John Sh... The Atlanta guy.

I really am not familiar with Cashman's history before the Yankees--but I'd love to see what he's capable of with a $90 million payroll as opposed to $200 million plus payroll. (I guess the same goes for Theo)..
JP has certainly made some errors in judgement, but I still think he's done a good job for the Jays--This year will be a real test to see how JP's trading strategy will play out.

I voted for J.P before realizing there was an "other" option. I thought it was just for the LA East. In all of baseball I'd want John Ser... the Atlanta G.M. In the AL Eat alone it's J.P.

Brian Cashmen has shown no ability to execute clever trades or build a farm system that yields more then two returns since Derek Jeter.

Chuck LaMar sucks. No two ways about it and that is why he no longer has a G.M job. Even if he has drafted well it hasn't translated into a winning season yet alone a playoff spot.

Mike Flanagan is also bad. He spends money on the wrong guys (Palmerio, Ramon Hernandez, almost Burnitz) and makes even worse trades (Benson, Hawkins, ect.). He seems to have an ability to undervalue or overvalue players without getting it right more then once (Tejada).

John Schuerholz.

If not him I'd want Beane. If not him I might say Cashman followed by Epstein followed by JP.

Other Beanes.

It's just my first lame food joke of the day.

Schuerholz.

I'll take Mr. Moneyball.

#1 and 2 are both not on this list.

Scherholz and Beany.

Then JP because hes a pimp.

Other: Pat Gillick

Beane.

He is able to trade talent for talent when the chips are down. I think if he was able to hold on to some of the talent he had in his posession, Oakland would be competing more often than not.

Other: Mark Shapiro. He got Travis Hafner, Coco Crisp, Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, and Brandon Phillips for Einer Diaz, Chuck Finley and Bartolo Colon. He drafts well (Martinez, , makes good free agent signings (Belliard, Blake, Millwood), and incredible trades. After that, I like Melvin, Beane, and Schuerholz. Cashman has a tough job in some ways because he is heavily pressured to make moves in a way other GMs aren't. Epstein had a very short tenure but did win a WS. J.P., Lamarr, and Flanagan are all unimpressive IMO.

I'd want myself, naturally. I'm the only one I really trust.

John Schuerholz

I am surprised Da Box don't have Schuerholz and Beane up there, they would also have to be my 1 and 2. Anyone who can built a team to win 13(is it 13, I lost count) division titles in a row deserves to be number one. Other GMs that I want to mention includes Doug Melvin, who has done a fantastic job assembling a impressive young squad who will be good in the very near future, Terry Ryan, and Mark Shapiro.

Now the question of worst GM in the league is a little more interesting...

Schuerholz or Beane. Shapiro, Kevin Towers, and Epstein are all in the tier right below for me. All five of these guys also seem to be good at what I consider to be the key element of GM-ship, building a good staff around them. All of these organizations seem to have good assisstants and the like, but just having the GM without a staff to compliment him seems a bit pointless. Perhaps it should be what front office staff would you like to have more?

I vote for Schuerholtz, though I can understand voting for Beane, Epstein or (at a stretch) Cashman. I can't really understand voting for J.P. over any of those guys right now, given their respective track records.

With any luck, I'll have to reevaluate after this year.

No love for Kenny Williams. I will mention him here just because he won the Series and he has loaded up again for another run.

But its hard to not pick Schuerholz. His record speaks for himself and this year, without losing a prime prospect, he lost Furcal and got Renteria. another brilliant move.

1. Beane
2. Schuerholz
3. Shapiro
4. Cashman
5. Williams

Beane with a large payroll and a five-year contract is a scary thought. Although I think there is something about the underdog role that suits him well.

I'd put Ricciardi around the 66th percentile (meaning I would rather have him than roughly two-thirds of the other GMs). I expect this will change quite a bit depending on what happens over the next couple of years. He's survived the lean years of payroll-slashing. Now it's time to compete.

What has Cashman done to deserve any credit as a GM? I am seriously asking.

Writing cheques is not "talent". I'm not seeing the big deal, I'm not seeing a developed minor system (especially when he has the money to draft Boras guys/top prospects).

Beane, Gillick, Schuerholz would be my top 3, in that order. Any of them would be great though. Gillick might be the weakest though as the Jays era did end (after 10 years of contention) while Beane and Schuerholz are still going. But Gillick did do it in multiple organizations, a true sign of his skill imo.

Beane
Schuerholz
Shapiro
Epstein
then Ricciardi around 12

"But its hard to not pick Schuerholz. His record speaks for himself and this year, without losing a prime prospect, he lost Furcal and got Renteria. another brilliant move."

How do you not call Marte a prime prospect?

I should clarify what i meant by 'prime prospect.' I read a piece on the Braves and some of them questioned Marte's work ethic. They did not speak highly of him, and they felt they were not losing a cornerstone player. So, in their minds, he was not a prime prospect. And the Red Sox thought so highly of him, they plan on trading him to Cleveland.

I agree with the consensus.

The 3 best in baseball right now, in my mind, are Beane, Schuerholz and Shapiro.

I also agree with the ocmment about Melvin. He's doing a fine job in Milwaukee and he's right near the top of the 2nd tier.

Though I am certain that this comment will not go over well with some here, I will make it anyway: Billy Beane is objectively the best GM in baseball. That is, voting for someone other than Beane is not really stating a preference like 'turquoise is my favourite colour', but is more akin to a simple falsehood, like '2 plus 2 equals 5' or 'Floridians chose Bush over Gore'.

Be that as it may, the poll question is 'who would you want', not 'who is the best', so voters may have a perfectly valid reason to select a lesser GM (perhaps something related to personality).

My first paragraph may have been a little strong, I suppose, because there are conceivable alternate explanations for the stellar and virtually flawless Beane track record. It is possible that he has been lucky, but the sample size seems to preclude that. It is also possible that Beane is merely the figurehead and that some sort of anonymous A's insider is actually behind the dealings. There are any number of far-flung possibilities, but if one is comfortable making the assumption that there are no alternate explanations, then Beane is not only a good choice, but the only choice.