| Rank | General Manager | Years as GM (all teams) | Winning Improvement (Indexed to 100) | Payroll Containment (Indexed to 100) | League | Current Team |
| 1 | Kevin McHale | 11 | 235 | 81 | NBA | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 2 | Jay Feaster | 3 | 222 | 71 | NHL | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| 3 | Billy King | 8 | 215 | 89 | NBA | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 4 | A.J. Smith | 4 | 209 | 106 | NFL | San Diego Chargers |
| 5 | Lou Lamoriello | 18 | 202 | 75 | NHL | New Jersey Devils |
| 6 | Don Waddell | 6 | 195 | 88 | NHL | Atlanta Thrashers |
| 7 | Marty Hurney | 5 | 191 | 91 | NFL | Carolina Panthers |
| 8 | Jerry Angelo | 6 | 186 | 93 | NFL | Chicago Bears |
| 9 | Bill Polian | 19 | 176 | 101 | NFL | Indianapolis Colts |
| 10 | John Paxson | 3 | 179 | 76 | NBA | Chicago Bulls |
The factors used are winning improvement and cost containment. McHale took over a team that was losing at an 80% clip, so regression to the mean is one element that the factors don't account for very well.
In an email to me Steve asked "what do you economists think of these measures?" Use the comments to let him know!