Minaya is the former general manager of the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. These days, he's the VP of Operations for the San Diego Padres.

A native of the Dominican Republic who immigrated to Queens at age eight, Minaya had a short-lived career in the minors and played in an Italian league before joining the Texas Rangers as a scout in 1985. He made a name for himself when he discovered future superstar Sammy Sosa, and in 1997 joined the Mets front office as an assistant to then-general manager Steve Phillips. In 2002, Minaya became the game's first Hispanic GM when he was hired by the ill-fated Montreal Expos. After being sacked by the Expos when they moved to Washington, D.C., he rejoined the Mets in 2004. Once the golden boy, Minaya built the Mets, long overshadowed by the crosstown Yankees, into contenders, acquiring pitcher Pedro Martinez, infielders José Reyes and Carlos Delgado, and outfielder Carlos Beltran during his tenure. But the Mets' 11th-hour meltdown in 2007 proved a major disappointment, and the team's lackluster performance at the start of the 2008 season finally resulted in the ousting of Willie Randolph as the team's manager in June '08, a move which has since been referred to as the "Midnight Massacre." After a series of missteps and dashed hopes, Minaya was fired from the Mets' organization in October of 2010, but in 2011 found his way back into the MLB with a position in San Diego. [Image via Getty]