Allard Baird

From Wiki Gonzalez

Allard Baird was the general manager of the Kansas City Royals, and is currently working for the Boston Red Sox as an assistant to GM Theo Epstein.

Good moves:

• Getting Justin Huber for basically nothing
• Calling Beatagan at the right time to get Denny Bautista for Jason Grimsley
• Demoting Calvin Pickering (in the eyes of some)
• Trading Carlos Beltran for Mark Teahen and two prospects (in the eyes of some)

Bad moves:

• Trading Jermaine Dye for Neifi Perez
• Signing Benito Santiago and Juan Gonzalez
• Working for Rob Neyer's favorite team
• Demoting Calvin Pickering after 30 plate appearances
• Disrespecting Ken Harvey
• Trading Carlos Beltran for Mark Teahen and two suspects (in the eyes of others)

During Baird's tenure as GM, Royals fans were mixed between praising Baird and calling for his ouster. He was publicly quoted as wanting to use the tools of sabermetrics to rebuild the Royals, but many of his actions showed little to no awareness of sabermetrics. There were also disputes as to how much he and his organization were hamstrung by the cheapness of team owner David Glass.

Baird's mid-2006 firing in the midst of yet another truly poor season was generally approved of by Primates.

Baird's current role with the BoSox, particularly in the area of scouting and player development, is thought to be a better match to his talents than his former role as a general manager.

Also see: General managers, for other members of his profession.