Awards Wrap-up

Hey everyone, I am officially a college graduate, woohoo! I'm still in disbelief, not that I actually graduated from college, but that the Miami Dolphins actually won a game this season. Though if not for a Matt Stover missed field goal, the Dolphins losing season would still be in tact.

Oh well, I know I haven't really written a true post since Thanksgiving, so hopefully I can make up for most of it. This will finally be the awards wrap-up I've been meaning to get to for awhile, if I have the time, I'll analyze the transactions made since Thanksgiving. But first, the Silver Sluggers:

National League

C- Russell Martin (Los Angeles Dodgers)
1B- Prince Fielder (Milwaukee Brewers)
2B- Chase Utley (Philadelphia Phillies)
3B- David Wright (New York Mets)
SS- Jimmy Rollins (Philadelphia Phillies)
OF- Carlos Beltran (New York Mets)
OF- Carlos Lee (Houston Astros)
OF- Matt Holiday (Colorado Rockies)
P- Micah Owings (Arizona Diamondbacks)

Russell Martin is a clear and obvious choice for the catcher spot. His 540 ABs, 87 runs, 158 hits, 19 homers, 253 total bases, 67 walks, 21 stolen bases, and a .293 average are all tops among National League catchers. His slugging percentage is .469. If it wasn't for Brian McCann's 92 RBIs (to Martin's 87) and Miguel Olivo's 4 triples (to Martin's 3), Martin would be leading in every single offensive category for catchers in the NL. McCann is second, and carried a .452 slugging percentage.

Prince Fielder is definately the Silver Slugger at first base, but clearly not the best hitter (Albert Pujols). Fielder put up very gaudy power numbers in only his second year in the league with 50 homers, 119 RBIs, and a .618 slugging percentage. Pujols hit .327 with 32 homers and 103 RBIs; he carried a .568 slugging percentage. Fielder will fortunately end up being nothing like his father (a fat mess), and a perennial MVP contender. Just, he can never be Albert Pujols.

In the NL at second base, there is Chase Utley, then there is everyone that wishes they were Chase Utley. I guess Brandon Phillips isn't too far off but after Phillips there is a huge drop-off. Keep in mind Utley lost roughly 100 at bats due to injury and his numbers are amazing for anyone let alone a second baseman: .332 AVG, 22 homers, and 103 RBIs (.566 SLG). Forget Jimmy Rollins, this guy should have been MVP over him (though not quite as deserving as Matt Holiday).

Sorry David, while I'd say your the second-best all-around third baseman in baseball (A-Rod), this award didn't belong to you either, though you were a close second. Miguel Cabrera of the Marlins (now Tigers) deserved it more. Miggy's .320 average, 34 homers, 119 RBIs and .565 slugging percentage exceeded Wright's 30 homers, 119 RBIs and his .546 slugging percentage (but not Wright's .325 average). It's close and both are extremely talented, but I think it should have went to Cabrera. Chipper Jones of the Altanta Braves wasn't too far off either (.337 AVG, 29 homers, 102 RBIs, and a .604 slugging percentage). Well you still got a lot to worry about Wright, this will probably be Ryan Braun's award next year.

Jimmy Rollins was a good choice here. Though Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins is a close second. Rollins hit .296 with 30 homers and 94 RBIs (.531 SLG) while Ramirez hit .332 with 29 homers and 81 RBIs (.562 SLG). Rollins had the first 20-20-20-20 season ever (doubles, triples, homers and steals). Gotta give credit where it's due.

With the outfielders Lee and Holliday are clear-cut, but Beltran; not so much. It's unfortunate but no where even near consideration was someone who truly deserved the Silver Slugger: Brad Hawpe of the Colorado Rockies. But he's no monster like Holliday so he'll never be noticed. Hawpe had a dynamite season hitting .291 with 29 homers, 116 RBI, and a .539 slugging percentage. Beltran hit .276 with 33 homers, 112 RBIs and a .525 slugging percentage. It's really too bad Hawpe was in Holliday's shadow all year.

