AU REVOIR, MONTREAL
With Jays’ spring wrapped up at Big O, Richard Griffin marvels at lasting mark Expos made on MLB front offices.
MONTREAL— Prior to Boston’s 7-4 exhibition win over the Blue Jays on Saturday, event organizers took time to honour the late Jim Fanning in a touching on-field ceremony. Fanning was 87 when he passed away last April in London, Ont., and was the Expos’ first general manager and the only field manager to lead the franchise to the post-season. Fanning’s wife, Marie, and children Frank and Cynthia were accompanied on the field by Charles Bronfman, the Expos’ first owner and his son Stephen, who may very well be the Expos’ next owner, should that moment of revival ever occur.
According to Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski — another former Expos GM — the elder Bronfman, Fanning and former president John McHale were the main reasons the Montreal organization was a hotbed of future major-league GMs. The group included those who began their careers in the Expos’ front office or received their first opportunity as a general manager in Montreal.
Bill Stoneman (1987-88) was a star player with the expansion Expos, then later returned in a front-office role and briefly as the Montreal GM. He was the Angels’ general manager in 2002 when they won their one World Series.
Dombrowski (1988-91) built the Expos’ farm system with a “best athlete available” philosophy, then moved on to the Marlins, Tigers and Red Sox.
Dan Duquette (1991-94) replaced Dombrowski and was responsible for hiring Felipe Alou as field manager. He has been a GM in Boston and now Baltimore.
Kevin Malone (1994-96) replaced Duquette and was in charge when the strike wiped out the club’s greatest chance at a World Series title. Malone next became a GM with the Dodgers in 1998.
Jim Beattie (1996-2001) replaced Malone, then moved on to become Orioles co-GM with Mike Flanagan.
Larry Beinfest (2001-02) was Expos’ interim GM before being hired away by the Marlins when owner Jeffrey Loria took his act to Florida.
Omar Minaya (2002-04) was named the game’s first Hispanic GM after MLB took control of the Expos, then moved on to do the same for the Mets.
Six more future general managers cut their teeth in the Expos’ front office, either in scouting or player development: Neil Huntington, currently GM with the Pirates; Frank Wren, a GM in both Baltimore and Atlanta; Bob Gebhard, who left Montreal to be the GM in Minnesota and then Colorado; Alex Anthopoulos, the Jays’ GM from 2009 to 2015; Tony LaCava, Toronto’s interim GM after Anthopoulos resigned; and Chris Antonetti, who was recently named GM of the Indians.
It would seem that working with a small payroll — and being creative in putting together a major-league team — was the common thread running through Expos history, and that made for effective GM-building.
“I think that with that (lack of financial resources) comes emphasis on player development and scouting and the aggressiveness to make that work,” Dombrowski said. “That combination is very important for the learning experience of a general manager.”
Even though many on the list were spun off from Dombrowski’s years as GM, he is reluctant to take credit for it, instead pointing to Bronfman as the inspiration for the success.
“I would say that I walked into that environment, I didn’t create that environment,” Dombrowski said. “I think it started with Charles Bronf- man, to John McHale, to Jim Fanning, to Whitey Lockman — although he wasn’t a GM.
They had such good baseball people, good people that always encouraged the organization be considered first, the growth, that exposed you to things.
“I was very fortunate to come in and work with that group of people here.”
How much did Bronfman cultivate the loyalty of his scouting and player development people? One year at spring training, hosting an organization dinner at his Palm Beach home in Florida, the Expos owner made a speech about the importance of those aspects of a winning organization and quite spontaneously announced that everyone in the room in scouting and player development was receiving a 20-per-cent raise, which was reflected on their next paycheque.
“You can do that in somewhat of a false pretence, but that was never him,” Dombrowski said. “He was always so sincere and he wanted everyone to be first class in the organization. That’s what he promoted, so when you have that kind of guidance it makes it very easy to promote that, because that’s what he wanted. That’s how he treated you, too.”
Over the same time frame, while the Expos’ spun off 13 future GMs to other teams, the Blue Jays had one, Pat Gillick, move from the front office to be a GM elsewhere, although his successors — Gord Ash, J.P. Ricciardi and Anthopoulos — landed in other front offices. On Sunday, the Jays’ latest GM, Ross Atkins, will enjoy his first real game with the club.