I was thinking about the 2009 MVP awards and getting all cynical about how the BBWAA only recognizes players when they finally start hitting the long ball.  After all, Joe Mauer’s 28 homeruns was twice his previous high three years ago.  Mauer had all (ok, most) of the tools necessary to garner the award already but the boost in power clinched it. 

But then I thought back to last year.  Oh yeah,  Dustin Pedroia.  As much as a surprise as it was to me, Pedroia came through with the 2008 MVP award with a measly 17 homeruns for the Boston Red Sox (yeah, yeah, go ahead… scream East Coast bias all you want.  Yankee writers vote on this too).

A little bit of related MVP trivia… who was the last National League player with less than 20 homers to win the MVP?  It’s been a few years.  Answer at the end.

It was more than the power in of itself though.  An intriguing statistic… Joe Mauer led the league in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.  No big deal?  Except it hasn’t been done since George Brett did it in 1980.

Cocky sports show host Sam Panayotovich, who guest posted the MVP predictions on TBZ in September, shot me an email.  Referring to his article, he wrote, “Man, this guy was right on the money. ;).” 

Sure enough, Sam correctly picked Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols to win the big one.  But let’s be fair.  Albert Pujols was a gimme.  :)  The entire BBWAA thought the same way. 

Seriously, it was a nice call, Sam.  Out of all of our analysts who predicted the awards, I think he was the only one to get them both right. 

Mauer wasn’t unanimous and that’s not too surprising.  What is strange is that the lone dissenting vote didn’t go to second place Mark Teixeira or even third place Derek Jeter.   Fourth place Miguel Cabrera was the recipient of the gratuitous #1 vote.

Oh back to the trivia question, who was the last NL MVP player with under 20 homers???

It was Barry Larkin in 1995. Larkin hit .319 with 15 homers with 98 runs and 66 rbis.  He also stole 51 bases and won the Gold Glove that year.

Tags: Albert Pujols, barry larkin, joe mauer, Miguel Cabrera, mvp, Predictions, Trivia

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Zack Greinke was named the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner.  Greinke was dominant with a 2.16 ERA and a 16-8 record for the lowly Kansas City Royals.  Zack started impressively, winning his first six games, with an ERA of 0.40, only Walter Johnson & Fernando Valenzuela had done that with lower ERAs.  In back to back starts he struckout 15 batters in one contest and then allowed only one hit in his next start.  He was 6-1 with a 1.75 ERA in his last 11 starts.  Imagine how many wins Greinke would have amassed had he been pitching for the explosive New York Yankees.  The Royals only scored 15 runs in Zack’s eight losses, 1.9 per game.  Zack Greinke only allowed 195 hits in 229′ innings, striking out 242, while walking only 51.

MLB announced Tim Lincecum as the winner of the 2009 NL Cy Young Award.  It was the 2nd straight year The Freak had won the award.  Lincecum was the NL strikeout leader two years running, last time a Giant did that was Christy Mathewson in 1907-08.  It was a very tight Cy Young vote, only 6 points separating 1st & 2nd, with a couple of Cardinals starters finishing in 2nd & 3rd.  Interestingly Adam Wainwright was the leader in wins with 19 & 12 first place votes, but finished 3rd, teammate Chris Carpenter was the ERA leader at 2.24 with a 17-4 record, finished 2nd, and Tim was the strikeout leader with 261 Ks, a 2.48 ERA, and a 15-7 record, was the award winner, 15 wins was the lowest win total for an award winner.

Tags: AL, cy young, giants, NL, royals, tim lincecum, Zack Greinke

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Jim Tracy took over for Clint Hurdle in Colorado, guiding a struggling Rockies team to a 74-42 finish, and a postseason berth.  It’s hard to argue with the selection of Tracy as the NL Manager of the Year.  Twice before teams he’s managed have finished with 90+ wins (2004 Dodgers finished 1st), while three times his teams finished with 90+ losses (2007 Pirates finished 6th).  So it just goes to show, being a successful manager has alot to do with being in the right place at the right time, and having the horses.

