This New York Yankees Assistant Did Not Want to Become General Manager – Here’s Why?

The New York Yankees are a respected organization in baseball. The Bronx prides itself in a deep history and an even better record. And the top job at the top organization would be what people desire. Right? Well, turns out, some people have a slightly different take on the subject. They don’t covet the manager’s job as they’re gunning instead for the Assistant’s office.

Baseball front offices have seen great growth over the days they have been operating. The numbers operating have doubled and in some cases even tripled from the initial strength from which they used to operate. And this has led to a proliferation of assistant GMs operating under the organization’s umbrella. Some even have as many as 10-15 assistants under them. But why is it that the position is sometimes coveted even more than the top job?

Reportedly, the job of an assistant GM offers reasonable security and the nature of the job is also one which commands a reasonable compensation. So who can really blame the New York Yankees AGM Jean Afterman, when she told the Athletic that she didn’t want the top job. Said the AGM, “I don’t want to be a general manager. I’ve got other things I wanna do with my life. I think life is a banquet!”

Why is Assistant GM more coveted?

Any job can possibly be mapped on two variables to understand its allure. The job security it provides and the pay that accrues to any individual who serves in it. An assistant GM has the opportunity to possibly break that divide and provide a perfect middle ground to all those that do it. This gives us quite the undertaking to analyze.

What’s the job security like?

Reportedly, in a study conducted by the Athletic, AGMs typically tend to have longer tenures than their counterparts. It was found that the median tenure of an organization’s GM was 5.5 years. With a slightly more advisory role, as the President of Baseball Operations (for the clubs that house such a position), the tenure lasts an average of 8.5 years. One could only theorize that this number could be lower with big market teams like the New York Yankees.

An assistant GM enjoys an average tenure of 13.5 years. Juxtaposed with the two top jobs, this is possibly sounding more and more favorable now. However, it isn’t all just as rosy as it may sound either. The second AGMs see a drop of this average tenure to 10.5 years. The trend is downward and moves to hitting and pitching coaches who usually last a couple years on average.

Read More: New York Yankees Gave Mets ‘Permission’ to Sign Eric Chavez as Hitting Coach – Why?

What about pay?

Speaking to the Athletic, another GM also spoke about the financials that come into play when you speak about the top job. Turns out there isn’t a significant difference between the top job and an assistant GM.

This trend seems to have been bucked only recently as he did speak about how initially the difference in pay of the two jobs could be as significant as half a million dollars. And while the difference may have grown, he added that, “AGMs were making maybe $100,000-150,000, which is still good money but there’s a big lifestyle difference between that and $650,000.”

However, now, while the difference in salaries has grown in a commensurate fashion, the differential might not be so significant anymore. Said the executive, “There’s not a big lifestyle difference between $1 million and $2 million (annually), unless you really care about setting up your great-grandkids.”

But which job in baseball would you rather have?