Micah Owings is the only pitcher I've tracked down on mlb.tv games just to see him hit. In 60 at bats Owings hit .333 with 4 homers and 15 RBI, good for a .683 slugging percentage. That's right, that slugging percentage is the highest in the majors, for any regular! Granted he only plays every five days but still. He's the only pitcher to exceed 10 RBIs and the next highest slugging pitcher was Dontrelle Willis of the Marlins at.508 (still impressive). That includes a game on August 16th against the Atlanta Braves where Owings went 4 for 5 with two homers and six RBIs. Unbelievable.

Fast Forward a few days....

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Now for the AL

American League

C- Jorge Posada (New York Yankees)
1B- Carlos Pena (Tampa Bay Devil Rays)
2B- Placido Polanco (Detroit Tigers)
3B- Alex Rodriguez (New York Yankees)
SS- Derek Jeter (New York Yankees)
OF- Vladimir Guerrero (Los Angeles Angels)
OF- Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners)
OF- Magglio Ordonez (Detroit Tigers)
DH- David Ortiz (Boston Red Sox)

Jorge Posada, can't argue with that at all. All his stats are either first or second (Victor Martinez) amongst catchers. He hit .338 with 2o homers and 90 RBIs with a .543 SLUG, while Martinez hit .301 with 25 homers and 114 RBIs with a .505 SLUG. In a career year, even though Martinez isn't too far off, you can't take this away from Posada.

Ahh, now here's a nice ending for the comeback player of the year in the American League. Still this is no charity case, Carlos Pena blew away everyone in the AL. He hit .282 with 46 homers and 121 RBIs. Mark Teixeira might have given him a run for his money had he stayed in the AL with the Texas Rangers but he went to the Braves near the deadline. Not bad for a guy who hit a third as many RBIs this season as he had over the past six.

Placido Polanco is an interesting call. I like the pick because of his .341 average but not because of his 9 homers and 67 RBIs. I think Robinson Cano of the Yankees deserved it more. Cano hit .306 with 19 homers and 97 RBIs good for a .488 slugging percentage. He also led 2nd basemen in at-bats. Polanco was more than justified in winning the gold glove, not really the Silver Slugger.

I don't really need to talk about Alex Rodriguez. No one can top hitting .314 with 54 homers and 156 RBIs (.645 SLUG). Mike Lowell of the Red Sox (.324, 21 homers, 120 RBIs, and a .501 SLG) is a distant second.

Here's a unique situation, Derek Jeter actually deserves this award. He hit .322, 12 homers, 73 RBIS, and a .452 slugging percentage. He also led all AL shortstops in at-bats and games played (as you may have noticed, season longevity earns major points in my book). Carlos Guillen of the Tigers had a great year too (.296, 21 homers, 102 RBIs, .502 SLG) but Jeter deserved it this year.

Vlad and Maggs were no questions, Ichiro was a bit questionable. He did play in a ridiculous 161 games and had 678 at-bats though and hit .351. But he only had 6 homers and 68 RBIs. Ehh, he should get his props for average and longevity, and no one out there really blows you away. Though if I had to choose, Nick Markakis's .300 avg, 23 homers and 112 RBIs would be up there. Still, I like the overall outfield picks.

I personally think a DH Silver Slugger is a bit redundant but it's really David Ortiz, then everyone else. I still wish there wasn't a DH but oh well.

Okay, and for the other awards....

MVP

Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (AL)
Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies (NL)

A-Rod deserves this hands down, no questions asked. Now Jimmy Rollins, thats another story. Matt Holliday owned (.344 avg, 36 homers and 137 RBIs) while Rollins had a great year but not close to Holliday's numbers (.296 avg, 30 homers and 94 RBIs). Both players meant immense amounts to their teams, but I still think the Phillies could have hung around without Rollins. The Rockies would be nowhere without Holliday (and Kaz Matsui of course).

CY Young

C.C. Sabathia, Cleveland Indians (AL)
Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres (NL)

Sabathia had an outstanding year (19-7, 3.21 ERA, 209 strikeouts and 4 complete games in 241 innings). But his batterymate, Fausto Carmona had an equally outstanding year (19-8, 3.06 ERA, 137 strikeouts and 2 complete games in 215 innings). As did Josh Beckett (20-7, 3.27 ERA, 194 strikeouts and 1 complete game in 200.2 innings). It pains me how much superior the AL is to the NL, uggh... But anyway it's a toss-up, I take Sabathia on his track record. Jake Peavy is the only pitcher in the NL who had an ERA under 3 and 19 wins. That is rather sad for a weak NL one pitcher with a sub 3 ERA? Maybe they'll be a change in power soon, yeah, soon like in maybe 5 years soon...