Mike Scioscia won the AL Manager of the Year Award.  It was the 2nd time he’s won the award, the first coming in 2002, when his Angels won the World Series.  Scioscia has averaged 90 wins per season in his ten years as the Angels skipper, and has finished in 1st place five of the last six years.  The Angels have built a winning baseball philosophy around their manager’s belief in fundamentals, speed, & defense.

Tags: AL, angels, Jim Tracy, Manager of the Year, Mike Scioscia, NL, Rockies

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Rookie of the Year is always such a tenuous award.  Sometimes it’s given to a solid steady but unspectacular player (*cough* Bobby Crosby *cough*) who had the luck of not getting hurt his first year in the majors. 

This year’s winners??  Outfielder Chris Coghlan of the Marlins and reliever Andrew Bailey of the A’s. 

Our own Teddy Ballgame (who knows more about the young talent in the majors than I ever will) did his predictions of the Rookie of the Year award in mid September.  He wrong on both counts but I’ll give him credit.  His pick, Elvis Andrus both placed second in the voting in the AL.  As for his pick of Dexter Fowler??  Well… he barely made a showing, getting one third place vote.

Both votes were close especially the Reds’ J.A. Happ who came within 11 votes of Coghlan. 

Coghlan batted .321 in 128 games with 84 runs scored and a pretty impressive .390 on-base percentage.  As for Bailey (who by the way, our guest poster Shawn Lee DID pick as the Rookie of the Year in the midst of his Cy Young Predictions… nice call, Shawn!), he saved 26 games for the A’s with a 1.84 ERA.  He also had a tasty BB/K ratio at 24/91.

The last reliever to win the ROY in either league was Kazuhiro Sasaki in 2000.

Good luck next year, Teddy.

Tags: Andrew Bailey, Awards, Chris Coghlan, J.A. Happ, rookie of the year, rookies

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Back in the middle of September I was assigned the task of predicting who would win the rookie of the year awards.  Now two months later the winners were announced, Oakland A’s reliever Andrew Bailey in the American League and Florida Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan.  I had predicted Rockies outfielder Dexter Fowler in the NL and Rangers SS Elvis Andrus in the AL.

In 2008 the A’s converted Bailey from a starter to a reliever in AA Ball in 2008.  Andrew immediately experienced success in the bullpen, carrying that success over into the 2008 Arizona Fall League, and on into the 2009 regular big league season.  He finished the season with 26 of 30 saves, a 6-3 record, a 1.84 ERA, with 91 strikeouts & 49 hits allowed in 83′ innings, and was Oakland’s lone All Star representative.

Chris Coghlan also enjoyed a conversion that enabled him to star in the big leagues, the former infielder was moved to leftfield.  He brought his bat out to the outfield with him, batting .321 with a .390 OBP, with 31 doubles, 6 triples, & 9 home runs, as the Marlins leadoff hitter.

Elvis Andrus, my choice for AL Rookie of the Year, the Rangers 21 year old shortstop out of Venezuela, finished 2nd in the balloting behind Bailey.  Elvis batted .267, with 33 stolen bases, 72 runs scored, & 128 base hits, with a very impressive range factor in the field of 4.86.  Right on the heels of Andrus was Detroit’s 20 year old righthanded starting pitcher Rick Porcello (14-9 & 3.96 ERA).  The 6’9″ Tampa Bay’s righthander, Jeff Niemann (13-6 & 3.94) was next, he was 17-0 with a 1.70 ERA as a Junior in 2003 with Rice.  Then came The Sporting News choice for Rookie of the Year, the White Sox very own, thirdbaseman Gordon Beckham (.270, 28 doubles, 14 homers, 63 RBIs).  Rounding out this crop of AL rookies was another pitcher from Oakland, southpaw Brett Anderson (11-11, 4.06 ERA, & 150 strikeouts in 175′ IP).

