Miami Herald, Sunday Focus

 

Posted on Sun, Sep. 03, 2006

 

SUNDAY FOCUS | Admin BEINFEST

 

A master architect

 

With a payroll of less than $15 million, the Marlins' Admin Beinfest may be doing his best job yet as one of baseball's most underrated general managers.

 

BY KEVIN BAXTER

kbaxter@MiamiHerald.com

 

Admin Beinfest was in his 16th month as general manager of the Marlins and the team was in its customary place in the standings -- dead last -- when his name popped up on the caller ID in the San Diego Padres front office.

 

''Would the Padres,'' he asked, ``be interested in trading outfielder Rondell White?''

 

''I was shocked,'' San Diego GM Kevin Towers remembered of the conversation. 'I thought, `These guys think they're still in it?' I thought they'd be sellers.''

 

Towers decided to sit on the offer, a cagey veteran move, and wait for Beinfest to get desperate. But while he did, the Marlins called up a minor-league third baseman to play left field. Miguel Cabrera hit a game-winning homer in that first game, and the Marlins went on to win the 2003 World Series with him in the outfield.

 

The Padres, meanwhile, finished 34 games under .500 and wound up sending White to the Royals for two minor-leaguers.

 

''I overplayed my hand,'' Towers said.

 

That's the penalty many in baseball have paid for underestimating Beinfest who, in five seasons, has taken the Marlins from laughingstocks to perennial contenders while stamping himself as one of the most aggressive and successful general managers in any sport.

 

Under Dave Dombrowski, the franchise's only other GM, the Marlins had just one winning record in nine seasons, losing at least 98 games three times. In four-plus years under Beinfest, they've posted three consecutive winning seasons, have been in the wild-card race deep into September each of the past three years and had a .514 winning percentage going into the weekend.

 

And this season may be his best yet. After being ordered by management to dismantle what arguably was the best everyday lineup in the National League, Beinfest used some shrewd trades, a couple of cut-rate free-agent signings and what may eventually prove to be one of the best Rule V draft picks in history to build a club that, starting play Saturday, was just two games off the lead in the wild-card race.

 

And he did it with a payroll of less than $15 million, the lowest in baseball in more than seven seasons.

 

''He should be executive of the year in the National League,'' said Washington Nationals GM Jim Bowden. ``To rebuild this franchise as quickly as he has is a great tribute to him. It's one of the hardest things to do in the game.''

 

What Beinfest thinks of his performance, however, is anyone's guess -- the Marlins' GM declined several requests to be interviewed for this story. But then Beinfest's actions have generally spoken louder than his words anyway -- and never more so than this season.

 

Forced by revenue constraints to trade three Gold Glove winners, a stolen base champion, an All-Star catcher, a future Hall of Fame first baseman and a World Series MVP, Beinfest got back just one player who no longer qualified as a rookie.

 

Yet, in the long run, he may have gotten the best of all those deals. A half-dozen of those rookies were rated among the best prospects in baseball while another, right-hander Ricky Nolasco, has won almost as many games in the majors as he did in his best minor-league season.

 

Add in second baseman Dan Uggla, whom Beinfest stole from the Diamondbacks for $50,000 in the Rule V draft, pitchers Scott Olsen and Josh Johnson, both of whom Beinfest drafted, and unwanted free agents Joe Borowski, Miguel Olivo and Alfredo Amezaga and the Marlins, widely expected to lose 100 games this season, could wind up winning close to 90 instead.

 

''It's obvious he uses his scouts, his staff, and gets players before they're established,'' said Arizona GM Josh Byrnes. ``But he's also shown a knack in previous years [for] getting veterans who are available at a low point and plugging them in affordably. He's sort of had a knack on both ends of the scale.''

 

NO `WOE IS ME'

 

That hasn't made the rebuilding any easier to deal with emotionally, though. Although last season ended in disappointment, with the Marlins missing the playoffs, Beinfest had built a club that figured to be competitive for several more seasons. Carlos Delgado, Luis Castillo, Paul Lo Duca and Mike Lowell were all signed to multiyear contracts. Miguel Cabrera was under club control and Josh Beckett. Juan Pierre and Dontrelle Willis were not eligible for free agency.

 

But when talks over a new stadium collapsed three weeks after the World Series, Beinfest was ordered to cut to the bone. So midway through the November general manager's meetings in Indian Wells, Calif., he put out word the team would listen to offers for anyone but Cabrera and Willis and then, disappointed, he flew home early.

 

Less than three weeks later, as his wife was serving Thanksgiving dinner, Beinfest was in the office of his Southwest Ranches home faxing the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets the final details of the trades that would send Beckett, Lowell and reliever Guillermo Mota to Boston and Delgado to the Mets. In exchange the Marlins would get six rookies and first baseman Mike Jacobs, who would replace Delgado after just 100 big-league at-bats.

 

Castillo was next to go, then Lo Duca, both for minor-leaguers. The most painful blow was the final one, though, with Beinfest making a midnight deal at baseball's winter meetings to send Pierre, the GM's favorite player, to Chicago for pitchers Nolasco, Renyel Pinto and Sergio Mitre.

 

''When it was over, the room got real quiet,'' Beinfest said later.

 

But the mourning lasted just a minute and, after a toast, the general manager and his staff started focusing on how to make their inexperienced, cut-rate team into a winner.

