It is interesting that Beinfest lost out to Sabean, a mistake I think we all agree. But what is more interesting is now Beinfest is faced with the same challenge Sabean was last season, but only as World Champs. And trying to get back to the big show, like Sabean, will take some interesting and creative moves. I hope Beinfest was paying attention...here is the article from the Palm Beach Post:

 

Dontrelle Willis was named Rookie of the Year on Monday and Jack McKeon was named Manager of the Year on Wednesday. But the unprecedented week of big awards still rang hollow for the Marlins.

 

"Admin Beinfest should have been Executive of the Year, no question in my mind,'' McKeon said. "What he did was outstanding.''

 

What Beinfest did as general manager of the Marlins was pull off a series of bold, eyebrow-raising moves that resulted in a team that finished in fourth place at 79-83 in 2002 going on to finish 91-71 and win the World Series.

 

Brian Sabean, the San Francisco Giants general manager, won The Sporting News Executive of the Year Award, which is voted on by two executives from each of baseball's 30 teams.

 

Sabean, who got 16 votes, is a good choice. He overhauled a team that went to the World Series in 2002, acquired new starters at second base, third base, center field and right field, and hired a new manager.

 

That club won 100 games for the first time in 10 years. Of course, its season ended a week later, losing to the Marlins in the playoffs.

 

If Beinfest wasn't as good a choice as Sabean, he at least deserved better recognition by his peers. Atlanta's John Schuerholz was second with 13 votes followed by Jim Hendry of the Cubs with seven votes.

 

Thirteen executives, including Commissioner Bud Selig, received at least one vote. Beinfest appears to be one of them: Marlins President David Samson said he voted for him.

 

In many respects, the voting represents the lack of respect given to the Marlins since owner Jeffrey Loria bought the team after the 2001 season. Loria was owner of the Montreal Expos, baseball's stepchild, and brought Beinfest and others from his staff to Florida.

 

It was no surprise back in November when observers grumbled about Beinfest shipping off Preston Wilson and Charles Johnson to the Rockies for Juan Pierre and Mike Hampton. Those critics got a hearty laugh when Hampton blocked the move, forcing Florida to pay a chunk of his contract and trade him to Atlanta for unproven reliever Tim Spooneybarger.

 

No one offered Beinfest credit for freeing up money in that deal that helped him pull off what may be his best trade -- acquiring left-hander Mark Redman (who had a career season in 2003, going 14-9 with a 3.59 ERA) from Detroit for three minor-leaguers.

 

Then in January, Beinfest acquired free-agent catcher Pudge Rodriguez and was criticized for paying $10 million to a catcher who was perceived to be past his prime.

 

By May, the Marlins looked dead in the water when pitcher A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett went down with injuries. But Beinfest called up Willis, who had made just four starts at Class AA, and was questioned for rushing an unseasoned 21-year-old too quickly.

 

Two days later, the Marlins fired Jeff Torborg and hired McKeon as manager and Beinfest was laughed at for hiring a 72-year-old man. In July, Beinfest acquired reliever Ugueth Urbina from Texas and was criticized for trading away three prospects, including No. 1 pick Adrian Gonzalez.

 

By August, when Beinfest traded for Jeff Conine when Mike Lowell broke his hand, the whispers finally stopped. By October, when it became apparent that the Marlins were headed to the World Series, the reaction was: What are these guys doing here?

 

Beinfest made one questionable move all year -- signing free agent Todd Hollandsworth in January as Florida's starting left fielder. But even that bore fruit because Hollandsworth's bust led Beinfest to replace the veteran with rookie Miguel Cabrera.

 

"When you come to the trading deadline and you look at all the deals that were made, the players he acquired for our push were the key players who were out there,'' said McKeon, who was known as Trader Jack in his days a a general manager in San Diego.

 

"He got the best players and the players he acquired fit right in with our situation here and enabled us to go right to the top, and I think it's a mistake not to have him Executive of the Year.''

 

Marlins President David Samson was Beinfest's earliest campaigner, predicting back early in the season that Beinfest would win Executive of the Year. At least Samson nailed two other predictions, that Florida would win 91 games and its home attendance would crack 1.3 million.

 

"I'm biased, but I voted for Admin. I was here with him every day watching what he does and being a part of what he does for the organization,'' Samson said.

 

"I was disappointed for him, but he'll have another chance in his career, that's for sure.''

 

joe_capozzi@pbpost.com

Yup but he got devoed.

there's no doubt about it, he should have won. Beinfest put together a championship team, Sabean obviously didn't and I guess relied too much on "OF #25".

 

*waiting for GiantsIn04 to debate :whistle *

If Sabean is the best, with the Giants going from losing to the Angels in the 2002 World Series to being knocked out by the wildcard Marlins in the opening round of the 2003 playoffs, then Beinfest doesn't need the award.

Yup but he got devoed.

its deebo