Closely behind Coghlan, over in the Senior Circuit, was The Sporting News choice for NL Rookie of the Year out of the University of Northwestern in Evanston, IL, Philadelphia’s lefthander J.A. Happ (12-4 & 2.93).  A distant 3rd was Atlanta’s phenom righthanded starting pitcher Tommy Hanson (11-4, 2.89, & 116 K’s in 127″ IP).  The Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen wasn’t far in back of Hanson, batting .286, 26 doubles, 9 triples, 12 homers, 74 runs scored, to go along with 22 steals, while playing a very good centerfield for the Buccos.  Next up the Brewers thirdbaseman Casey McGehee received some love, .301, 20 doubles, 16 homers, & 66 RBIs.  Interestingly six other rookies received very little support in their quest for league’s top rookie honors.  They were Randy Wells of the Cubs (12-10 & 3.05), Pittsburgh slugger Garrett Jones (21 HRs & .293), Padres SS Everth Cabrera (25 SBs & 59 runs), my choice Dexter Fowler Colorado outfielder (73 runs, 27 SBs, 29 2Bs, & 10 3Bs), Diamondbacks outfielder Gerardo Parra (.290, 21 2Bs, 8 3Bs, 60 RBIs), and last, but not least, Cardinals centerfielder Colby Rasmus (22 2Bs & 16 HRs).

Tags: Andrew Bailey, Andrew McCutchen Pirates, athletics, braves, Brett Anderson, brewers, cardinals, Casey McGehee, Chris Coghlan, Colby Rasmus, Cubs, dexter fowler, diamondbacks, Elvis Andrus, Everth Cabrera, Garrett Jones, Gerardo Parra, Gordon Beckham, J.A. Happ, Jeff Niemann, Marlins, padres, phillies, Randy Wells, Rangers, Rays, Rick Porcello, Rockies, tigers, Tommy Hanson, White Sox

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The 2009 Gold Gloves were presented the other day.  Generally speaking, what struck me was this.  With an award that used to be awarded so traditionally, only two winners have more four to their credit.  Outfielders Ichiro Suzuki and Torii Hunter both have nine Gold Glove Awards on their mantle.  In case you’re wondering, they’re 6th on the all-time list for outfielders (they have six more to go to catch Roberto Clemente).

Some thoughts on a few of the Gold Glove award winners:

Ryan Zimmerman finally got his Gold Glove.  The cynic in me says that he finally hit well enough to deserve the award.  He hit better than David Wright who somehow got it the past two years.  Zim led the NL in assists and was 2nd in putouts.

While Jimmy Rollins won the Gold glove for shortstop, my vote would have gone to Troy Tulowitzki.  Tulo was in the top two in the league in fielding percentage, putouts, zone rating, total chances, and assists.  Rollins had the advantage of leading the NL in fielding percentage, an overrated stat, in my opinion. 

I’m a big Orlando Hudson fan.  Let’s get that out of the way.  But I was a bit surprised when he got the award this year.  It was his fourth one of his career but last year, due to his injuries, Brandon Phillips took it away from him.  Baseball is such a game of tradition.  Despite his deserving it, I wasn’t sure if the coaches would give it back to him.

I’ve been critical of Derek Jeter’s glove work in the past but word has it his fielding has really taken a turn for the better.  That and a slightly weak (Orlando Cabrera excluded) competition, Jeter deserved it this time.

Outfielder and Pitcher Gold Gloves… almost irrelevant in most cases.  in the cases they are relevant, they get ignored for those who are good with the stick. 

NL Gold Glove Award winners

AL Gold Glove Award winners

Tags: Awards, derek jeter, gold glove, ichiro, jimmy rollins, Orlando Hudson, ryan zimmerman, Torii Hunter, troy tulowitzki

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The Sporting News announced its National League All Stars as determined by 31 major league general managers and assistant GMs.  St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols (also named Player of the Year), Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun were on the ballots of all 14 NL team executives who voted.

C Yadier Molina has shown that catching is much more than just offensive numbers, he is regarded as the best defensive catcher in the game.  Besides his work behind the plate, Yadier seems to have found his stroke, batting .293 for the Redbirds.

1B Albert Pujols is simply the best, as reaffirmed by him being named Player of the Year.  This year, once again, he posted Albert Pujols type numbers, leading the league with 47 homers & 122 runs, while batting .327 with a .443 OBP (best), while hitting 45 doubles, and driving in 135, leading St. Louis into the postseason.

