As you begin your July 4th weekend, I thought I’d give you something to ponder — please have a fun and safe holiday.
OK, here is my premise. I keep getting emails blasting Brian Sabean. As you know I defend him within limits, and it makes me feel like I’m trying to sell you a used Buick. So, I wonder whom do you consider the worst general manager in the Bay Area? It’s a simple enougth question. Is Sabean the worst? Really?
So you don’t think I’m ducking this one, I’ll give you my ratings, bottom to top and, of course, I welcome your comments. I omit the Sharks because I don’t cover them and am Shark illiterate. I beg your indulgence on that.
General managers from worst to best:
Al Davis: He is the GM of the Raiders and he used to be great, just brilliant. But he no longer is brilliant. He is killing the Raiders and he has made that team a laughingstock. He needs to cede power to someone else. He is the worst in my book.
The Warriors: Larry Riley (Robert Rowell and Chris Cohan): I don’t count Riley because he hasn’t been there long enough and he’s trying hard. The constants have been Rowell and Cohan and you see what they have done. The Warriors have never mattered since this ownership took over — well, almost never. The only hope is the new owner whoever that is. Al Davis had a great past. That’s to his credit. These guys never did.
Scot McCloughan, Trent Baalke, Whoever: People are excited to see what the 49ers can do this upcoming season. I am, too. And they seem to have promise. If they win their division, I obviously will upgrade their GMs, not that they have a GM. But I can’t reward them on promise that may or may not be fulfilled. The sheer fact is they have not had a winning record 7 straight seasons.
Billy Beane: He does well — pretty well — with limited resources. But his team is almost in a category of its own. Call it Quadruple-A. He has excuses but he lacks results. I give him high marks for brilliance, but that does not put him in first place on this list.
Sabean: He is the reason I am writing this blog in the first place. You’re probably gnashing your teeth. You think I’m a dope. I probably am. It’s just that he improved his team. The Giants are having trouble right now but they are contenders and he’s brought them to the front of the local sports conversation. People care about his club. If the Giants win the division it will be hard to put him down. If they fail, the Giants should consider replacing him. This is a do-or-die season for him.
With that in mind, I put him in first place of a group that seems pretty mediocre, Sabean included.
