Given that the award is for the 2007 season, the moves GMs make that have direct impacts on the 2007 season should be the ones that are inspected. However, Shapiro was, in my opinion, the best of a bad bunch in 2007.
What moves did he make? Shapiro's major league signings included Nixon, Dellucci, Foulke, Borowski and Hernandez.
To be fair, each one of them was a failure in terms of cost and what they brought to the team. Shapiro also made a trade for Josh Barfield, which, as per the free agent signings, turned out to be a waste.
However, despite all of this, the Indians managed to win the Central and tie for the best record in the AL. The move Shapiro made for Kenny Lofton proved to add a nice spark plug and veteran leadership down the stretch.
I must admit I am on the fence in terms of not making other moves. That is, it was both a good and a bad thing that Shapiro did not make a big splash in the trade market.
(Runner Up: JP Riccardi)
Cy Young - Fausto Carmona
I had made the decision to pick Fausto prior to the gem he threw in a game that I attended in Cleveland (watch the video!).
Was Carmona the best pitcher overall in the American League? I can admit he was not. However, in my opinion, the Cy Young award is not simply awarded to the pitcher who had the best statistics—it's awarded to the pitcher who was not only most valuable to his team, but would have been to any other team.
With that in mind, where would the Cleveland Indians have been without Carmona and his incredible season?
My guess is they would have been a handful of game behind the Detroit Tigers. But I will take this a step further: Was there a better No. 2 pitcher in the American League this season?
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