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MLB: Rating front offices of the AL West

By Bill Felber

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 23: (L-R) Seattle Mariners President Kevin Mather, majority owner John Stanton, Marco Gonzales #7 and general manager Jerry Dipoto of the Seattle Mariners pose for a photo with Kyle Lewis' Most Valuable Pitcher award for the Seattle chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards before their game against the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park on September 23, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 23: (L-R) Seattle Mariners President Kevin Mather, majority owner John Stanton, Marco Gonzales #7 and general manager Jerry Dipoto of the Seattle Mariners pose for a photo with Kyle Lewis' Most Valuable Pitcher award for the Seattle chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards before their game against the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park on September 23, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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New Astros general manager Jim Click (left) with team owner Jim Crane. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
New Astros general manager Jim Click (left) with team owner Jim Crane. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

Houston’s new GM is the only one to improve his MLB team’s talent base.

The story of AL West front offices in 2020 is really the story of one guy. It’s the one guy who wasn’t even in the organization when the year began.

It is, in other words, the quintessential 2020 story.

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Jim Click began the year with a solid job, as vice president of baseball ops for the Tampa Bay Rays. But when the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal erupted and team owner Jim Crane fired both his general manager and manager, Click pivoted to a new assignment. He was the man in charge of reshaping the Astros’ front office.

Houston fell to second place in the AL West this year, but Click did his darndest to break the fall. His late moves enhanced the team’s standing by 1.6 games, the division’s most productive performance, and the only AL West general manager whose moves actually improved his club’s prospects.

Our front office ratings are based on the collective short-term impact, as measured by Wins Above Average, of every personnel move made by every front office since the conclusion of play in 2019. A positive number represents a front office success. In a few cases, those marked by an asterisk, the front office really succeeded; it generated a more positive impact than the margin by which the team qualified for post-season play.

If a rating is negative, that means the team’s front office reduced the club’s talent base during 2020. And woe betides a front office that gets an asterisk for negative performance; that means the team’s execs dealt, promoted, or signed their way out of the playoffs. Those rare instances are marked by an X.

As a general proposition, MLB front offices influence their team’s performance in five ways:

  • By the players they acquire in trades, purchase or waiver claims with other teams.
  • By the players they lose in those deals.
  • By the free agents they sign.
  • By the players they release or lose to free agency.
  • By the rookies they promote.

Findings for the East and Central divisions in both leagues have already been reported. This analysis of the AL West front offices is not ordered on final standing, but rather on the extent of the front office’s positive or negative contribution to the team profile.

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