The front office: Strong right from the top

FORT MYERS, FLA. — Twins General Manager Bill Smith might be the newest GM in the American League Central, but the connections to his peers go back 27 years.

Smith's first big-league boss was current Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski.

In 1981, Smith had a degree from Hamilton College in New York and a résumé that included one year in Major League Baseball's executive development program.

Dombrowski was the director of scouting and minor leagues for the White Sox, and he hired Smith as his assistant.

In 1982, the White Sox drafted a center fielder from San Jose, Calif. His name was Kenny Williams.

By 1983, when Williams was playing for the Class A Appleton (Wis.) Foxes, Smith was that team's GM.

Now, Williams is the White Sox GM.

A look at the AL Central GMs indicates Smith is running in some pretty good company. An equally strong group of owners is another reason the division might be the best in baseball.

Dombrowski has taken two teams -- the Marlins and Tigers -- to the World Series. Williams won a World Series title for Chicago in 2005.

Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro was named Sporting News Executive of the Year in 2005 and again in 2007. And Kansas City's Dayton Moore spent 12 years under John Schuerholz in Atlanta before taking over the Royals in 2006.

But Smith hardly feels overmatched.

When Terry Ryan announced his surprising resignation as general manager in September, Smith steered the Twins through a pressure-filled offseason. The team said goodbye to Johan Santana, Torii Hunter and Carlos Silva and welcomed newcomers including Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez.

"I don't know if I've grown into [the GM role]," Smith said. "Obviously, this winter we had some big decisions. But I'm not growing into this by myself. It's a team effort. Our front office staff -- Mike Radcliff, Rob Antony, Terry Ryan -- is either a phone call away or 20 feet away."

As Smith said this, those top three advisers were in adjacent offices at the team's spring training complex.

Almost any GM would say he's only as good as the people above and below him.

In 2006, Dombrowski reached the World Series with a team that had finished 43-119 only three seasons earlier. But Tigers owner Mike Ilitch deserves perhaps even more credit, as he lifted the team's payroll from $49 million in 2003 to $82 million in 2006.

Detroit hasn't stopped spending, either.

Dombrowski acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Marlins in the megadeal of the offseason, and his team's payroll could reach $130 million this year.

Other owners in the division aren't as popular among their fans, especially Cleveland's Larry Dolan, who bought the Indians from Eli Jacobs for $323 million in 2000.

Cleveland's payroll dipped as low as $34 million in 2004 and was $10 million less than the Twins' payroll last year, as the Indians reached the American League Championship Series.

But Dolan also has helped the team lock up a nucleus that includes Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez.

"Nothing we've accomplished would be possible without their ownership," Cleveland's Shapiro said. "They've never wavered in their support, even though at times it's been very tough on them."

Smith has very similar feelings for Twins owner Carl Pohlad and his family.

"Our ownership is highly respected throughout the game," Smith said. "They bring people in, they let them do their jobs, they don't micromanage -- and there are a lot of clubs in this game who don't have that luxury."

Since Pohlad bought the Twins in 1984, they have won two World Series titles and convinced Hennepin County to build a new ballpark, set to open in 2010.

But Pohlad drew Minnesota's wrath, when Major League Baseball strongly considered eliminating the Twins in 2001.

Forbes magazine recently ranked Pohlad as the richest owner in Major League Baseball, with an estimated worth of $3.1 billion, yet the Twins' payroll never has been more than $75 million.

"Terry [Ryan] said it best in his press conference, when he said, 'Mr. Pohlad, you take all the bullets, and you don't get any accolades,' " Smith said. "They have brought tremendous stability to this franchise for 24 years. I'm not sure any team in baseball has had the kind of stability that we've had."