Most Effective Moves of 2007: AL

As the season winds down, I’ve decided to look back on some of the best and worst of 2007.

This time around, I’m going to touch on what I felt were themost effectiveoff-season & in-season
GM moves. Tomorrow will see the NL edition.

The Indians Signing Joe Borowski

I’ve written so extensively on this topic that it’s becoming annoying (Best Free Agent Signings 2007 Revisited). To sum it up quickly,the Tribe was in need of someone that could close out games at a low cost. Borowski fits this mold perfectly. Frequent readers of the MUD will know that I’m all about save percentage, not pretty ERA’s & WHIP’s from closers. The Indians will retain control of Borowski through their team option in 2008 (another brilliant move), making this, in my mind, the top move of the 2007 season.

Jack Cust finally gets a chance

Ok, injuries precipitated this happening, but we have to give credit where it’s due to Beane. In Cust’s second go around in Oakland he’s been a terror. Get this, Cust has played about 30 games less than most other Major League regulars, yet he still ranks (AL) 2nd in walks & 10th in home runs. His .931 OPS is currently good for 8th in the AL. The prototypical moneyball player isn’t going to win any gold gloves, and his base running skills leave much to be desired, yet it’s safe to say that his production is what the A’s were hoping to get from Mike Piazza. They just ended up getting it from Cust at an $8 million dollar discount.

Off-season meetings net the Royals Brian Bannister for Ambirorix Burgos

Going into the off-season, the Royals had some strength in the pen & a few holes in the rotation. So they flipped a reliever for a starter and it’s worked out wonderfully so far. While he’s starting to get beaten up (most likely due to the largest workload of his career), Bannister has been solid if not spectacular at times this season. Surprisingly for a pitcher with such a low K/9 ratio (4.2), he’s only allowed 15 long balls. Whether he’ll be anything more than a 4.50 ERA type of pitcher for the remainder of his career remains to be seen. He does however give the Royals some sorely needed stability in the present & has the ability to be a average #3/#4 once prospects such as Hochevar & Lumsden establish themselves in the future.

Hideki Okajima Signing

Okajima hasn’t been as effective in the 2nd half as he was in the first but he’s still a force to be reckoned with out of the Sox pen. Taking this unheralded plunge into the Japanese Eligible Free Agent pool has given the Red Sox some much needed bullpen depth. Heading into the playoffs, the Sox will be able to rely upon a strong three man bullpen rotation of Delcarmen, Okajima and Papelbon. As the Angels showed in 2002, a strong back end of the bullpen can really pay dividends in a playoff series.

* Feel free to critique or add some of your own best AL moves of 2007.