1907 American League Rookies
Heinie Berger, SP, Age 24, Indians
The Indians are built on pitching, and Berger will only improve this team strength. He has a shot at breaking into the rotation, especially since former RoY
Charlie Smith (8-13, 5.35 ERA) struggled so much last season. If Smith moves to the bullpen, that unit should be improved which they need after finishing 6th in the AL last season. However, Cleveland once again failed to address their offensive needs. Like Oakland last year, if the Indians could add some potent offense, they would become a bonafide pennant contender.
Walter Johnson, SP, Age 19, Twins
Johnson is ranked on baseball-reference.com as the #1 pitcher of all time, and I have to agree. In fact, he is also my favorite player from this era, so I am excited to see him join the league. The Twins have been known as an offense-only team since the first American League season in 1901. That season just happened to end with the Twins winning the first AL pennant. However, they have not finished higher than 3rd place since and they have not had a winning season in two years. The rest of the AL is steadily improving, so Johnson alone may not make this team an instant pennant contender. However, he is a star in the making and is a considerable upgrade over the 5th-best starter that will now be moved to the bullpen, likely 34-year-old
Al Orth (10-12, 4.51 ERA). The other good news is that Minnesota's offense is good enough to provide Johnson plenty of support, which means he should have quite a bit of success.
Tris Speaker, CF, Age 18, Red Sox
Speaker is another huge batting star to join the AL ranks over the past three seasons. He will compete with Detroit's
Ty Cobb in all sorts of batting categories. Speaker is, after all, the MLB all-time leader in doubles and he should have similar success in MLHR. He is also a superb fielder who should challenge Cobb for Gold Gloves year in and year out. And that's especially good news for Boston since Speaker will be taking over the starting center field job from light-hitting
Charlie Jones (.244, 10 HR, 48 RBI, 12 SB), who has won every American League Gold Glove award in center field since the AL debuted in 1901 except for one won by Cobb in 1905.
Elmer Steele, SP, Age 20, Red Sox
As the Red Sox hope to finally contend for the pennant, Steele provides them with a much needed top of the rotation starter alongside the dependable arms of
George Winter (16-9, 2.67 ERA) and
Nick Altrock (9-14, 3.44 ERA). The addition of Steele and centerfielder Speaker should be the impetus Boston needs to move forward and challenge mighty Oakland for American League supremacy. However, it looks like they will be joined in that race by Detroit, Minnesota and possibly Cleveland and New York in what should be a tough season.
