“The White Sox front office has shown, time and time again, the ability to sign/trade for players past their prime. One playoff appearance in the last nine years does not breed confidence. A complete rebuild is needed, are Kenny and Rick the guys that should do it? Probably not.” - anonymous
30. Arizona Diamondbacks – 1.5
“They have serially misjudged players when scouting them. Morgaged the teams future by trading top prospects that have succeeded greatly on other teams.” - anonymous