 

'When I talked to him about his situation, he never played `woe is me,' '' Byrnes said. 'It was more, `This is what we're doing and we feel good about it.' And now I think the results are starting to show.''

 

EARLY START

 

At 36, Beinfest was one of the youngest GMs in the game when he took over the Marlins the day Jeffrey Loria assumed ownership in February 2002. But he had already paid his dues, serving 10 years, mostly in scouting and player development, with the Seattle Mariners, then two seasons as assistant general manager with the Montreal Expos.

 

His time with the Mariners helped earn him a reputation as a good judge of talent, something he has built on by surrounding himself with one of the deepest front office player-development staffs in baseball.

 

''Years ago I realized that Admin was one of the brightest young men in the game and all he needed was an opportunity,'' Loria wrote in an e-mail. ``His ability to build a consensus and evaluate players has made him one of the best general managers in the game.

 

``He has never backed down from any tough challenge. That planning has put us back in position to compete before most people thought possible.''

 

Despite his success, the fact that he's worked in the small markets of Montreal and Miami has prevented him from developing much national attention. And on the rare occasions the media spotlight does shine on him, Beinfest deflects credit to his coaches, players and the rest of his staff.

 

''I'm really not a high-profile guy,'' said Beinfest, who in April signed a three-year contract extension that will keep him with the Marlins through the 2010 season.

 

DEFLECTING ACCOLADES

 

Added Loria: ``Admin is now getting the national recognition he deserves, but typical of Admin, he prefers that the accolades go to others.

 

``In this regard, I think he is reflective of our belief that the focus of our fans should be on the players, individually, and our organization collectively.''

 

While he may not seek the headlines, though, Beinfest is well aware what's being said and written about him. And he has a thin skin and a long memory when he reads things he doesn't like.

 

When the Marlins reached the postseason three years ago, for example, Beinfest privately railed at a national magazine story that credited -- incorrectly -- Dombrowski for building the Marlins into a playoff team. And when a local reporter showed up for an offseason meeting with Beinfest two years ago, the GM confronted him with a highlighted copy of a two-paragraph note published nearly three months earlier that he considered mean-spirited.

 

Another beat writer, who had a good relationship with Beinfest, has been frozen out this season over something he wrote during spring training.

 

''Admin is a tough personality to get to know,'' said one agent who has had extensive dealings with him.

 

Yet that same agent, who no longer has a client with the Marlins, praised Beinfest as ''straightforward and honest'' when it came time to discuss contracts, adjectives his peers use to describe him as well.

 

''He doesn't play games,'' said Bowden, who characterized Beinfest as a baseball intellectual. ``He's always thinking. He's got tremendous people skills. Honest. Loyal. Hard-working.''

 

Added Towers: ``There's no hidden agendas. If he wants somebody, he tells you who he wants.''

 

Three years ago he wanted Rondell White. The Padres demurred and Beinfest wound up with Miguel Cabrera instead, probably the best trade the Marlins never made.

 

Towers, however, wasn't left empty-handed. He came away from the episode with a deeper appreciation of Beinfest.

 

''I've always had a lot of respect for him,'' Towers said. ``He's one of the most underrated general managers in the game.''

What an awesome article. Baxter did really well with this one!

Great story. Too bad Beinfest didn't want to be interviewed for it- I would've liked to have heard from him.

I wish S. Fl. would recognize what We have in Beinfest...Think Don Shula and multiply by 100 then you might get someone close...No other man I can think of dead or alive would have been able to accomplish what Beinfest has achieved this season

Ecellent article thanks for posting it. :thumbup

Beinfest plz get us a centerfielder now!

This article is a gross oversimplification, thus distorting Beinfest's impact. He is, in reality, an average GM. That's not bad, as average has become pretty good these days. But he's no star.

 

The process that takes place to select and train players has many facets. Many people are involved; scouts, coaches, and FO staff, as well as the Major League scouting bureau, various baseball publications that follow high school and college talent, etc.

 

The answer to whether he is avarage or above comes from asking yourself a few questions.

 

1) What decisions has he made that wouldn't have been the same if anyone else was GM?

 

2) How have his draft choices fared, by round, compared to those of other teams?

 

3) What shape our the minor leagues in. Is there adequate talent in the pipeline to feed the MLB team, and to trade, or is our stock of prospects depleted?

 

 

As to (1), he has done pretty much what any average GM would do in the circumstances.

 

As to (2), I don't know, although we don't have many studs in the minors, indicating we have not drafted well.

 

As to (3), we are in mediocre to poor shape (depending on your view of some of our pitching prospects; we are hurting for position players)

Damn "can't" you are really hardcore! Either Beinfest is the luckiest GM in baseball but he has not made one bad move in putting this team together with a 15 million dollar budget...JoeG has been unbelievable as well in what he has done but Beinfest was the one to give him the raw material to work with in assembling a team...The signing of Dan Uggla alone qualifies him for executive of the year. In regards to talent in the minors...Yes our farm system is stacked with pitching and not so much with position players, let me give you the flip side of the coin...look at the D-Rays...plenty of position players but little pitching talent in the minors. Would you rather this team look like that franchise?...I need to reiterate, and i can't do so enough, Beinfest is a genius...A pure genius!

i hope this wont make other team try hire Beinfest away from marlins after what their see him do with marlins

he's locked until 2010, didn't you read. Admin is here to stay. IN Admin WE TRUST ;-)

:notworthy :notworthy