InMajor League Baseball, thegeneral manager (GM) of a team typically controls player transactions and bears the primary responsibility on behalf of the ballclub during contract discussions with players.
Thegeneral manager is normally the person who hires and fires the coaching staff, including thefield manager who acts as the head coach. In baseball, the termmanager 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 andbroadcasting.Ed Barrow,George Weiss andGabe 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 thefield manager.[1] In some cases, particularly in the early years of theAmerican League, the owner was a formerplayer or manager himself:Charles Comiskey of theChicago White Sox,Connie Mack of thePhiladelphia Athletics, andClark Griffith of theWashington Senators are three prominent examples. Other owners tended to be magnates from the business world, although some, likeBrooklyn Dodgers' presidentCharles 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 bookIn Pursuit of Pennants, wasGerman immigrantBarney Dreyfuss, owner of thePittsburgh 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, Pittsburgh won sixNational Leaguepennants and twoWorld Series titles (1909 and1925). TheNew 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 from1902 to1932, piloting them to ten National League pennants and three World Series titles (1905,1921, and1922) along the way.
According toBaseball Almanac, the first man to hold the title of general manager wasBilly Evans when he was appointed by theCleveland Indians in 1927.[2] However, the duties of the modern general manager already had been assumed by two executives — Barrow of theNew York Yankees andBranch Rickey of theSt. Louis Cardinals — whose formal title at the time wasbusiness 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 15minor league players on option, and most young players were purchased or drafted from independently owned minor league teams. Rickey, creator of the modern and extensivefarm 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 fromClass 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. OwnersCharlie Finley of theOakland Athletics andCalvin Griffith of theMinnesota 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 August1980), andWhitey Herzog of the Cardinals combined manager and general manager duties, whilePaul Owens of thePhiladelphia Phillies andJack McKeon of theSan Diego Padres were general managers who appointed themselves field managers and held both posts.
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The early decades of the 21st century have seen Major League Baseball teams create a new layer of authority between ownership and the general manager, typically called thepresident of baseball operations (POBO). These executives may work in concert with others in the organization styled aspresidents but having non-baseball-centric responsibilities, such as President/CEO or President/COO. The trend began in2007, when, in June,Andy MacPhail was hired into a POBO role by theBaltimore Orioles.[5] Then, in September, general managerLarry Beinfest was promoted to president of baseball operations by theFlorida Marlins.[6] In Beinfest's case, he was assisted by a newly appointed GM,Michael Hill.[7]
Writing forSports 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."[6] 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."[6]
In June 2015, another article by Wong revisited the topic and compared the evolving job descriptions and career trajectories of GMs and POBOs.[8] 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.[9]
TheBaseball 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.[10] In April 2024, a ranking byThe Athletic of the top 10 front offices in MLB included seven teams with a president of baseball operations, and three without.[11]
In some instances, a team may operate with a POBO or chief baseball officer and leave the GM role vacant. Two examples involve theBoston 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.
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