The GM's role in the draft

June, 6, 2011

6/06/11

8:01

AM ET

By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com

The general manager's role in the first-year player draft in baseball is much different than in other sports like the NFL, NBA or NHL. The actual role of the GM in the MLB draft is limited. It doesn’t matter if you were a former scouting director like Kevin Towers or Jack Zduriencik, a former director of player development director like Doug Melvin or if you come from an administrative background. It’s the scouting director who makes the call for the 30 teams, with the general manager, team president and owner maintaining veto power.

Successful MLB drafts are mostly the result of strong scouting directors who have special evaluative skills and, even more importantly, are surrounded by the hardest working, most underrated and underpaid employees in baseball: special assistants, cross-checkers, supervisors, area scouts and bird dogs.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

ESPN The Magazine subscribers

Activate your Insider account »
Need more information?

View Insider Benefits »

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com. In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowdenESPNxm.