Current General Managers And How They Got Their Start

The baseball General Managers that I decided to find out more about are Dan Duquette with the Baltimore Orioles; Theo Epstein with the Chicago Cubs; Dave Dombrowski of the Detroit Tigers; Jeff Luhnow of the Houston Astros, and Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics. 

Dan Duquette received his start in the game by getting an assistant scouting position with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1980 after the GM of the team, Harry Dalton, saw his letter seeking employment. Mr. Dalton was a former alumnus of Amherst College, the same college Mr. Duquette attended. In 1987, Mr. Duquette became the Director of Player Development for the Montreal Expos and drafted Marquis Grissom, Cliff Floyd, and Rondell White. He subsequently replaced Dave Dombrowski as the Expos GM in 1991. 

Theo Epstein received his start in the game by taking a position in the public relations department for the San Diego Padres working with Larry Lucchino and was subsequently promoted to the team’s Director of Baseball Operations. In 2002, Larry Lucchino became President-CEO of the Boston Red Sox and hired Mr. Epstein to work for him. At the end of the 2002 season, Mr. Epstein was named the GM of the Red Sox, becoming the youngest GM in baseball history. Mr. Epstein was credited with making several key acquisitions such as Kevin Millar, David Ortiz, and Curt Schilling. 

Dave Dombrowski began his career with the Chicago White Sox in 1978 as an administrative assistant in their minor league organization. He moved up the ladder to Assistant GM before Ken Harrelson purged the entire front-office in 1986. Mr. Dombrowski joined the Montreal Expos in 1987 as their Director of Player Development. In 1988, he became the Expos GM which was the youngest at the time. Mr. Dombrowski has been credited with building the Expos farm system during his term. 

Jeff Luhnow began his career later in life after working as an engineer, management consultant, and technology entrepreneur. In 2003, Mr. Luhnow joined the St. Louis Cardinals front office because the owner, William DeWitt Jr., had a prior business relationship with him. Mr. Dewitt was looking to run the Cardinals in a more analytical and data driven manner. Mr. Luhnow had no prior experience in baseball and had not played since high school. Initially, Mr. Luhnow’s position was Vice President of Baseball Development. During this time he established a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic and extended scouting in Venezuela. He was then promoted to Vice President of Player Procurement which made him director of amateur, international, and domestic scouting. In 2006, Mr. Luhnow was named Vice President of Scouting and Player Development. During this time he oversaw drafts that produced 24 major league players. Several of those players made important contributions in the 2011 World Series, including Allen Craig, John Jay, and Lance Lynn. In December of 2011, Mr. Luhnow became the Houston Astros GM. 

Billy Beane began his career as a “can’t miss” prospect with all “five tools”, but by his own self-admission had difficulty dealing with the mental side of the game. 
After struggling to stay with a big league club for close to ten years, Mr. Beane asked Sandy Alderson, who was the Oakland A’s GM at the time for a scouting job. Mr. Beane was assigned as an advanced scout, and held the position until 1993 when he was named Assistant General Manager. His main task was scouting minor league players. During this time, Mr. Alderson taught Beane to find value in players using sabermetrics. Mr. Beane succeeded Alderson in 1997 and eventually turned the Oakland A’s into one of the most cost-effective teams in baseball. Many other G.M.’s have followed Beane’s strategies and utilize this approach.