In the NFL for years there has been a ton of conversation around coaching trees - most notably the Bill Parcells lineage from which the modern day Belichik Tree sprouts. Reading through some team offseason plan type articles and recognizing names from Theo's run here as GM starting in 2003 got me thinking - Is the Theo Tree the MLB equivalent?
Points in favor:
Is there a better tree out there in MLB?
Points in favor:
- In this comparison Theo is probably more Belichik than Parcells, where you can arguably put Sandy Alderson (pre-Met's insanity)or Kevin Towers as Parcells the original mentor level with other smaller trees alongside Theo's.
- Theo lieutenants who have moved on to other GM/President jobs: Cherrington, Hoyer, The Incomparable Peter Woodfork, Hazen amongst others
- Generally speaking those who have branched out have had better than average results both in comparison to predecessors and to their contemporaries
Is there a better tree out there in MLB?