Walt Jocketty Is The Man..

[Guest Catcher8C]

I was thinking it over today, and it is clear to me that Walt is the best GM in recent baseball memory.

 

For roughly 88 million, he has the best all around roster in baseball:

 

Best Lineup:

 

SS- David Eckstein

LF- Larry Walker

3B- Scott Rolen

1B- Albert Pujols

CF- Jim Edmonds

RF- Reggie Sanders

2B- ????- Probably Alex Cora

C- Yadier Molina (the next pudge behind the plate...wait and see)

 

Best Rotation:

 

Mark Mulder

Chris Carpenter

Matt Morris

Jason Marquis

Jeff Suppan

4 pitchers in this rotation could be aces for other teams

 

Best Bullpen:

 

Ray King

Julian Tavarez

Mike Meyers

Rick Ankiel (he's back, people)

Mike Lincoln (gonna be huge this year)

Cal Eldred (under-rated)

Jason Isringhausen

 

On top of that, take away Tino Martinez in 2002 and Fernando Tatis in 2000, and this man has not signed a bad deal.

 

For 6 years and less than 10 million a year, he signed the best centerfielder overall during that time in Edmonds..

 

He signed the future of the game Albert Pujols to a 10 year deal for way less than the market price, same with Rolen.

 

If only the yankees could do as well with their spending...

 

People need to give Jocketty, La Russa, and the rest of the Cardinals brass credit for being great at what they do. No one in the central is going to stand a chance in 05.

[UZI Suicide 0]

Um, no he isn't. He's definitely not better than John Shurholz or Billy Beane.

 

And if you really think the Cards have the best lineup, bullpen and rotation.. well, you MIGHT be a homer.

[Guest Catcher8C]

So winning 105 games last year was what? Luck?

[Guest Failed Mascot]

Thankfully alkeiper will see this sooner or later since he'll be motivated to rip it apart and I'm far too lazy to do so. I will however say that the team has 1 potential ace right now. Something tells me Mulder's elbow and hip aren't going to last him much longer. I like Chris Carpenter though.

 

Morris, Suppan, and Marquis could all be aces...(if you sent them to Tampa Bay or Cincinatti.)

[geniusMoment 0]

Thankfully alkeiper will see this sooner or later since he'll be motivated to rip it apart and I'm far too lazy to do so. I will however say that the team has 1 potential ace right now. Something tells me Mulder's elbow and hip aren't going to last him much longer. I like Chris Carpenter though.

 

Morris, Suppan, and Marquis could all be aces...(if you sent them to Tampa Bay or Cincinatti.)

They also could be aces for Cincinnati.

[Guest Smues]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Pujols has a 7 year contract, not 10. yeah yeah he had 3 years before the current contract makes 10. Let me pick my pointless nits!

[DerangedHermit 0]

I was thinking it over today, and it is clear to me that Walt is the best GM in recent baseball memory.

As a Mets fan, it pains me to say that John Schuerholz is the best GM in recent baseball memory (how he wins divisions in years he shouldn't have is beyond me)

 

I'll give it up to Jocketty though, Rolen's contract is one of the best bargains.

[MikeJordan23 0]

Thankfully alkeiper will see this sooner or later since he'll be motivated to rip it apart and I'm far too lazy to do so. I will however say that the team has 1 potential ace right now. Something tells me Mulder's elbow and hip aren't going to last him much longer. I like Chris Carpenter though.

 

Morris, Suppan, and Marquis could all be aces...(if you sent them to Tampa Bay or Cincinatti.)

Matt Morris when healthy is easily a number 2, and an Ace on a lot of teams. Check his career statistics, up there with some of the top pitchers of the last 6 years.

 

And Walt Jockett is one of the best GMs, easily. Look at some of the trades he's made from Edmonds, to Rolen, to Mcguire, picking up Carpenter for nothing, and has one of the best teams in the league with a payroll that couldn't pay for the Yankees infield.

 

Billy Beane, no question he's good, but we'll find out how great he is without the big 3 anymore. He's gonna have to build a winning team all over again. He has built a huge reputation with using this moneyball philosophy, but his teams winning percentage when the Big 3 don't pitch, isn't good at all.

 

John Shurholz is clearly the best to me. 13 straight division titles with atleast 3 significant revamped teams. Unbelievable.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Ah, homerism at its finest. The Cardinals are not runaway favorites to win the NL Central. They face a tight race, with lost production up the middle, a weaker catcher (I doubt Molina outperforms Matheny just yet), and several players who had career years will likely regress. Could the Cardinals dominate next year? Yes. But Catcher8C's post assumes the best case scenario in every situation. Larry Walker is an injury risk. Ankiel and Lincoln could be nice pitchers, but they have much to prove. Carpenter missed the postseason with an injury. Mulder was horrid in the second half. Last year's club won 105 games almost solely because Pujols, Rolen, and Edmonds all had great years. Pujols I won't doubt for anything, but I doubt Rolen and Edmonds repeat their seasons.

