talent evaluations, managing the minor league farm system, making sure that the right people

are called up at the right time to play in the show. The general manager is the guy that

has the one-on-one negotiations with the player agents into determining who's going to be

allowed to go to free agency, what free agents they're going to be allowed to bring in, what

players they're going to retain. He has to manage the entire organization. He has to

oversee the front office personnel as well as the on-the-field staff. So he's got a lot

of responsibilities and a very important job. You don't necessarily see him actively in

the game. Though in our modern incarnation of baseball especially with free agency as

prominent as it is, we see and hear more about the general manager than we once did. Brian

Cashman for the New York Yankees, Theo Epstein for the Boston Red Sox, John Schuerholz for

the Atlanta Braves, who recently retired from that role, these are synonymous with the game

of baseball. If you say their names, most baseball fans know who they are, just as easily

as Rogers Clemens or Manny Ramirez or Chipper Jones. The GM, again, determines everything

about the team. He puts the team in a singular direction on every level from the front office

staff to the on-field staff and the talent evaluation staff. So he's got a very important

job, primarily, fielding the right team to get the team where it needs to be.