Ultimately the goal of every team is to win the World Series. However, I am not convinced that this is a sign of a good GM. Guys like Theo Epstein of the Boston Red Sox and Brian Cashman of the New York Yankees, who get a bunch of blank checks every season seem to have an advantage over the little guys. Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics who is one of the most hyped GM’s in the game and is a poster boy for “spending money wisely” has never won a pennant in his 12 years at the helm in Oakland.  Marchman argues that Andrew Friedman of the Tampa Bay Ray’s is the best GM based on  dollars per win and his signing of Evan Longoria to a very club friendly contract. So who do you consider to be the best GM in baseball?

Tim Marchman’s GM Rankings going into the 2010 season:

1. Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay Rays
2. Theo Epstein, Boston Red Sox
3. Brian Cashman, New York Yankees
4. Larry Beinfest, Florida Marlins
5. Jack Zduriencik, Seattle Mariners
6. Doug Melvin, Milwaukee Brewers
7. Dan O’Dowd, Colorado Rockies
8. Jon Daniels, Texas Rangers
9. Kenny Williams, Chicago White Sox
10. Billy Beane, Oakland A’s
11. Josh Byrnes, Arizona Diamondbacks
12. Andy MacPhail, Baltimore Orioles
13. Dave Dombrowski, Detroit Tigers
14. Walt Jocketty, Cincinnati Reds
15. Tony Reagins, Los Angeles Angels
16. Jim Hendry, Chicago Cubs
17. Frank Wren, Atlanta Braves
18. John Mozeliak, St. Louis Cardinals
19. Ruben Amaro Jr., Philadelphia Phillies
20. Neal Huntington, Pittsburgh Pirates
21. Bill Smith, Minnesota Twins
22. Mark Shapiro, Cleveland Indians
23. Mike Rizzo, Washington Nationals
24. Alex Anthopolous, Toronto Blue Jays
25. Jed Hoyer, San Diego Padres
26. Omar Minaya, New York Mets
27. Ned Colletti, Los Angeles Dodgers
28. Brian Sabean, San Francisco Giants
29. Ed Wade, Houston Astros
30. Dayton Moore, Kansas City Royals

The Blue Jays are in the tough AL East where they are constantly underdogs because of the lavish spending practices of the Yankees and Red Sox. Anthopoulos not only has these two behemoths to contend with every year but he has been saddled with some major dead weight in the contract department.

Vernon Wells is the biggest albatross. He is signed through the 2014 season and his contract balloons in 2010 from $10 million to $21 million.  He also has full no trade clause protection.

Roy Halladay is another glaring red light. What does Anthopoulos do with him? Obviously you would like to keep somebody with Halladay’s talent but with the team floundering at 75-87 last year you have to consider rebuilding. Halladay will be very expensive to re-sign and you know that most teams (for sure the Yankees and Red Sox) will be waiting to sign him for the top of their rotations.

A couple of bright spots for the Blue Jays are the performances of Aaron Hill and Adam Lind. Hill hit .286 with 36 homers and 108 RBIs in 2009. This puts him in the elite performers at second base. Lind also produced in a big way in his first full season hitting .306 with 35 homers and 114 RBIs. Hill and Lind helped the Blue Jay’s offset the struggling Wells and Alex Rios who were supposed to be the anchors of the Blue Jay’s attack in 2009.

So what is a new GM supposed to do? You have 3 teams (Yankees, Red Sox and Rays) in front of you with better talent and/or better payroll figures. I believe Anthopoulos is stuck with Vernon Wells. Nobody in their right mind is going to want to touch that contract. Wells is a good center fielder, but is not worth $21 million dollars a year. Anthopoulos would have to swallow a majority of Well’s contract to even hope to move him. Then, even if he found an interested party, Wells would have to be willing to waive his no trade clause. Anthopoulos’ best bet is to hope that the 2003 and 2006 Wells shows up instead of the 2008 version.

My suggestion to Anthopoulos is to invest in his farm system like the Rays have done, because he will never be able to spend with the likes of Theo Epstein and Brian Cashman. Home grown talent is the best kind, and having a core built around Hill, Lind and Wells may be the best solution.

The Blue Jays must explore trading Halladay. He could bring in a treasure trove of new talent that could boost the team for years to come. Halladay has already expressed that he wants to play for a winner and it doesn’t look like the Blue Jays will be contending anytime soon.

Now the question is who has that starting shortstop the Blue Jays need so badly?