 

That said, I do think Jocketty is an underrated GM. He has a knack for getting the most out of trades. He built the 2000 club mostly out of trades, and hardly gave up any future major league talent to do so. I wouldn't say he's the best, but he's likely in the top third.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Billy Beane, no question he's good, but we'll find out how great he is without the big 3 anymore. He's gonna have to build a winning team all over again. He has built a huge reputation with using this moneyball philosophy, but his teams winning percentage when the Big 3 don't pitch, isn't good at all.

 

Without looking it up myself, how many teams are good when they don't use any of their three best pitchers?

[MikeJordan23 0]

Billy Beane, no question he's good, but we'll find out how great he is without the big 3 anymore. He's gonna have to build a winning team all over again. He has built a huge reputation with using this moneyball philosophy, but his teams winning percentage when the Big 3 don't pitch, isn't good at all.

 

Without looking it up myself, how many teams are good when they don't use any of their three best pitchers?

Point is, the other GM's aren't considered geniuses. I mean, the Twins have won 3 straight division titles with a minute payroll and no one calls their GM a genius.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Billy Beane, no question he's good, but we'll find out how great he is without the big 3 anymore. He's gonna have to build a winning team all over again. He has built a huge reputation with using this moneyball philosophy, but his teams winning percentage when the Big 3 don't pitch, isn't good at all.

 

Without looking it up myself, how many teams are good when they don't use any of their three best pitchers?

Point is, the other GM's aren't considered geniuses. I mean, the Twins have won 3 straight division titles with a minute payroll and no one calls their GM a genius.

Terry Ryan spent $18 million to keep Shannon Stewart when his farm system was stocked to the brim with corner outfielders, and kept Christian Guzman and Luis Rivas as his starting shortstops. Beane won the AL West three times with the Seattle Mariners and Anaheim Angels fighting hard within the division. The AL Central is not nearly that difficult. Not to unduly criticize the Twins, as they are a success, and Terry Ryan usually does a good job. But the Twins won 90+ games three years in a row. The Athletics are on a five year streak of 90+ wins, and twice won 100+ games. They are more successful, and when you win that many games, your success lies beyond simply the contributions of your three best starters.

[mike546 0]

I know this is offtopic. but how do you rank Cashman as a GM Al?

[Precious Roy 0]

Cashman is doing Steinbrenner's bidding most of the time and isn't exactly free to shape the team himself. It's a unique case and kind of hard to gauge his performance.

[Guest Catcher8C]

What about Boston's GM...wasn't he like an understudy to Beane or something?

[Gert T 0]

I think Jocketty is a top 5 GM although I am admittedly a Cards fan.

 

Schuerholz is number one though without a doubt.

 

 

I worry about the fact the Cards lost both 2B & SS, Eckstein will be good, but no Renteria, although I am sure the Cards are not asking him to be. The thing that bothers me about the Mulder trade is that I hated giving up Danny Haren, I think he'll be great someday.

 

The Cards will not be heavy favorites, but I hope they can get back to the playoffs with a healthy Scott Rolen.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I know this is offtopic. but how do you rank Cashman as a GM Al?

 

Probably in the top 10. Deserves a ton of credit for finding Scott Brosius after he had a poor year with the Athletics in 1997. He generally makes smart moves, despite Steinbrenner's interference.

 

What about Boston's GM...wasn't he like an understudy to Beane or something?

 

Theo Epstein has never worked for Beane. He's considered one of baseball's young new "sabermetric" GMs. He's made some questionable moves, but he did what no GM in 85 years could do. He's hired some smart people, and overall he'd make the top 10.

 

For the record, here are my top ten GMs, in no particular order...

 

Theo Epstein (Red Sox)

Brian Cashman (Yankees)

Billy Beane (Athletics)

Walt Jocketty (Cardinals)

Terry Ryan (Twins)

Mark Shapiro (Indians)

J.P. Riccardi (Blue Jays)

Brian Sabean (Giants)

Paul DePodesta (Dodgers)

John Scherholz (Braves)

 

I could be convinced to flip a few of those around. Bottom five...

 

Ken Williams (White Sox)

Jeff Moorad (Diamondbacks)

Bill Bavasi (Mariners)

Dave Littlefield (Pirates)

Jim Bowden (Nationals)

[Gert T 0]

Jim Bowden will tell you that he is a Top Ten member.

 

I am giving Bowden an incomplete, because of working for Carl Linder. But its not like he'll have a huge budget in Washington either.

[Bored 0]

I really like what Doug Melvin is doing with the Brewers this offseason. I'd replace Sabean with him. Really what has he done since the Jeff Kent/Matt Williams trade? Take Barry Bonds off the team and they are terrible. This senior league team he's put together is doomed to fall apart.

