Earlier this week, the team decided not to renew the contracts of assistant general manager Scott Cohen and director of football administration Ari Nissim.

WSJ: Jets' New Running Back Is Arrested

"It's kind of a fantasy-hockey thing, " said Jim Nill, assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings.

WSJ: NHL: Obscure Rule Lets Paul Deutsch Go Pro for 24 Hours

Scott Proefrock, an assistant general manager of the Phillies, explains that physical performance is only part of the equation.

FORBES: Staffing Lessons From the Major Leagues

To combat the wealthy behemoths in the American League East, Billy Beane defied decades of player development strategies and the wisdom of seasoned scouts by allowing an assistant general manager with a Harvard degree in economics to enter into the inner sanctum of the draft room of the Oakland Athletics with a laptop.

FORBES: The Brilliance and Defiance of 'Moneyball's' Player Development Strategies

According to Jordan Ogron, assistant general manager and wine director of the Los Angeles restaurant Fig and Olive, not many of his customers drink Vermentino.

WSJ: Vermentino, the Wine of Yachts and Beaches | Lettie Teague on Wine

The Dodgers recently hired Assistant General Manager Kim Ng , formerly of the New York Yankees, to help with salary negotiations.

FORBES: Female Execs Step Up To The Plate

"I had a tremendous advantage, " said new Jets general manager John Idzik, the son of the former NFL assistant of the same name who took his son to training camps before he was in grade school.

WSJ: Football: Where Nepotism Works-Harbaugh, Ryan, Shanahan, Schottenheimer

"We're going to be wrong a good amount of times, too, " said Billy Eppler, the Yankees' assistant general manager for pro personnel.

WSJ: Yankees Become Savvy Shoppers

Along with Vice President and Assistant General Manager John Ricco, Alderson will look for ways to vastly improve the quality of the major league roster.

FORBES: Money Wasn't the Only Thing that Madoff Stole from Fred Wilpon