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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 3,500 responses (3,503, to be exact), an increase over the number of responses we received when we previously solicited fans’ feedback in August of 2015, April of 2016, and August of 2016. Huge thanks are due to the SBNation community leaders who helped push this survey.
No team received fewer than 25 responses, and 21 teams received 50 or more. The mean composite score for this survey was a very high 4.08, perhaps reflecting the pre-season optimism of many clubs around hte league. Of the teams to finish in the bottom five of our last survey, two changed general managers/leadership teams over the offseason, while another embarked on a rebuilding effort to combat years of stagnation.
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:
Cleveland Indians – Chris Antonetti
Mean: 4.92
“They have shown that will spend money and make moves to acquire players that will help the team win now despite having financial constraints. They also do an amazing job at locking up their young talent long term very early in their careers. I believe they're best front office in baseball for what they're given to work with financially.” - @bluemike5577
Chicago Cubs – Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer
Mean: 4.89
“Perfect blend of new school and old school, and as far as I'm concerned, the smartest guys in baseball.” - Anonymous
Texas Rangers – Jon Daniels
Mean: 4.65
“Team always has a plan moving forward. Very professional organization that plays close to the vest. JD will make mistakes but recognizes them and seems to learn from them. Simply the greatest GM in Ranger's history.” - @TheRobRochelle
Houston Astros – Jeff Lunhow
Mean: 4.56
“Successfully improved the minor league level to improve the team. Looks successful in improving the team on the major league level this offseason. Seems to be transitioning well from rebuilding to finding final pieces to make the club ultimately successful.” - cfjjr12
New York Mets – Sandy Alderson
Mean: 4.43
“Sandy Alderson has done a good job with mid season trades (Cespedes, Uribe, Clippard, Kelly Johnson) and although the Bruce trade hasn't looked too good so far, it's encouraging that the Mets were active on the trade front last season with their offense floundering. However, with ownership still under fire for a majority of Mets fans for being cheap, I am still a little worried about how active and how much they would trade.” - @Mike5_5_5
Milwaukee Brewers – David Stearns
Mean: 4.40
“Stearns has shown himself adept at making wise waiver claims that produce (Guerra, Marinez) while also making solid trades (Thornburg, Smith,Lucroy) and holding off from wholesaling valuable pieces.” – SinisterMinister
Los Angeles Dodgers – Andrew Friedman/Farhan Zaidi
Mean: 4.36
“They came to LA as prodigies of sorts, with high expectations for results from their progressive techniques. While the Dodgers have won, sport a very deep and promising farm, they've had a few big misses and the team hasn't gotten that magical—and now expected—World Series appearance. I think they will, and soon, which is why my confidence is high.” - Indiana Red
Atlanta Braves – John Coppolella
Mean: 4.34
“Love Coppy's aggression in making the team better and getting prospects. Low-risk one year deals for Colon and Dickey were perfect for 2017. I expect the 2020s to be bountiful for the Braves. - anonymous
San Francisco Giants – Brian Sabean/Bobby Evans
Mean: 4.33
“Evans inherited a good team and made it better. The Giants are in win-now mode and have acted appropriately to capitalize on that window. The real test comes in 2-3yrs when that window closes.” - anonymous
Los Angeles Angels – Billy Eppler
Mean: 4.32
"Eppler has done tremendously with what he has been given. I love his low risk high reward acquisitions of former top prospects seeking new scenery. His budget friendly approach could really fill out the remaining roster spots. I believe the Angels could be a sneaky playoff team based on Eppler's offseason moves." - anonymous
New York Yankees – Brian Cashman
Mean: 4.30
“On the surface, his moves seem to always make sense. He's smart, methodical, and has short term and long term goals in mind. However, i question some of the talent developers and instructors throughout the organization. Many of the pitchers (homegrown or brought in via trade) have had the same issues of not being able to develop a changeup and not being able to locate power fastballs within the strikezone, despite keeping walks down. This goes back to Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Manny Banuelos, and now Nathan Eovaldi, Pineda, and Severino.” – anonymous
Kansas City Royals – Dayton Moore
Mean: 4.29
