Walt Jocketty
Jocketty had a brilliant front office career with two NL Central franchises. With respect to his time running the St. Louis Cardinals, it can safely be said that since Branch Rickey left in the early 1940s, only John Mozeliak could challenge Jocketty as the team’s premier front office executive.
Jocketty was appointed GM of the Cardinals during the 1994 strike, coming over from lower-level stints in Oakland and Colorado. To him belongs the credit for twice raiding Oakland. He got Tony LaRussa to be field manager and in 1997 stole Mark McGwire away in a lopsided trade.
Between 1995 and 2007, Jocketty’s Cardinals made seven post-season appearances, and Jocketty’s player transactions had a direct role in at least four of those. He was the force behind the 2000 trade with Anaheim that brought Jim Edmonds to St. Louis, solidifying his team’s outfield decade for five years.
One season later Jocketty called up Albert Pujols from Double A to begin one of the great careers in baseball history.
In St. Louis Edmonds would become a six-time Gold Glover while Pujols would win a batting title, two home run titles, the Rookie of the Year and three MVPs.
Following the 2007 season the Cardinals fired Jocketty, but the Cincinnati Reds almost immediately hired him as an advisor, with his elevation to GM following quickly. He led the Reds to their only three post-season appearances over a quarter-century span before retiring to an advisory capacity.