In the mid-1990?s, the Cleveland Indians were one of the model franchises for others to copy, but October success never truly came for these Indians. Even with World Series appearances in 1995 and 1997, the Indians saw their window close and had to embark on another rebuilding process that saw longtime general manager John Hart leave the organization, handing over the reins to Mark Shapiro after the 2001 season. This change of power was the move that turned the Indians from horizontal to going forward and now having one of the best young teams in baseball. Shapiro is one of the wiz-kids, only 39 years old, and has made a name in this industry for being able to stock an unfair amount of great young talent through the draft. Since 2003, the Cleveland Indians have had their minor league system ranked top nine each season by Baseball America and the system has already paid dividends. Some of the top players to already have made their way to Cleveland are catcher Victor Martinez, outfielder Grady Sizemore, shortstop Jhonny Peralta and pitcher C.C. Sabathia. Sizemore is a five-tool type player who doesn?t even know all of the nuances of the game yet and will be one of the best players in the game over the next five-ten years and will be the face of this generation?s team like Albert Belle was on the field for the Indians of the mid-1990?s. He also has done a nice job at identify which young players to build around and which ones are expendable. The perfect example was the trade of outfielder Milton Bradley because of run-ins with manager Eric Wedge. Bradley was still considered a great young talent, but Shapiro gave up on him because of attitude and it looks like it might have paid off. Through it all though, Shapiro hasn?t become a micromanager like other wiz-kids we have seen (Billy Beane) and let everyone in the organization do their assigned job. He like Beane, does work on a limited budget, which can limit his ability to make the marquee moves by the other baseball powers. Shapiro is very good friends with New England Patriots? decision maker Scott Pioli and it shows in his philosophy on building teams. He is the best in the game at identifying a core group of players he can build around and then find the bargains for the remaining pieces of his roster. It takes a special talent to be able to do this with the accuracy Shapiro does so and once this group reaches their collective primes, his talents will not only produce wins in the summer, but also in the October fall. Signature Move: The deal was made in January 2006 and is a simple example of how Mark Shapiro?s mind works. He dealt outfielder Coco Crisp and two other players for three players, cash and the biggest catch in third baseman Andy Marte. Shapiro knew his team had a centerfielder in Sizemore for the next decade, but didn?t have a third baseman. This addition then of Marte gave him an excellent prospect at the position without disrupting his core. This is why he is one of the top five general managers in the game today.