 

Edit: Okay the Jason Schmidt trade as well but he was dealing with the Pirates and it's almost impossible to not get the best of them.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

On top of what Al said, the Cards won 105 games because everything that could go right for them in 2004, did. They faced no major injuries until the end of the regular season. Their starting pitching was better in 2004 than previous years, but I thought the way they performed in the postseason was what they probably should've been playing like during the regular season.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Jim Rantz deserves alot of the credit for developing one of the best minor leagues in the game.

[Precious Roy 0]

Probably in the top 10. Deserves a ton of credit for finding Scott Brosius after he had a poor year with the Athletics in 1997. He generally makes smart moves, despite Steinbrenner's interference.

 

Steinbrenner aside, Cashman is typically good when allowed to do his thing. The Brosius deal was amazing, as well as picking up O'Neil and Tino when their stock was down somewhat. the Yankees have made their share of dumb moves though, and sometimes it's hard to tell what was Cashman and what was King George. I'd say it's a fairly even split with them on boners, though the obvious ones usually land with George (Irabu, Lofton etc.). He does have, even with KG, the biggest bankroll to work with though, and it's impossible to say how he'd do with a smaller market, say, half of what NY spends. My gut says he'd do well, helped by his experience in NY, but I can't be 100% sure. It's really a blessing/curse type thing in NY, and the fact that he looks eternally stressed out really doesn't shock me

[Precious Roy 0]

And I'm surprised you'd mention Moorad in the upper half. I don't follow the D-Backs too closely, other than the Johnson buzz obviously, but I thought the Sexson trade and the Glaus/Ortiz signings were pretty shitty.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I really like what Doug Melvin is doing with the Brewers this offseason. I'd replace Sabean with him. Really what has he done since the Jeff Kent/Matt Williams trade? Take Barry Bonds off the team and they are terrible. This senior league team he's put together is doomed to fall apart.

 

Edit: Okay the Jason Schmidt trade as well but he was dealing with the Pirates and it's almost impossible to not get the best of them.

 

The veterans Sabean acquired have a knack for staying healthy, and putting together solid seasons. I never in a million years thought Marquis Grissom would be a valuable player, but here we are. In addition, he has built a solid young pitching staff.

 

And I'm surprised you'd mention Moorad in the upper half. I don't follow the D-Backs too closely, other than the Johnson buzz obviously, but I thought the Sexson trade and the Glaus/Ortiz signings were pretty shitty.

 

Read again. Moorad's in the bottom five.

[Precious Roy 0]

Bottom five of the the top 15, upper half of 30, same thing......

 

EDIT* Sorry, the way you worded that with the "I could be convinced to flip it" I thought you meant those 5 were borderline top 10. My bad.

[mike546 0]

Probably in the top 10. Deserves a ton of credit for finding Scott Brosius after he had a poor year with the Athletics in 1997. He generally makes smart moves, despite Steinbrenner's interference.

 

Steinbrenner aside, Cashman is typically good when allowed to do his thing. The Brosius deal was amazing, as well as picking up O'Neil and Tino when their stock was down somewhat. the Yankees have made their share of dumb moves though, and sometimes it's hard to tell what was Cashman and what was King George. I'd say it's a fairly even split with them on boners, though the obvious ones usually land with George (Irabu, Lofton etc.). He does have, even with KG, the biggest bankroll to work with though, and it's impossible to say how he'd do with a smaller market, say, half of what NY spends. My gut says he'd do well, helped by his experience in NY, but I can't be 100% sure. It's really a blessing/curse type thing in NY, and the fact that he looks eternally stressed out really doesn't shock me

Cashman wasn't GM when they traded for O'Neil.

[Precious Roy 0]

O'Neil was Gene Michaels? Yeah, I guess it was, for some reason I completely blocked him out of my mind. Whatever happened to old Stick?

[mike546 0]

No, it wasn't Michaels either.

 

I forgot his name, but he was black, and wore glasses.

 

I drawing a blank.

[The Czech Republic 0]

How do you guys feel about Jim Hendry? I'm reserving complete judgment until he unloads Sammy, but he got us Nomar Garciaparra for Alex Gonzalez, essentially, and picked up a lot of guys in 2003 that were instrumental in getting us as far as we got.

[DerangedHermit 0]

No, it wasn't Michaels either.

 

I forgot his name, but he was black, and wore glasses.

 

I drawing a blank.

It's not Bob Watson (Bob Watson was made Yanks GM in late 1995), It was Stick that got O'Neill in 1992.

 

Gene Michael: 1990 - 10/1995

Bob Watson: 1995 - 2/1998

Brian Cashman: 1998-present

 

Brosius was a Cashman deal.

 

/hahahaha, the Mets fan knows more about the Yanks than the Yankee fan

*RASPBERRIES! PBBBBBBBBBBBT!*