With little more than a month remaining in the 2017 season, there isn't much left for most front offices to do but root for the players they've acquired to play well. Although we might still see a last-minute trade or waiver claim, teams in October will be mostly comprised of what they have on hand right now.
Although contenders are not built in a single year, some general managers/team presidents -- the latter term is effectively still what the GM used to be in many organizations -- have done more than their fair share in helping guide their teams to the playoffs this season. We'll look at those executives who deserve the most recognition (or blame) for putting their organizations on their current paths.
This isn't the same thing as evaluating the total career of everyone currently employed at the top of a baseball operations department. There are many successful organizations not represented here who did most of their heavy lifting in prior years and did not need to make big moves to win in 2017. But for this list, what was done in previous years is not under our purview. We want to acknowledge those who moved the needle the most for their teams over the past 12 months -- although, as the guys on the negative side of things might attest, sometimes the needle ends up pointing the wrong way.
A job well done
1. David Stearns, Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers weren't supposed to be good this year, but thanks to a series of shrewd moves by Stearns and the rest of his front office, Milwaukee's rebuild skipped a few steps in 2017. The organization's decision to not bottom out and play for high draft picks paid big dividends, as they plucked a number of valuable contributors from other teams' rosters. Most notably, they acquired third baseman Travis Shaw from the Red Sox and have watched him blossom into a quality cleanup hitter. Getting him for Tyler Thornburg, a reliever with a history of arm problems -- who has missed the entire season with more arm problems -- looked like a great move at the time and only looks better with the benefit of hindsight.