Who's the best GM in town? Jerry Jones

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Who's the best GM in town? Jerry Jones

Owner makes the right moves, turns Cowboys into winners


01:20 AM CDT on Tuesday, April 20, 2004




We live in a fluid sporting world where nothing is stagnant, except maybe for the Arizona Cardinals and NHL TV ratings. With that in mind, we deliver our first real-time local general manager rankings.

Ratings are based on where the GMs have positioned their teams and their prospects for immediate improvement.

1. Jerry Jones, Cowboys – I recognize that a number of you just lost your breakfast and will let me know by e-mail later in the day. That's fair. But reality doesn't just bite, sometimes it hurts.

Jones went from one of the league's worst GMs to one of the best the day he hired Bill Parcells. It's that simple. He has guided the team out of the salary cap hell created by the early dismissal of Troy Aikman, among others.

The Cowboys have waded into free agency with almost too much patience, but wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson and defensive end Marcellus Wiley are obviously quality additions. Jones and Parcells have a big weekend coming up in which running back, the offensive line and cornerback almost certainly have to be addressed.

But the Cowboys are a playoff team with an opportunity to advance. Even with Terrell Owens, the Eagles may be in decline after so many defensive losses the last three years. The Redskins have made splashy moves but aren't a 10-win team yet, and the Giants aren't even in the ballgame in the NFC East.

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Jones' willingness to take one step back (though he hasn't faded from the scene and still makes calls over Parcells' head) has made the Cowboys the most likely of the local four teams to play for a conference championship in the next two years. That makes him No. 1.

2. John Hart, Rangers – OK, some of you who were still hanging onto your cornflakes through the first seven paragraphs couldn't stomach the eighth.

At the moment, the Rangers are starting to look like a team with an affordable foundation and a chance to improve. That's all you ask for with this club after four straight last-place seasons, the last two brought on by Hart's early desperation moves that ravaged the payroll.

A reformed Hart is doing now what he did in Cleveland a decade ago, signing young players to long-term contracts beyond their free-agency eligibility (Michael Young, Hank Blalock). For now – say it while you still can – Colby Lewis and Ryan Drese and, yes, Chan Ho Park – look like they have a chance to be back-end-of-the-rotation pitchers.

Can this team get lucky just once with Juan Dominguez or Cal State Fullerton All-American Wes Littleton or 6-8 Kameron Loe? Not all three, just one legit pitcher.

If that happens, then the Rangers' reduced payroll leaves room for Hart's replacement, Grady Fuson, to make the right additions without sending Tom Hicks to the poor house.

When that happens, the Rangers won't have to match wits with Billy Beane in order to compete with Oakland on the field.

3. Don Nelson/Donnie Nelson/Mark Cuban, Mavs – Does anyone know for sure which of these three is in charge of the roster – GM Don, president of basketball operations Donnie or owner Mark? Doesn't really matter because although the Mavericks are the best of the local teams at the moment, their future looks a lot shakier.

What happens when this team loses in the first round to Sacramento? How much of a complete rebuilding job does Cuban demand? It's almost guaranteed that after changing out eight players last summer, other heads will roll if this team can't get into the second round.

And this team has been constructed to play at one end of the floor. The unbelievable performance of rookies Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels saved this club at the end, but it doesn't look as if it will be enough to avoid a first-round exit.

Don/Donnie/Mark went for the offensive jugular last summer but this unit never even got close to last year's modest defensive standard. With the Lakers, Spurs and T-Wolves above them and the Rockets and Nuggets closing in fast, the Mavericks are slipping in pro sports' toughest conference.

4. Doug Armstrong, Stars – His two years have not been as disastrous as it might seem after that lethargic five-game loss to Colorado. The unraveling began on Bob Gainey's watch, but there are only two relevant questions here.

Where are the Stars right now? What are their chances for immediate improvement?

The Stars have $44 million guaranteed to 10 players next season. Hicks won't want the payroll to go much higher than that, and a new collective bargaining agreement probably won't allow it.

That means Dallas is a team built around Mike Modano, Pierre Turgeon, Bill Guerin, Sergei Zubov and Marty Turco.

It is a team that has become a hockey GM's worst nightmare – easy to play against.

When you watched the Colorado and Dallas players pass through the handshake line at the end of Game 5, there was something missing. Hatred.

No one from the Stars put up a fight in that series. No one made Peter Forsberg or Joe Sakic pay any kind of a price for getting to the net.

If you watched Dallas play without Turco in the regular season, the Stars couldn't win. Without him at anything close to his top end in the playoffs, they had no chance.

When you watch Ken Hitchcock and Brett Hull and Derian Hatcher and Darryl Sydor and, possibly, Ed Belfour and Joe Nieuwendyk in the next round of the playoffs, ask yourself a question.

What exactly are the Stars building?

E-mail tcowlishaw@dallasnews.com

COWLISHAW'S GM RANKINGS

1. Jerry Jones, Cowboys
Best recent deal: Hired Bill Parcells as head coach, January 2003.

Worst recent deal: Failed to pursue quality cornerback or offensive lineman in free-agency ... so far.

2. John Hart, Rangers
Best recent deal: Signed Hank Blalock and Michael Young to long-term contracts.

Worst recent deal: Let pitcher John Thomson go to Atlanta over (relatively) insignificant dollars.

3. Don Nelson, Mavericks
Best recent deal: Drafted Josh Howard and signed Marquis Daniels as a free agent.

Worst recent deal: Major off-season additions Antawn Jamison and Antoine Walker added rebounds but subtracted defense.

4. Doug Armstrong, Stars
Best recent deal: Signed NCAA leading scorer Junior Lessard.

Worst recent deal: Replaced Derian Hatcher and Darryl Sydor with Teppo Numminen and Don Sweeney.