The Sporting News is nothing short of the most respected and legendary magazine / newspaper in sports history. Their coverage of baseball has no rival and they are simply the most respected source of historical baseball statistics anywhere. Listed below in chronological order are the executives chosen by The Sporting News as recipients of the Executive of the Year Award. Research by Baseball Almanac.
"It's an organizational award and some of the things we experienced this year certainly add to this award for me individually. Unfortunately, the people who contributed to all the things that went right don't get much acknowledgement. I accepted this on behalf of the organization because that's exactly what it is. Everybody affiliated with the Minnesota Twins had a part in this and I'm proud to accept it on behalf of the organization." - Minnesota Twins Vice President & General Manager Terry Ryan
MLB Executive of the Year Awardby The Sporting News © |
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Year | Name (Quantity) | LG | Team (Quantity) |
1936 | Branch Rickey (1) | NL | St. Louis Cardinals (1) |
1937 | Ed Barrow (1) | AL | New York Yankees (1) |
1938 | Warren Giles (1) | NL | Cincinnati Reds (1) |
1939 | Larry MacPhail (1) | NL | Brooklyn Dodgers (1) |
1940 | Walter Briggs, Sr. (1) | AL | Detroit Tigers (1) |
1941 | Ed Barrow (2) | AL | New York Yankees (2) |
1942 | Branch Rickey (2) | NL | St. Louis Cardinals (2) |
1943 | Clark Griffith (1) | AL | Washington Senators (1) |
1944 | Billy DeWitt (1) | AL | St. Louis Browns (1) |
1945 | Phil Wrigley (1) | NL | Chicago Cubs (1) |
1946 | Tom Yawkey (1) | AL | Boston Red Sox (1) |
1947 | Branch Rickey (3) | NL | Brooklyn Dodgers (2) |
1948 | Bill Veeck, Jr. (1) | AL | Cleveland Indians (1) |
1949 | Bob Carpenter (1) | NL | Philadelphia Phillies (1) |
1950 | George Weiss (1) | AL | New York Yankees (3) |
1951 | George Weiss (2) | AL | New York Yankees (4) |
1952 | George Weiss (3) | AL | New York Yankees (5) |
1953 | Lou Perini (1) | NL | Milwaukee Braves (1) |
1954 | Horace Stoneham (1) | NL | New York Giants (1) |
1955 | Walter O'Malley (1) | NL | Brooklyn Dodgers (3) |
1956 | Gabe Paul (1) | NL | Cincinnati Redlegs (2) |
1957 | Frank Lane (1) | NL | St. Louis Cardinals (3) |
1958 | Joe Brown (1) | NL | Pittsburgh Pirates (1) |
1959 | Buzzie Bavasi (1) | NL | Los Angeles Dodgers (4) |
1960 | George Weiss (4) | AL | New York Yankees (6) |
1961 | Dan Topping (1) | AL | New York Yankees (7) |
1962 | Fred Haney (1) | AL | Los Angeles Angels(1) |
1963 | Bing Devine (1) | NL | St. Louis Cardinals (4) |
1964 | Bing Devine (2) | NL | St. Louis Cardinals (5) |
1965 | Cal Griffith (1) | AL | Minnesota Twins (2) |
1966 | Lee MacPhail (1) | MLB | Commissioner of Baseball (1) |
1967 | Dick O'Connell (1) | AL | Boston Red Sox (2) |
1968 | Jim Campbell (1) | AL | Detroit Tigers (2) |
1969 | John Murphy (1) | NL | New York Mets (1) |
1970 | Harry Dalton (1) | AL | Baltimore Orioles (2) |
1971 | Cedric Tallis (1) | AL | Kansas City Royals (1) |
1972 | Roland Hemond (1) | AL | Chicago White Sox (1) |
1973 | Bob Howsam (1) | NL | Cincinnati Reds (3) |
1974 | Gabe Paul (2) | AL | New York Yankees (8) |
1975 | Dick O'Connell (2) | AL | Boston Red Sox (3) |
1976 | Joe Burke (1) | AL | Kansas City Royals (2) |
1977 | Bill Veeck, Jr. (2) | AL | Chicago White Sox (2) |
1978 | Spec Richardson (1) | NL | San Francisco Giants (2) |