Rookie of the Year

Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox (AL)
Ryan Braun, San Diego Padres (NL)

Pedroia is a no-brainer. He hit .317, the highest average ever by a rookie second baseman. Not bad for someone who was hitting .182 on May 1st. He led all Major League rookies in doubles with 39 and was second in on-base percentage (.380) and third in runs (86). Dynomite! Delmon Young of the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays and Brian Bannister (shudder...) of the Kansas City Royals were a distant second and third. But in the NL, Braun had a monster year in only 113 games by hitting 34 homers and slugged .634 (an NL rookie record). He just edged out Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies who hit .291 with 24 homers and 99 RBIs and had an insane year in the field. His .987 fielding percentage and 5.39 zone rating led Major League shortstops, and Tulowitzki committed only 11 errors in 155 games. In retrospect, I like the Braun pick now.

Manager of the Year

Eric Wedge, Cleveland Indians (AL)
Bob Melvin, Arizona Diamondbacks (NL)

I don't really know how to judge non-New York managers so here's what mlb.com says about them:

The Baseball Writers' Association of America named the 39-year-old Wedge his league's top skipper after he guided the Tribe to a 96-66 regular-season record and its first AL Central title in six years. He's the first Indians manager to win the award.

Bob Melvin may downplay the role he played in getting the D-backs to a National League-best 90 wins and the playoffs this past season, but it doesn't appear that postseason awards voters are buying it. Melvin was named NL Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Wednesday, the second such award he has captured. Last month, he won a similar award from The Sporting News, which was voted on by his fellow managers.

Delivery Man of the Year Award

Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox (AL)

Papelbon posted a 1.85 ERA, converting 37 of 40 save opportunities in the regular season. In 58 1/3 innings, he allowed just 30 hits while striking out 84 in becoming the first Red Sox pitcher to notch 30 saves two times. Though his numbers were awesome, Joe Nathan (the pride of Stony Brook University) of the Minnesota Twins and J.J. Putz were also lights out. Nathan had a 1.88 ERA, 37 saves, and 77 strikeouts in 71.2 innings. Putz though, this is just ridiculous. He posted a 1.38 ERA, 40 saves, and 82 strikeouts in 71.2 innings. Papelbon only pitched 58.1 innings. Papelbon might be up there with Mariano Rivera one day as a top all-time closer, but I'm not so sure we'll ever see another year like Putz had for awhile. It's gotta go to Putz.

Hank Aaron Award (the best hitter in each league)

Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (AL)
Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Breweres (NL)

You just simply can't say enough about Alex Rodriguez. Let me just post his numbers one more time. .314 AVG, 54 homers, 156 RBIs, 583 at-bats, 183 hits, 31 doubles, 376 total bases, and a .422 on-base percentage. Prince Fielder had a great second year by hitting .288 with 50 homers, 119 RBIs, and a .618 slugging percentage. But I wish the MLB would look past the power numbers. The best pure hitter in the NL this season was Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit .332, 22 homers, 103 RBIs, .429 OBP, 58 strikeouts, and 99 walks in 565 at-bats. Not that the power numbers aren't there of course, but only 58 strikeouts with less than 100 walks but still still over a .400 OBP....that's very, very impressive. It should have been Pujols in the NL.


Alright everyone, sorry I haven't posted in awhile I've been extremely busy. As for the Mitchell Report, it's nothing but a witch hunt. That's not to say that I don't throughly enjoy it and not think it is necessary. It's become clear that releasing this document, at least for the near future, is only to keep people who used performance enhancers out of the Hall of Fame (Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmiero, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens). So far, it's serving its purpose. I guess we shall see as Bud Selig is taking the document on a "case by case" basis.

My next post will be an update on the impact moves and signings. I won't be able to catch all of them but I'll get most of them.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!