10. Walt Jocketty - St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis has one of the best collections of baseball fans in the country and Jocketty makes sure all the red at Busch Stadium have a lot to cheer about all summer long. When he first became manager in 1995, he fired Joe Torre and brought in Tony LaRussa. Over the next few years, he made some of the shrewdest trades of his time, acquiring Edgar Renteria, Jim Edmonds, Larry Walker and during the last offseason, he grabbed Mark Mulder from Billy Beane. 9. Omar Minaya - N.Y. Mets Minaya has done a lot with a little, so he is poised to a ton with a lot now that he has an office at Shea Stadium. Because of his ability to communicate with Latin players, he pried away Carlos Beltran from the Astros and Pedro Martinez from the Red Sox. He is an excellent evaluator of talent and in 2006 might be able to get the Mets to where the were in 1986. 8. Bill Stoneman - L.A. Angels The Angels 2002 World Series team was a collection of players mostly assembled by Bill Bavasi, but it was Stoneman who had the foresight to hire Mike Scioscia, who was a longtime Dodger. Stoneman survived the Arte Moreno purchase and has reloaded the Angels, signing Bartolo Colon and Vladimir Guerrero after the 2003 season and this past year he grabbed a veteran centerfielder in Steve Finley to replace the talented but volatile Jose Guillen. 7. Terry Ryan - Minnesota Twins Terry Ryan is a low budget GM miracle, as he has made the Twins a perennial playoff contender by building homegrown talent. With Joe Mauer waiting in the wings and LaTroy Hawkins off to Wrigley, he traded clubhouse cancer A.J. Pierzynski to the Giants for a talented young reliever who struggled in the playoffs in Joe Nathan. Ryan will never have a big-market budget, but as long as he is at the helm, Minnesota will never play bad baseball. 6. John Hart - Texas Rangers John Hart rebuilt the Cleveland Indians and he was hired by Tom Hicks to do likewise for the Texas Rangers following the 2001 season. Hicks signed Alex Rodriguez to the richest contract in baseball prior to the 2001 season and it became clear that one-player baseball does not win games, nor does it excite fans. Hart was able to unload Rodriguez before the 2004 season for the talented Alfonzo Soriano and all of a sudden Hart and the league?s best young infield and the Rangers were in the hunt for the AL West. 5. Larry Beinfest - Florida Marlins In his second season as general manager of the Florida Marlins, he helped assemble a team that would go on to win their first World Series since 1997. Catapulting the Marlins that season was the dominant pitching of Dontrelle Willis, who was acquired before the season for Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca for the wiry lefty. It was also his hiring of Jack McKeon, a many times recycled manager, who hit the perfect tone for the young Marlins? team which put a ring on his finger. At the 2004 trade deadline, he also brilliantly managed to acquire Paul Lo Duca, Juan Encarnacion and Guillermo Mota for Brad Penny and Hee-Sop Choi. 4. John Schuerholz - Atlanta Braves Death, taxes and the Braves in October, those are the things you can count on in Atlanta. He inherited a Braves team in 1991 already poised for greatness, but he has maintained the club flawlessly, never missing the playoffs once during his entire tenure. The Braves have been built on pitching, but Schuerholz has always been able to patch together a line-up that could score runs to lessen the pressure on his pitching staff, keeping them fresh for October when it really matters. The knock on the Braves and on Schuerholz is their inability to win more than one World Series, but the Fall Classic is a crapshoot where anything can happen and since his precision is so keen, the October goat must simply be on the gods. 3. Billy Beane - Oakland Athletics He was tutored by the great Sandy Alderson as an assistant to the former Athletics GM shortly after his baseball career ended and has revolutionized the general manager position as we know it today. Through his use of 21st century tactics, which value on-base percentage above classic baseball skills, Beane has performed another low budget miracle. His Athletics have been built around the Big 3, who he disbanded after the 2004 season, when it became clear couldn?t win the biggest prize. Tim Hudson was signed thru the 2005 season, but instead of waiting for the trade deadline or for him to walk for nothing, he pulled the trigger early, sending him to the Braves for what he hopes will be the next great pieces. Letting Jason Giambi walk has turned out to be one of the most brilliant examples of a GM doing nothing is actually doing something. Letting Miguel Tejada walk was cushioned by the fact Bobby Crosby became the ROY. He decided Eric Chavez was the big bat he?d keep and it is difficult to argue with that call. Left-handed hitters with power and a gold glove are a rarity these days, so are general managers as bright and tough as Beane. 2. Theo Epstein - Boston Red Sox Anyone who could help put an end to 86 years of waiting has to have done something right. He will stop at nothing to put the best team on the field, whether it is putting Manny Ramirez on waivers or letting Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe walk after the Sox won the World Series. He is young, fearless, crafty and will make sure Boston is always prepared for a parade. 1. Brian Sabean - San Francisco Giants Billy Beane, his peer across the San Francisco Bay gets most of the accolades, but since Brian Sabean became general manager of the Giants in 1996, the Giants have played less than a dozen meaningless games. From just about the moment he was hired, Giants? fans wanted him fired after trading Matt Williams to the Cleveland Indians for Jeff Kent and Julian Tavarez. That sentiment quickly faded when the Giants won their first NL West crown since 1989. Sabean has always had the good fortune of building a line-up around Barry Bonds, but almost never does he make a mistake, particularly via trade. The trademark of his team?s have always been win now and win often, priding himself on building veteran clubs with very professional ballplayers who play the game the right way.