The GM Network: Inside the conversations that baseball execs have with their football counterparts
MLB general managers have sources in high-ranking roles in the NFL, and they typically keep those sources close to the vest.
San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller says he has conversations with NFL decision makers before cutting himself off to avoid spilling any secrets. Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian will only reveal that he has had conversations with “a lot of guys” from the Vikings, Buccaneers and Chiefs. Rangers general manager Chris Young has best practices meetings with different sports organizations, including the Texans.
Athletics general manager David Forst is willing to name names: 49ers VP of football operations Paraag Marathe and Browns’ chief strategy officer Paul Depodesta, who’s a former Athletics employee.
MLB general managers and NFL general managers talk.
“It’s always important to talk to people who have had success in sports,” Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said. “You look at other industries to see if there are creative ways you can compete and creative ways you can find ways to compete. Some of the things we’ve done over the last 10 years have come from discussions with other sports and seeing if we can find some practical applications for that.”
Something that MLB general managers will discuss on the record is how they’ve studied Roseman’s Super Bowl winning Eagles.
The Angels’ Minasian spoke with some of his staff about the moves that the Eagles made, and he watched a lot of the interviews that Eagles players gave over the course of the season. He said those interviews reinforced to him the importance of camaraderie and team culture. Royals general manager J.J. Picollo, who’s an avid Eagles fan, said that Philadelphia’s run reminded him how much back-of-the-roster moves that are meant to provide depth show up at the biggest moments.
Rangers general manager Chris Young, like many of his peers, was intrigued by the Saquon Barkley signing that put the Eagles over the top.
“When a lot of teams zig, you zag,” Young said. “You see what that did for the Eagles. What I took away from that was the importance of having real conviction in Saquon as a player and a person that he was the player that they needed to win a championship. When you feel that, it’s powerful. You have to trust your instincts on that.”
There aren’t many people that general managers can really open up to. Their colleagues across their sport are their competition. Most of the people on their staffs don’t really know what it’s like to run an organization or have felt the pressure that comes with that position.
There are a lot of strong relationships between MLB and NFL front offices, including several examples where one team has let another into its draft room. One of the few that has gone public is when Ravens GM Eric DeCosta invited Orioles general manager Mike Elias and assistant general manager Sig Mejdal to sit in during the NFL Draft.
When MLB general managers are on the road, they’ll stop by some NFL facilities for conversations with people that they’re connected with. It’s a pretty open dialogue.
“I was in Minnesota and had a chance to talk to them,” Minasian said. “It was really, really impressive. I was in Kansas City and Tampa and had a chance to talk to those guys. Three very successful guys with great careers. Definitely a chance to have some very interesting conversations.”
Preller’s front office in San Diego spends a lot of time looking at NFL teams. He says, “Anywhere we see organizations doing things well, you can learn from that. We’ve done a lot of site visits and sat down with coaching staffs and head coaches with NFL teams.”
NFL roster building strategies are more universally understood than MLB roster building strategies. As a result, there’s some shorthand terminology that has developed in the NFL that MLB general managers borrow.
White Sox general manager Chris Getz is a big Lions fan, and he uses the Lions’ fourth-down aggressiveness as a reference point to explain how he wants the White Sox to play. The Lions’ decision making and play calling changes are “based on research and finding competitive advantages, which baseball has always been known for,” Getz said.
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer’s team between 2015 and 2017 had young stars like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Báez, Willson Contreras and Kyle Hendricks on the baseball equivalent of NFL rookie contracts. To make conversations about the team’s contention window easier, he refers to that period of time as when the Cubs had “a number of quarterbacks on rookie contracts.”
There are pretty clear archetypes of NFL teams, including “Peyton Manning-style offenses” that throw the ball 50 times a game and “Legion of Boom” types that win with their defense. While baseball teams don’t fall into such clear buckets, Young uses football teams as examples to show that “there’s no one way to build a championship team.” (Young adds: “I also followed the Mavericks and their trades,” smiling as he alluded to the Luka Dončić trade).
Big NFL deals get so much attention that they’re an easy reference as MLB general managers discuss similar moves. During the most recent offseason, a lot of MLB front offices were thinking about lessons from the Eagles signing Barkley. “If you’re evaluating your club well, sometimes you may do something that’s not so normal,” Picollo said. “Even though it may not look smart by industry standards.”
