Great Players Make (bad) GMs

Have any baseball stars made the transition to GM? And no, Kenny Williams was never anything close to being a star.

 

Yeah, but he got crushed for the DiPietro resigning, which after his last season is looking like a good deal. The Smyth trade pushed them into the playoffs. One season in, I think he's going a decent job.

 

"Star" may not consistently apply, but these GMs had reasonably long playing careers:

Bill Stoneman (Anaheim), Ed Lynch (Cubs), Hank Greenberg (Cleveland), Ralph Houk (Yankees), Dallas Green (Philadelphia, Cubs), Whitey Herzog (St. Louis), Eddie Robinson (Texas), Tom Haller (San Francisco) Ted Simmons (Pittsburgh), Hawk Harrelson (White Sox), Sal Bando (Brewers).

There are more, I'm sure. I think Stan Musial spent a year as Cardinals GM. These are the ones I remembered immediately.

 

Watson, Beattie & Flanagan were the first I thought of. Was Frank Robinson? Bill white?

 

Snow didn't sign DiPietro to the 15-year contract. Islanders owner Charles Wang did. Snow didn't get criticized for the deal; Wang was the laughingstock.

That said, I agree with you about Snow. He did a pretty good job getting the Islanders into the playoffs. It will be interesting to see if he can re-sign Smyth.

 

No on Robinson and White.

 

Ozzie Newsome was a pretty decent tight end. Turned out to know his way around a draft, too.

 

Well, from all indications, Rick Tocchet is coming back into the Phoenix fold as an assistant again. Guess who wants him too? His buddy Gretzky.