1979 | Hank Peters (1) | AL | Baltimore Orioles (3) |
1980 | Tal Smith (1) | NL | Houston Astros (1) |
1981 | John McHale (1) | NL | Montreal Expos (1) |
1982 | Harry Dalton (2) | AL | Milwaukee Brewers (1) |
1983 | Hank Peters (2) | AL | Baltimore Orioles (4) |
1984 | Dallas Green (1) | NL | Chicago Cubs (2) |
1985 | John Schuerholz (1) | AL | Kansas City Royals (3) |
1986 | Frank Cashen (1) | NL | New York Mets (2) |
1987 | Al Rosen (1) | NL | San Francisco Giants (3) |
1988 | Fred Claire (1) | NL | Los Angeles Dodgers (5) |
1989 | Roland Hemond (2) | AL | Baltimore Orioles (5) |
1990 | Bob Quinn (1) | NL | Cincinnati Reds (4) |
1991 | Andy MacPhail (1) | AL | Minnesota Twins (3) |
1992 | Dan Duquette (1) | NL | Montreal Expos (2) |
1993 | Lee Thomas (1) | NL | Philadelphia Phillies (2) |
1994 | John Hart (1) | AL | Cleveland Indians (2) |
1995 | John Hart (2) | AL | Cleveland Indians (3) |
1996 | Doug Melvin (1) | AL | Texas Rangers (1) |
1997 | Cam Bonifay (1) | NL | Pittsburgh Pirates (2) |
1998 | Gerry Hunsicker (1) | NL | Houston Astros (1) |
1999 | Billy Beane (1) | AL | Oakland Athletics (1) |
2000 | Walt Jocketty (1) | NL | St. Louis Cardinals (6) |
2001 | Pat Gillick (1) | AL | Seattle Mariners (1) |
2002 | Terry Ryan (1) | AL | Minnesota Twins (4) |
2003 | Brian Sabean (1) | NL | San Francisco Giants (4) |
2004 | Walt Jocketty (2) | NL | St. Louis Cardinals (7) |
2005 | Mark Shapiro (1) | AL | Cleveland Indians (4) |
2006 | Terry Ryan (2) | AL | Minnesota Twins (5) |
2007 | Mark Shapiro (2) | AL | Cleveland Indians (5) |
2008 | Andrew Friedman (1) | AL | Tampa Bay Rays (1) |
2009 | Dan O'Dowd (1) | NL | Colorado Rockies (1) |
2010 | Walt Jocketty (3) | NL | Cincinnati Reds (5) |
2011 | Dave Dombrowski (1) | AL | Detroit Tigers (3) |
Doug Melvin (2) | NL | Milwaukee Brewers (2) | |
2012 | Billy Beane (2) | AL | Oakland Athletics (2) |
2013 | Ben Cherington (1) | AL | Boston Red Sox (4) |
2014 | Dan Duquette (2) | AL | Baltimore Orioles (6) |
2015 | Alex Anthopoulos (1) | AL | Toronto Blue Jays (1) |
2016 | Theo Epstein (1) | NL | Chicago Cubs (3) |
2017 | Chris Antonetti (1) | AL | Cleveland Indians (6) |
2018 | Billy Beane (3) | AL | Oakland Athletics (3) |
2019 | Erik Neander (1) | AL | Tampa Bay Rays (1) |
2020 | Rick Hahn (1) | AL | Chicago White Sox (3) |
2021 | Farhan Zaidi (1) | NL | San Francisco Giants (5) |
2022 | Chris Antonetti (1) | AL | Cleveland Guardians (6) |
2023 | Mike Elias (1) | AL | Baltimore Orioles (7) |
2024 | Not Yet Awarded (x) | -- | -- |
Year | Name (Quantity) | LG | Team (Quantity) |
Executive of the Year Award | Baseball Awards |
Branch Rickey, who won the first ever Sporting News Executive of the Year Award in 1936, not only signed Jackie Robinson, but also "invented" the modern farm system.
Multiple winners include George Weiss with four; Billy Beane, Branch Rickey and Walt Jocketty with three; Ed Barrow, Bing Devine, Dan Duquette, Gabe Paul, Dick O'Connell, Bill Veeck Jr., Harry Dalton, Hank Peters, Roland Hemond, John Hart, and Mark Shapiro, with two each.
Each of the executives won the Sporting News Executive of the Year Award due to actions they took to improve the game itself or their specific team. If you know specific reasons why each has won, share them with fans on our Baseball Almanac Facebook Group, on Baseball Almanac Twitter, via Baseball Almanac Messenger, or our baseball forum — Baseball Fever.