“I'll admit that I was not that impressed with Dayton Moore during the early years of his tenure. Which, really, can be said about almost any MLB GM. But, as time passed, the pieces seemed to fall into place. Expanding the international reach, building a competent farm system, and eventually, success at the big league level. Dayton Moore has changed the perception of baseball in Kansas City. The Glass family is no longer viewed as cheap curmudgeons and the club itself isn't considered a AAAA feeder team for larger markets. His performance as GM is nothing short of remarkable. And it is incredible what he has built out of essentially nothing.” - @mimonfishbaum
Seattle Mariners – Jerry DiPoto
Mean: 4.29
“DiPoto seems to have a bona fide plan, and has executed upon it as best could be expected considering what he inherited. He's significantly raised the floor and kept the window of contention cracked, with a rebuild looming in the next 3 - 5 years.” – Anonymous
Philadelphia Phillies – Matt Klentak
Mean: 4.17
“This FO has done very little outside of the "new" conventional wisdom, but that alone is a massive improvement over Ruben. They've checked the easy boxes, like rebuilding the farm system and finding low cost veteran talent to help with the development of the young guys, but we haven't seen anything remotely resembling an endgame yet. So, while it's enough to make me feel confident, I recognize that the new FO hasn't really shown all that much thus far. It looks good on paper, but they're in a high variance position.” - @iammattduff
Washington Nationals – Mike Rizzo
Mean: 4.09
“Rizzo's track record in trades is superb. I actually love the Eaton, not just because I like Eaton, but for the effect on the entire lineup. Having 2 rabbits like Turner and Eaton at the top of a lineup will wreak havoc on pitchers and make life much easier for Bryce and Co. batting behind them. Did he give up prospects? of course, but they are just prospects. I bet history looks back on this deal as another Rizzo steal.” - @joshburley
St. Louis Cardinals – John Mozeliak
Mean: 4.03
“Mo doesn't make any big mistakes but that also means he's very conservative, potentially missing opportunities to improve. He's been pretty much a guarantee for 85+ wins but the team lacks much in the way of real top end talent.” – Anonymous
San Diego Padres – A.J. Preller
Mean: 3.95
“Once freed of the shackles of getting Dee a marketable team for the All Star year, Preller has gone out and built a powerful farm system and filled his major league roster with players with a shot at being above average at 6 positions. Preller also leapt into the IFA market to give the team an unrepeatable prospect advantage signing 11 of the top 50 international amateur players. Combined with the 2016 draft it gives his team the equivalent of 6-7 1st round players in one year.” – @Websoulsurfer
Arizona Diamondbacks – Mike Hazen
Mean: 3.89
“It's hard to be confident yet in a front office that did little more than roster tweaking and trimming around the edges. Truth be told,the 2017 version of the team is little changed from 2016. I do welcome with optimism the Hazen regime and the apparent culture change that comes with assembling Red Sox West, but until new philosophies translate into wins on the field, I must take a wait and see attitude.” – Johntmoshier
Colorado Rockies – Jeff Bridich
Mean: 3.77
“I believe Bridich is a great evaluator of minor league and youth level talent. He scouted and was heavily involved in drafting/trading for many of our young studs that have come up in recent years (and are still coming up). Good example of this is the German Marquez trade. Only reason I can't say I'm confident is many of his major league pick ups haven't been stellar. People like Chad Qualls, Gerrado Parra, Jason Motte, and Jake McGee really stand out to me. Hopefully Desmond, Dunn, and Holland can prove him right this time. So far, the MLB players he has signed so far have all ben subpar. For that reason, I can not say I am confident in him yet. But his great minor league/college/high school eye is good enough to just give him a 3 on your scale.” - Anonymous
Toronto Blue Jays – Mark Shapiro/Ross Adkins
Mean: 3.71
“They've done a great job re-stocking the farm after AA (understandably) cashed in all his chips for Price/Tulo/Donaldso. Not only have they put together a solid farm system, signed Gurriel relatively cheap, they've added key veteran pieces such as Darwin Barney, Joe Smith and JP Howell on short, team-friendly deals. Icing on the cake is the haul they got in return for the embarrassingly bad Hutchison, getting a year and a half of a much improved Franky Liriano and two of the Pirates top 10 prospects.” - anonymous
Oakland Athletics – Billy Beane/David Forst
Mean: 3.70
