Six GMs on the Hot Seat

With the All-Star Game just around the corner, it’s time to look at which general managers are at risk of being shown the door at the mid-way point in the season. Already Wayne Krivsky of the Reds was fired and replaced by Walt Jocketty, followed by Bill Bavasi of the Seattle Mariners being let go in early June with his replacement being Lee Pelekoudas in the interim slot. But, those two maybe just the beginning. Here’s a list of those that are feeling the pressure. J.P. Ricciardi – He bad mouthed Adam Dunn. Apologized to Dunn, only to find out it wasn’t Dunn, but a prankster, and Cito Gaston is back in the fold. Add in the fact that the Blue Jays are in last with a payroll just shy of $100 million ($ 97,793,900 to be exact), and could Pat Gillick be on the speed dial? Omar Minaya – When Willie Randolph was let go, many said he was a victim of the hand he was dealt. After an historic collapse last season, the Mets have puttered about at the .500 level this year. All that while boosting payroll to $ 137,793,376, second highest in MLB. With the poor way in which Randolph was hired, and no more fall guys in-between, Minaya’s Teflon coating may be finally gone. Brian Sabean – Sabean has been abysmal at developing talent, which meant that free agents have been the soup de jour in San Francisco. Two words… Barry Zito. Jim Bowden – “The Plan” which has Nationals team president Stan Kasten riding shotgun with GM Jim Bowden hasn’t panned out to date. “Trader Jim” hasn’t worked any magic since Day One. Fan attendance has been low at Nationals Park, but then the fans haven’t had anything to root for since the team arrived in DC, other than the team arriving in DC. Ned Colletti – Colletti was a Sabean protégé, which caused more than a few fans to do head slaps when he was brought on. Deals like Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones haven’t exactly helped his cause. Ned’s the luckiest of the lot at the moment. After all, the NL West is not exactly lighting it up. As of publication, the Dodgers sit 2.5 games out of first behind the D-Backs all while posting a sub-.500 record (.470). Kevin Towers – Towers has been a great evaluator of pitching talent. The same cannot be said of the rest of the staff. Currently sitting in the cellar of the lackluster NL West, Sandy Alderson has made noise that wind of change is in the air. That may, or may not, include Towers. Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/), which includes The Biz of Baseball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/), The Biz of Football (http://www.bizoffootball.com/), The Biz of Basketball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/) and The Biz of Hockey (http://bizofhockey.com/). He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus (http://baseballprospectus.com/news/?author=124), and is available as a freelance writer.Brown's full bio is here. (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content view=article id=47 Itemid=18) He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_contact view=contact id=2 Itemid=29).