Josh Byrnes

Byrnes grew up in Washington, D.C., where he attended and played second base for St. Albans School, breaking the single season hits record. He was recruited by Haverford College, where he was team captain and set records for home runs and RBI.[2] He graduated in 1992 with a BA in English.

Byrnes joined the Cleveland Indians in 1994 after a chance meeting at a Haverford College Alumni game with Ronald M. Shapiro, the father of Mark Shapiro, the team's general manager.[3] He quickly worked his way up the organizational ladder, first as an intern, then as a video scout, and then to the position of Scouting Director in 1998. The Cleveland Indians won the American League Championship Series and advanced to the World Series in 1995 and 1997, as well as won Central Division titles in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999.

In 1999, Byrnes was hired by colleague Dan O'Dowd to fill the assistant general manager position for the Colorado Rockies, where he was in charge of the farm and scouting departments.[4]

Byrnes joined the Boston Red Sox as assistant general manager in 2003 when he was recruited by the team's general manager, Theo Epstein. In his second season with the Boston Red Sox, the team won the 2004 World Series. It was the Red Sox' first World Series championship since 1918, ending what remains the third longest championship drought in the history of any Major League team, after the Chicago White Sox (1917–2005) and the Chicago Cubs (1908–2016).[5][6]

In a 2005 interview with The Boston Globe, Epstein said of Byrnes, "He's a key voice in player personnel. He's got as much a feel for evaluating and statistical analysis as anyone in baseball.” [7]

Byrnes joined the Arizona Diamondbacks as general manager in 2006, where he remained until July 1, 2010. In the two seasons preceding his arrival, the Diamondbacks had the worst run differential in the National League. Charged with reducing payroll and adding youth to the roster, Byrnes pushed the team forward towards contention. The 2007 team won the NL West division and advanced to the NLCS, as one of eight lower-third payroll teams to accomplish that feat since 2006. The 2008 team held first place in their division until September.

After a slow start to the 2009 season, Byrnes appointed A.J. Hinch as manager, which would largely define his tenure in Arizona. At the time, the move was considered unorthodox because of Hinch's prior front office position in player development and lack of previous coaching or managing experience. According to a 2016 story about Hinch by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Byrnes “actually was ahead of his time.” In the story, Rosenthal noted, “I was one of many in the media who was critical of the move and Byrnes’ framing of it. But the rationales that made Hinch's hiring so controversial are now almost standard, barely drawing notice today.” [8]

After Byrnes left the team in 2010, the Diamondbacks won the division in 2011 with a lower-third payroll from a roster he had largely constructed. In a 15-year span, Arizona trails only Tampa Bay, Cleveland and Oakland in producing 90-win seasons with a lower-third payroll. In addition, Byrnes oversaw the 2006-2010 drafts for the Diamondbacks, which have produced over 195 WAR (Wins above Replacement) through the conclusion of the 2020 season - a higher total than any other team has produced in those five drafts. Max Scherzer (2006), Paul Goldschmidt (2009), AJ Pollock (2009) and Adam Eaton (2010) are a few of the notable picks from those drafts. In 2009, Byrnes traded Max Scherzer to the Detroit Tigers and later acknowledged his regret in making that trade.[9]

Byrnes joined the San Diego Padres as senior vice president of baseball operations in 2010. In 2011, he was promoted to general manager.[10]

In 2014, Byrnes joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as senior vice president of baseball operations. He was recruited by Andrew Friedman, who had just joined the team as president of baseball operations.[11] The new front office was “a force to be reckoned with” according to coverage of the 2014 MLB Winter Meetings.[12] Under Byrnes and the new front office, the Dodgers went on to win the National League pennant, advancing to the World Series in 2017, 2018 and 2020. In 2019, the Dodgers finished the season with the most victories in franchise history (106). The 2020 Dodgers went 43-17 during the COVID-19 shortened regular season and won their first World Series in 32 years.

With Byrnes at the helm of scouting and the farm system, the Dodgers have placed in the top 10 [13] in each of MLB Pipeline's biannual farm system rankings since they began in 2015.

In 2020, MLB Pipeline [14] ranked the Dodgers farm system as the third best in the game with five prospects listed among MLB Pipeline’s top 100: Gavin Lux, SS/2B (No. 2), Dustin May, RHP (No. 23), Josiah Gray, RHP (No. 67), Keibert Ruiz, C (No. 73) and Brusdar Graterol, RHP (No. 83). Lux, May and catcher Will Smith (catcher) came from the 2016 Draft, which, according to MLB.com, may go down as the most productive since the Dodgers’ legendary 1968 Draft put 11 players in the Major Leagues.

Five players for the Dodgers have received Rookie of the Year votes during Byrnes’ time with the team. They include Corey Seager, who won the award in 2016, and Cody Bellinger, who won the award in 2017, as well as Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May. Baseball America called Los Angeles the model franchise in the sport under his tenure as vice president.[15]