MLB Award Winners
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by Aprisco
So who are your award winners? It is that time, there is a little over a week left in the season and the playoff races are essentially over (aside from Cubs/Brewers, really no one else has a chance to change the playoff picture). So let's go for it:
AL Manager of the Year
1. Joe Torre 2. Buddy Bell 3. Joe Maddon
By a landslide, there is no one else that's a good runner up, perhaps Buddy Bell of the Kansas City Royals for getting them out of last place and Joe Maddon of the D-Rays. Both teams improved significantly and played tough down the stretch of the season. In any case, Joe Torre watched his overpaid ball club play like complete garbage at the beginning of the season and saw his starting pitching be completely decimated. The Yankees used the following rookies to start games this season: Chase Wright, Matt DeSalvo, Tyler Clippard, Phil Hughes, Kei Igawa, and Ian Kennedy. He watched Johnny Damon, Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano get off to abysmal starts and Jason Giambi, Doug M. and Andy Philips all go down to injury, yet he maintained his calm, and kept his team calm even when the Red Sox pulled ahead by 14.5 games in the division. The Yanks kept fighting and eventually pulled their way out of it. Torre still has it.
AL MVP 1. Alex Rodriguez 2. Magglio Ordonez 3. Jorge Posada
Not as easy as you might think, but the vote here is Alex Rodriguez. The numbers are phenominal, over 50 home runs, over 140 RBI and 130 runs scored, plus 24 stolen bases and a .308 batting average are good as well. He carried the Yanks when the other bats struggled and almost single handedly prevented them from falling apart. Great season by Magglio Ordonez, if only the Tigers made the playoffs. He trails A-Rod by only 10 RBI, plus he hit .360 much of the season, but doesn't have anywhere near 50 home runs (27). Jorge Posada was among the league's leading hitters all season around .340, plus 20 HR, 85 RBI, 88 Runs scored and had to catch about 80 different pitchers, many of them rookies, for the Yanks this year. He was a rock this year, and he seems to be getting better at 36 when most catchers fade.
AL CY Young 1. J.J. Putz 2. Josh Beckett 3. C.C. Sabathia
The Cy Young Award is awarded to the most dominant pitcher and when you talk dominance this year, no one in the American League was more dominant than J.J. Putz. In 67 innings he has given up only 33 hits, 12 walks and he struck out 73. Plus he's only given up 10 earned runs and only blown 2 saves (38 of 40). How about a WHIP below 1 and a BAA of .147. No one's been better. The starters have been good, but not great this year. Josh Beckett will likely win 20 games, but has an ERA of 3.20, not great. His WHIP is slightly above 1, 175 hits, 38 walks in 188 innings and he has a BAA of .241. He's been solid all year no question about it and the Red Sox have needed him given the struggles of their other starters. C.C. Sabathia is 18-7 with a 3.19 ERA. Again he's been solid, but not spectacular, 234 inning, 230 hits, BAA of .258 does not show dominance although he does have 205ks. Plus he's partially cancelled out by his teammate Fausto Carmona, god I love that name (17-8, 3.07 ERA, 202 innings, 187 hits, .249 BAA). Carmona has actually been more dominant than Sabathia but everyone in Cleveland says Sabathia's been the man this year. John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar of the Angels were contenders but died toward the end of the year.
AL Rookie of the Year 1. Delmon Young (.290, 12 hr, 90 RBI, 62 Runs) 2. Dustin Pedroia (.314, 7, 49 RBI, 79 Runs).
Please Red Sox fans, Dustin Pedroia has a slightly higher BA, but Delmon Young has 90 RBI, that is special for a rookie.
NL Manager of the Year 1. Bob Melvin 2. Charlie Manuel 3. Bud Black
Bob Melvin must be a genius because it's hard to even figure out who's even on the D-Backs. Their lineup consists of a bunch of kids most of whom are hitting lower than .260. In fact, not one starter on the Backs is hitting over .300. The starting pitching isn't great either: Brandon Webb is special, but how about Doug Davis, Micah Owings, Livan Hernandez? The bullpen is the secret weapon of this ballclub with Brandon Lyon (2.70 ERA), Tony Pena (3.04 ERA, 83 innings, 59 hits) and Jose Valverde (46 saves, 2.74 ERA, 62 innings, 46 hits, 73ks), but let's face it, there's not much here. Can the Phillies have had more injuries? They lost Cole Hamels, Jon Lieber and Freddy Garcia, 3/5 of the starting rotation, they lost Brett Myers and Tom Gordon for part of the season, they also lost Chase Utley for at least a month, and Ryan Howard earlier this year yet they have never given up. The Padres have also been a big suprise with tremendous piching, but a horrible lineup, really, I am always suprised when they score more than 1 run.
NL MVP 1. Jimmy Rollins 2. Prince Fielder 3. David Wright
Jimmy Rollins has really carried the Phillies on his back this year while both Howard and Chase Utley missed time with injuries. Let's look at these numbers because they are special: .293BA, 28 HR, 88 RBI, 129 Runs, 37 Stolen Bases, 197 hits. This from a shortstop and leadoff hitter. He is also great defensively. What a season. Prince Fielder will likely get it if the Brewers make the playoffs, a worthy candidate with 47 HRs, 112 RBI and 102 Runs scored, truly the driving force in a lineup that has few power hitters. David Wright has had a nice year for the Mets (.315, 30 Hr, 102 RBI, 100 Runs)although I still think that as Carlos Beltran goes, so go the Mets.
NL Cy Young 1. Jake Peavy 2. Brad Penny 3. Aaron Harang
Jake Peavy has been the best all year: 18-6, 2.39 ERA, 202 innings, 151 hits, 225ks, .205 BAA, definitely a dominant season on a first place team. Brad Penny is 16-4 with a 2.93 ERA but his strikeouts were down, only 133ks in 203 innings, plus almost a hit per inning, 193. Ok, there are probably better choices for third place, but it's rather remarkable to be 16-4 on a team with a record of 69-83. Aaron Harang has almost a quarter of his team's wins. That's the equivalent of a pitcher winning 25 games on a team with 100 wins, I'd say that's a special season.
NL Rookie of the Year 1. Ryan Braun 2. Troy Tulowitzki 3. Hunter Pence
This would have been tougher if Hunter Pence stayed healthy all year, but Ryan Braun had an incredible season for a rookie, .321 BA, 31 HR, 85 RBI, 80 Runs in only 102 games. Holy crap, the Brewers have a lot of good young talent. Troy Tulowitzki is fun to watch, the next great shortstop: .293 ba, 21 HR, 87 RBI, 91 Runs. Ok, you might have to discount his numbers because he plays in Colorado, in any event, people who watch him everyday say his contribution to the team is geater than his numbers. Hunter Pence is hitting .323 with 14 HR and 60 RBI in 99 games. He also plays centerfield making those numbers a little more impressive if projected over the course of a full season.