“There have been some serious missteps, but it's easy to forget they were in the postseason three of the last five years. Need to reprove themselves in 2017 but they still deserve a healthy benefit of the doubt for now. - @AlexHallAN
Minnesota Twins – Derek Falvey/Thad Levine
Mean: 3.60
“Many wanted the Twins new front office regime to come in and clean house. Instead, they have decided to give people (front office personnel and players) time to prove themselves. They aggressively went after Jason Castro, and several of the minor moves they made were defense-oriented. The process appears different, and now we hope for results. But I have no doubt all decisions are well thought out.” - @SethTweets
Boston Red Sox – Dave Dombrowski
Mean: 3.56
“Dave has made some nice moves to make the 2017 team better, but I don't like how much of the farm he sold in the process. I feel like there was a happy medium path where he could have acquired some players but also left the minor league system with a few more pieces to supplement future teams. Two examples of overpaying stick out in my mind. First is the Kimbrel trade where he gave up four pieces for a reliever and second giving up Anderson Espinoza who should be great for Drew Pomeranz who has only had a good half season was excessive. So confident in Dave's ability to bring in quality players but unconfident in the state he may leave the Sox in. See the Detroit Tigers.” - Barbeque89
Cincinnati Reds – Dick Williams
Mean: 3.45
“Dick Williams has mentioned publicly that he is willing to explore creative options as the GM of a small market team, but only time tell what he can do with the abundance of average talent in the farm system.” - Anonymous
Pittsburgh Pirates – Neal Huntington
Mean: 3.39
“While Huntington has largely done a great job in resurrecting the Pirates organization, he is seemingly handicapped by the "win cheap" approach of Owner Bob Nutting.” - @sarveresq
Tamba Bay Rays – Matt Silverman
Mean: 3.38
“He has made great moves this offseason by buying low on Ramos, Norris, and Rasmus, but he took it a little too far when he signed Logan Morrison back to a major league deal when there was seemingly no competition for him.” - SandalsNoPants
Chicago White Sox – Kenny Williams/Rick Hahn
Mean: 3.36
“With Rick Hahn, I'm a 5. With Kenny Williams, I'm a 1. So I split the difference. Hahn made good trades this winter and has in the past. If he is truly running the front office (he is the GM, Williams is Exec. VP) and, more importantly, the rebuild, I have confidence. Kenny Williams, on the other hand, has too much of an ego and is too willing to go for broke. He has a history of poor decisions in signing over-the-hill, all-or-nothing type players (see: Dunn, Adam) and never bothered with building up the farm system (see: every non-Chris Sale first round draft pick from 2001-2012 - Hahn became GM in 2013) and was too willing to trade prospects for questionable players (see: Nick Swisher trades 1 & 2, Edwin Jackson trade).” – Anonymous
Baltimore Orioles – Dan Duquette
Mean: 3.34
“I feel like Dan and staff are "ok" and have found some bargain deals and good bullpen pieces. However, Angelos playing a trump card to overspend for Davis and Trumbo and just the general lack of quality talent in the minors makes me uncomfortable about the personnel decision making process across the board. If they lose Machado in a few years we're looking at many years of the Os being a VERY bad team.” - @spc4444
Detroit Tigers – Al Avila
Mean: 2.69
“Al Avila and company have really only had one season to prove themselves, and they probably still deserve the benefit of the doubt. However, their first season featured a lot of red flags. The ill-advised signings of Mike Pelfrey and Mike Aviles were one thing, but the refusal to replace them with better in-house players was really what sunk the Tigers' season. Their inactivity this offseason failed to put the Tigers in a good position to win the division, but also failed to improve the future. That said, they seem to recognize the situation they're in and have refused to sacrifice any meaningful prospects or draft picks, and they deserve credit for the decision to stop digging the hole.” - @Fielder'sChoice5
Miami Marlins – Mike Hill
Mean: 1.88
“The team has repeatedly gutted the farm system to acquire mediocre talent. Sprinkle in a hesitation/financial inability to seriously go after the type of free agents who would finally get the Marlins over the .500 hump, and you have a perpetually below-average team. Apparently, if they are in the hunt when the deadline rolls around they are going to be buyers (please let me know who they would trade to get any serious talent in return). Hill only avoided a 1 due to the fact that he is making some deals at least, and one of them will work out eventually, right?” - dsmith19029