THE A’S WON
THE WEST! THE A’S WON THE WEST!!!! HOLY CRAP, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!!
That was,
seriously, one of the most exciting games I’ve ever been to. Such an incredible way to spend my birthday. Such an incredible season for the A’s. So improbable!
This team has been so much fun to cheer for. Amazing.
Anyways, with
the season over, and the Wild Card games tonight, its time to look at the season that was. Its been an awesome season, with plenty of
amazing stories (The A’s, the Orioles, and the Nationals the best among
them). Today, I’m going to go through the
various postseason awards and list out my hypothetical ballot, talk about why I
would vote that way, and then give who I think WILL win. Should be fun! Let’s see how correct I end up being!
My AL MVP ballot
1. Miguel
Cabrera
2. Mike
Trout
3. Adrian Beltre
4. Yoenis
Cespedes
5. Justin
Verlander
I’ll take
Cabrera’s Triple Crown (the first in baseball since 1967…which is incredible)
over Trout’s Rookie Year amazingness…but only barely. The division crown for the Tigers probably
sways me there…and the history behind the Triple Crown. Pretty cool.
Beltre deserves to be getting more pub…he’s had a hell of a year for a
very good Texas team. Cespedes shouldn’t
win, but he should get some votes. He’s
been an integral part of the A’s surprising success…they are 80-46 when he is
in the lineup, 12-22 when he is out.
Valuable, eh? Verlander gets my 5th
place spot…he’s been so money this year again.
Who will
win: Cabrera (I think the allure of the
Triple Crown will be hard to not vote for)
My NL MVP ballot
1. Ryan
Braun
2. Buster
Posey
3. Yadier
Molina
4. Andrew
McCutchen
5. Ian
Desmond
Braun’s
numbers have been even better than last year…when he won the MVP. And this season he’s doing it without the
protection of Prince Fielder in the lineup.
Just an incredible follow-up campaign.
Posey has been very, very good…especially after the All Star break…but
he’s been beating up on weak teams (the Giants’ schedule down the stretch has
been a joke). Stats across the board say
Braun is the better player this season.
Molina’s been a rock for the Cardinals, and is, by far, the best
defensive catcher in the game. McCutchen
looked like the hands down choice back in July…and then he fell off a cliff and
dragged the poor Pirates with him.
Desmond has been the most valuable player for the Nationals…the NL East
champs, and a surprising story themselves!
Who will
win: Posey (the media buzz around him is
hard to ignore…as is Braun’s offseason steroids controversy)
My AL Cy Young ballot
1. Justin
Verlander
2. David Price
3. Jered
Weaver
4. Felix
Hernandez
5. Joe
Johnson
Verlander,
Price, and Weaver have almost identical stats.
Verlander gets the nod due to his doing it for many more innings (he is
always going deeper into games than anyone else in baseball), and for a playoff
bound team. What a fascinating year for
pitching, though! Felix had that
incredible perfect game…and looked like the Cy Young favorite at that point…but
has gotten rocked down the stretch. Joe
Johnson reached the 50 save mark this season, for an incredible Baltimore
Orioles team, which is pretty impressive.
Who will
win: Verlander (For the reasons above,
and he has the name and pedigree…those things seem to matter to voters)
My NL Cy Young ballot
1. Clayton
Kershaw
2. Gio
Gonzalez
3. R.A. Dickey
4. Craig
Kimbrel
5. Johnny
Cueto
Kershaw has
been surprisingly overlooked this year…probably because of all that has
happened around the Dodgers. Kershaw
once again has the best ERA, good innings, and has been going back and forth
between leading the league in K’s with Dickey, finishing only 1 behind him. He’s hurting for W’s, but its not his fault
his team couldn’t hit for most of the season.
Gio has been the rock in a phenomenal Washington rotation. He leads the league in wins and has the best
K/9. Dickey has the K’s and a great
ERA…and has the fewest walks. Cueto is
competitive across the board. The
tiebreaker between everyone for me is FIP and xFIP…where Kershaw stacks up
phenomenally to everyone else. Kimbrel
has been an incredible weapon out of the bullpen…he’s K’d half of all hitters
he’s faced. That’s domination. Just have a hard time giving the Cy Young to
a reliever when there’s great starters out there worthy of the award.
Who will
win: Kimbrel (this is the hardest call
for me…I’m honestly not sure who will win…although I’m positive it won’t be
Kershaw. Kimbrel seems to be garnering
the buzz right now).
My AL ROY ballot
1. Mike Trout
2. Yoenis
Cespedes
3. Jarrod
Parker
4. Yu
Darvish
5. Matt
Moore
Mike Trout
is having a historic rookie season. This
will be a runaway. He's scored more runs
(127) than any rookie of the year in history, despite missing almost a month of
the season. He's about to become the first 30-homer, 40-steal rookie of the
year in history -- if not the first 30-50 rookie of the year in history. Just three ROYs (Albert Pujols, Tony Oliva and
Fred Lynn) have ever equaled or beaten Trout's .321/.395/.557 slash line. The highest WAR by any ROY position player in
was 8.5, by Dick Allen in 1964. Trout is at 10.5. The best Offensive Winning Percentage by any
ROY ever? That, according to Lee Sinins'
Complete Baseball Encyclopedia, was .761, by Mark McGwire in 1987. Trout beats
that by 50 points.
