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Think You Could Run an MLB Team? These Fanbases Probably Could, Survey Reveals

Every baseball fan has questioned a trade, criticized a free-agent signing, or insisted they could do a better job than the people running their favorite team.

Calling for a blockbuster deal from the stands is easy. Deciding when to trade a star, whether to protect top prospects, or how long to stay patient during a rebuild is much harder.

So, which MLB fanbases actually have the decision-making skills to run a front office?

We surveyed 5,000 MLB fans across all 30 teams, presenting them with a series of front-office scenarios covering trades, prospects, roster construction, rebuilding and long-term strategy.

From their responses, we created two rankings: the MLB Fan GM Index, measuring which fanbases made the strongest long-term front-office decisions, and the MLB Ruthless GM Index, revealing which fans were most willing to make tough, unpopular moves in pursuit of success.

Key Findings

Nationals Fans Come Out on Top

Which MLB Fanbases Would Make the Best GMs

Washington Nationals fans topped the MLB Fan GM Index with a score of 97/100, consistently making the strongest long-term front-office decisions across the survey.

Rather than chasing splashy trades or quick fixes, Nationals fans favored patience, prospect development and sustainable roster building. That approach also separated them from every other fanbase in the Ruthless GM Index, where they finished last (62/100), making them the least likely to trade stars or make aggressive win-now moves.

Nationals' fans were also among baseball's most confident. 75 percent believe they would make a good general manager, the joint-highest figure in MLB, yet only 25% think they could outperform the team's current front office, suggesting they have confidence in their own baseball knowledge while still trusting the organization running the club.

Baseball's Most Underrated Armchair GMs

One of the biggest surprises in the survey wasn't who finished first, it was how little confidence some of the highest-performing fanbases had in themselves.

The Milwaukee Brewers finished tied for 2nd (94/100) despite just 23% believing they would make a good general manager, the lowest figure in MLB. Only 15% think they could outperform the Brewers' current front office, also the lowest mark in the league.

The Minnesota Twins also tied for 2nd overall despite only 28% backing themselves as potential GMs.

The pattern continued further down the rankings. Rays' fans finished 5th despite fewer than 4 in 10 believing they would make a good general manager, while Phillies fans cracked the top 10 even though only 22% think they could outperform their current front office.

The results suggest some of baseball's strongest armchair executives are also its most modest.

Confidence Didn't Always Equal Success

While some fanbases underestimated themselves, others proved far more confident than their results justified.

No team illustrated that better than the Kansas City Royals.

75 percent of Royals fans believe they would make a good general manager, the joint-highest percentage in baseball, yet they finished last in the MLB Fan GM Index. Half also believe they could outperform the team's current front office despite recording the lowest overall score in the study.

The Los Angeles Angels showed a similar pattern. 62% think they would make a good GM, and the same percentage believe they could do a better job than the Angels' current front office, despite finishing 28th overall.

Similar gaps appeared elsewhere. Two-thirds of Cubs fans believe they'd make a good GM despite finishing tied for 23rd, while Pirates fans were equally confident despite the same finish. Guardians' fans were the 4th most confident fanbase in baseball but finished tied for 21st, and Astros fans also expressed strong confidence despite placing tied for 18th.

Mets Fans Back Up Their Confidence

If there's one fanbase that can justify its confidence, it's the New York Mets.

Nearly three-quarters of Mets fans (73%) believe they would make a good general manager, while an MLB high 77% think they could outperform the team's current front office.

Unlike several other confident fanbases, Mets fans backed up those beliefs.

They finished tied for 2nd in the MLB Fan GM Index with a score of 94/100 while also ranking 10th in the Ruthless GM Index (85/100), suggesting they're willing to make difficult decisions without losing sight of the organization's long-term future.

Few fanbases combined confidence and sound decision-making as successfully.

Baseball's Largest Fanbases Didn't Produce the Top GMs

Having one of baseball's biggest fanbases didn't necessarily translate into smarter front-office thinking.

New York Yankees fans finished 20th overall, while Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs were tied for 23rd.

All three finished below fanbases including the Marlins, Rockies, White Sox and Tigers.

Yankees fans were almost evenly split on their own abilities, with 53% believing they would make a good general manager and 49% thinking they could outperform the team's current front office.

Dodgers' fans were slightly more confident, with 56% believing they would make a good GM, although only 35% think they could outperform the Dodgers' current front office.

Angels Fans Are Baseball's Most Ruthless General Managers

Which MLB Fanbases Would Make the Toughest GMs

While the Nationals proved to be baseball's most patient decision-makers, Angels fans emerged as the league's most ruthless.

The MLB Ruthless GM Index measured how willing each fanbase was to make difficult front-office decisions, including trading franchise stars, moving on from fan favorites, selling at the deadline and prioritizing winning over sentimentality.

No fanbase embraced those tough calls more than the Angels.

They finished 1st with a Ruthless GM Index score of 98/100, ahead of the Athletics (96/100) and Royals (95/100).

However, the contrast between the two rankings is large. Angels' fans were the most willing to make bold roster moves, but those choices didn't always align with the long-term decision-making rewarded in the Fan GM Index, where they finished 28th overall.

Conclusion

Comparing the two rankings shows there isn't one approach for thinking like a successful general manager.

Nationals, Brewers and Twins fans consistently favored patience and long-term planning, while Angels, Royals, Pirates and Mariners fans leaned toward bold, aggressive moves in pursuit of immediate success.

The Mets perhaps struck the strongest balance of any fanbase; finishing tied for 2nd in the Fan GM Index while also placing 10th in the Ruthless GM Index.

Ultimately, the study suggests being a successful armchair GM isn't about making the boldest move, it's about knowing when patience pays off. While some of baseball's most confident fanbases struggled to make the strongest long-term decisions, others quietly proved they may be better suited to running a franchise than they give themselves credit for.

Methodology

We surveyed 5,000 MLB fans across all 30 teams, presenting them with a series of front-office scenarios covering trades, prospects, rebuilding, roster construction, and long-term success.

Each question counted equally, and fanbases were ranked based on how often their fans selected the answer that best reflected smart, sustainable general manager thinking.

Those results were normalized to create the MLB Fan GM Index, scored on a scale from 1 to 100.

The Ruthless GM Index used the same methodology but ranked fanbases according to how often they selected the most aggressive or uncompromising front-office decision in each scenario.

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