I have consistently considered AA a Top 5 GM. The only deals I ever really disliked were the Napoli-Francisco trade and the Dickey trade (which hasn't even been THAT bad, in hindsight). He's made some downright miraculous trades (Wells, Donaldson), drafted fairly well, and negotiated more team-friendly contracts (Bautista, EE, Escobar, Dickey, etc) than any GM during his tenure.