So, yeah,
Trout isn’t just the Rookie of the Year, but might be the best rookie of all
time…IN ANY SPORT. Insane. Sucks for Cespedes, though…any normal year,
he’d be the runaway winner! His .291
average, 23 homers, 82 RBI and 16 SB for a playoff bound surprise would handily
get him the award. He should at least
come in second, though…he’s been incredible.
Parker’s been an ace for the A’s down the stretch. Darvish has been up and down, but generally
quite good for the Rangers…similarly Matt Moore for the Rays.
Who will
win: Trout
My NL ROY ballot
1. Bryce
Harper
2. Todd
Frazier
3. Wade
Miley
4. Wilin
Rosario
5. Norichika
Aoki
The NL Race
is much, much tighter than the AL race.
Any of the 5 guys above could win it…but really, it’s a true tossup
between the top three. Frazier stepped
in for the Reds when their all-world first baseman Joey Votto went down…and
simply mashed! He kept the Reds at the
head of the Central and in contention for the best record in baseball while
their superstar was out. Unfortunately,
he’s struggled mightily down the stretch.
Miley has been a rock for the Diamondbacks in their rotation, winning 16
games with a 3.32 ERA and 1.198 WHIP…both phenomenal numbers for a rookie. Actually, only 6 rookies in history have made
at least 28 starts and put up numbers this good…only 3 of them won the
ROY. Why? Because hitters play every day, and have a
much bigger impact on day to day games…enter Bryce Harper. What he’s been able to do at age 19 has been
incredible…one of the best seasons by a teenager ever. He hits for average, hits for power, is a
phenomenal baserunner, and a plus defender.
Also, he’s stepped up his game in September with the Nationals fighting
to win the division and best record in baseball. Only 7 rookies have put up numbers similar to
Harper’s in their rookie season…6 have won the ROY. Harper’s the choice.
Who will
win: Harper.
My AL Manager ballot
1. Bob
Melvin
2. Buck
Showalter
3. Robin
Ventura
This is a
huge homer pick, obviously…but I challenge you to find me a coach who’s done
more with less…not just this season, but in MLB history. 101 rookie starts…two rookie set-up men…half
their lineup is rookies. Their starting
lineup today is vastly different than the one that opened the season. Melvin has made the right call every step of
the way…who to start, who to close, who’s in the lineup and when. He’s gotten more out of this team than anyone
could have possibly imagined. 74 wins
last season… 94 this season. Just an
incredible turnaround. To be fair, Buck
Showalter has done an equally impressive job with an equally unlikely
team. No one expected anything from the
Orioles this year either…and their pitching was way way worse than the
A’s. But he’s pushed the right buttons,
got the most out of his starters, effectively used an outstanding bullpen, and
put together what’s become a rather dangerous lineup. The Orioles have a better 1-run game winning
percentage than anyone in history. The
job he’s done with, what was last year, a 69 win team, is equally incredible. Honestly, both Showalter and Melvin deserve
the award equally. The tiebreaker to me
is who I’m a fan of…I’ll be honest…but also, the A’s won their division, the
Orioles did not. Ventura is the distant
third for almost getting an unheralded White Sox team to the division
crown. He just couldn’t get them over
the hump.
Who will
win: Showalter (east coast bias rules
the day…although maybe the AL West title will swing things to Melvin. Tough
call.)
My NL Manager ballot
1. Davey
Johnson
2. Mike
Matheny
3. Fredi
Gonzalez
Johnson,
hands down, has been the manager of the year.
He brought a Nationals team that, for much of its brief history, has
been terrible…and led them to the best record in baseball, a 1 seed, and the
division title. Incredible. Matheny’s done a great job taking over for a
legend in St. Louis, getting them to the playoffs despite losing their best
player. Quite a job for the new
manager. I’ll throw my third vote to
Atlanta’s manager, Gonzalez…who’s led the Braves to a phenomenal season one
year after one of the worst collapses in history. Well done.
Who will
win: Johnson (easy choice).
My AL Gold Gloves
P: CC Sabathia, NYY
C: Matt Wieters, BAL
1B: Adrian Gonzalez, BOS/LA
2B: Dustin Pedroia, BOS
SS: Brendan Ryan, SEA
3B: Adrian Beltre, TEX
RF: Josh Reddick, OAK
LF: Alex Gordon, KC
CF: Mike Trout, ANA
My NL Gold Gloves
P: Mark Buehrle, MIA
C: Yadier Molina, STL
1B: Joey Votto, CIN
2B: Mark Ellis, LAD
SS: Clint Barmes, PIT
3B: David Wright, NYM
CF: Michael Bourn, ATL
RF: Jason Heyward, ATL
LF: Ryan Braun, MIL
Gold Gloves
usually just go to the best offensive player who isn’t terrible in the
field. I tend to actually look at who is
having a great season in the field. So
I’ll probably be way way off on these.
Oh well!
It was a fun
regular season. Here’s to the
postseason! Nothing better than October
baseball! Especially when I have a team
to cheer for!
Go A’s!
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