The NFL running back market is another reference point that an MLB executive can drop into a conversation. Everyone knows the story of how the running back position got devalued as the NFL became more and more of a passing league, until the Eagles and Ravens bought the dip and acquired franchise players in Barkley and Derrick Henry. “The market always cycles back,” Forst said. “When people stop paying for something, that creates opportunity.”
As MLB general managers discussed NFL trends that they’re stealing from, the first base market was an area where they were willing to gives specifics and break down.
Right now, the first base position in MLB is going through the same trend that the running back position has gone through in the NFL. Some MLB general managers have used the running back market as an example as they have conversations about trades and free agents at first base.
Multiple general managers admitted that first basemen in MLB are being undervalued. Look at Pete Alonso, one of the most dependable hitters in baseball, only getting a two-year deal for $54 million with an opt-out after the first season.The Blue Jays tried to get an extension done with first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but Toronto didn’t meet Guerrero’s number.
Among the top-100 contracts in baseball, there are only four first basemen. And among those four first basemen, two don’t really count because Bryce Harper signed his contract with the Phillies to be their right fielder before moving to first base later on, and Willson Contreras signed with the Cardinals to be their catcher before moving to first base this season.
“Right now, there just aren’t a lot of first basemen,” Hoyer said. “It’s a very fungible spot.”
In 2024, there were only 15 every day first basemen in MLB (players who made at least 90% of their starts at first base and also played 100 games). Among those 15 first basemen, six of them have spent most of their careers at another position and became first basemen more out of necessity.
Versatility, athleticism, defense and stolen bases are being prioritized more than ever in MLB. It’s more difficult for a traditional first baseman to get in the lineup, get on a roster or get a contract than it has been in recent memory, according to several general managers.
The trend goes all the way through the farm system. Among MLB Pipeline’s top-100 prospects, there are only two players whose only position is first base. Over the last four drafts, just two first base-only players have been selected in the top half of the first round. With the price of first basemen falling, some MLB general managers have been buying the dip just like the Eagles did.
“I’d say that good players are good players,” Preller said. “Ultimately, every team has their own philosophy on what they want to value. But ultimately you want impact performers. It’s pretty valuable when you have Albert Pujols playing first base.”
The Rangers won the 2023 World Series and are trying to contend again in 2025, but Young has had to deal with some payroll constraints. He put together a creative series of first base moves during the offseason that improved the roster.
Jake Burger has been an above-average first baseman in every year of his career, and he has played at an All-Star level for most of his first seasons in the big leagues. In December, the Marlins dealt him to the Rangers for a mediocre trio of prospects. The Rangers picked up Burger’s cheap contract. Then 10 days later, the Rangers dealt first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who makes over $10 million a year, to the Nationals for a solid reliever.
“Anyone who can play their position well is underrated,” Young said. “These guys don’t grow on trees. To be able to play very good defense and contribute at an above league average level offensively, that’s really hard. I don’t take that for granted. That’s really hard at any position.”
During the winter, the Diamondbacks saw three-time Gold Glove winning first baseman Christian Walker sign with the Astros. So they pivoted and dealt a reliever to the Guardians for All-Star first baseman Josh Naylor. The Diamondbacks got another very good first baseman, and Naylor is making about half as much per season as Walker.
“Thirty teams didn’t need first basemen, so 30 teams wouldn’t have wanted Josh Naylor,” Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen said. “We saw first hand (with Christian Walker) that first base defense is critical. It helps your pitching staff. It helps your defense. It’s not just the position, it’s about the stability in the middle of the lineup. You’re not just losing a first baseman (in Walker), you’re losing a middle of the order threat. Josh provides that for us.”
Hazen says that he still believes that first base is a position where you need a power hitter, but some of his colleagues disagree. It’s a fun debate around MLB as different general managers prioritize different skill sets and try to stay ahead of each other. “It seems to be when you go into an offseason and look at free agency, there will always be a deeper pool of first basemen,” Getz said. “Teams are allocating dollars a certain way.”
As Getz speaks about the state of the first first base market and how that compares to trends in other sports, he asks a question. We’re having this conversation on Feb. 18, which is the day that the franchise tag window opened in the NFL. Getz is talking about the first basemen, and then he cuts himself off.
“Wait,” he says, “What’s the decision on Sam Darnold?” I tell him that the Vikings won’t be placing the franchise tag on Darnold. He pauses for a few seconds, processing a decision that he says he finds fascinating.