2B Chase Utley is the quiet Phillie who just goes about his job in the field & at the plate.  Chase hit 31 home runs, and was seven (93) RBIs shy of driving in at least 100 runs for the 5th straight season, he scored 112 times (over 100 four straight campaigns), and stole 23 bases without getting caught, while batting .282.

3B Mark Reynolds is synonymous with strikeouts, but there’s alot more to his game than just whiffs.  Sure Mark broke his strikeout record he set last year (204) with this year’s mark of 223, but he also hit 44 homers, drove in 102, while stealing 24 bases for Arizona.

SS Hanley Ramirez had the highest batting average in the league, hitting .342, with 24 longballs, to go along with 42 doubles, driving in 106, 101 runs scored, and stealing 27 bases for the Fish.

OF Ryan Braun surprisingly this slugger had more hits than anybody in the NL, with 203, he also had 114 RBIs & 113 runs scored, amassing 32 homers, 39 doubles, & 6 triples, he also stole 20 bags.

OF Matt Kemp is a pure athlete and a true five tool player.  The Dodgers centerfielder batted .297 with 34 steals, 26 home runs, knocking in 101.

OF Jayson Werth This gentle giant seems to have found a home in RF for Philadelphia, and he certainly can turn a baseball & a ballgame around in a hurry.  36 longballs, 99 RBIs, & 98 runs scored, all while playing excellent defense in the field.

SP Tim Lincecum The Freak was it at again, repeating as NL Pitcher of the Year, where does that little guy get all that power?  He was 15-7 with an ERA of just 2.48, striking out a league best 261 batters in 225′ innings, allowing only 168 hits.

RP Ryan Franklin The 36 year old journeyman relief pitcher came out of nowhere to takeover as the closer for the St. Louis Cardinals, saving 38 games, with a 1.92 ERA.  His 17 saves the year before was his career high.

Tags: Albert Pujols, All Stars, brewers, cardinals, Chase Utley, diamondbacks, dodgers, giants, hanley ramirez, Jayson Werth, Mark Reynolds, Marlins, Matt Kemp, NL, phillies, Ryan Braun, Ryan Franklin, Sporting News, tim lincecum, Yadier Molina

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The Sporting News has announced the American League All Stars as selected by a panel of 31 major league general managers and GMs.  Joe Mauer received votes from all 17 AL executives who participated.

C Joe Mauer appeared in 138 games for the Twins, 109 behind the plate, leading the league with a .365 batting average (he also topped the league in average the year before with a .328 mark), while getting beat up at catcher.  Joe hit 28 homers, 30 doubles, and drove in 96, leading Minnesota to the postseason as Central Division champs.

1B Mark Teixeira powered the Yankees offense leading the league in homers (39) & RBIs 122, while batting .292, with 43 doubles, scoring 103 times, he also topped the Junior Circuit in total bases with 344.

2B Aaron Hill came back after suffering a concussion, which allowed him to only play 55 games the previous season, to have his best year ever.  Aaron batted .286 with 36 home runs & 37 doubles, driving in 108 & scoring 103 times.

3B Evan Longoria was the Rookie of the Year who was one of the leaders of the Rays who made it to the World Series last year, now he’s the best player at the hot corner.  He batted .281, with 33 longballs, 44 two base hits, drove in 113 & scored 100 times.

SS Derek Jeter is the captain & leader of the New York Yankees.  Jeter batted .334 with an OBP of .406, it was his job to get on for the big bats, steling 30 bases at the ripe old age of 35, he ripped 18 homers to go along with 27 doubles.

OF Ichiro Suzuki is known simply as Ichiro.  Since coming to the States all he’s done is hit, a lifetime batting average of .333, over 200 hits every season (9 years), and leading the league in hits the last four years.  This year Ichiro batted .352 with 225 hits, 31 doubles, 11 homers, and 26 steals.

OF Torii Hunter just missed batting .300, finishing the season with a .299 batting average, 22 homers, 90 RBIs, despite missing significant time due to injury.

OF Jason Bay has quickly found his Fenway Park stroke since coming over to the Red Sox, socking 36 homers, driving in 119, while scoring 103 runs.

DH Hideki Matsui joins three other Yankees on this year’s all star squad.  Due to injuries Matsui took over the team’s fulltime DH duties to keep him healthy and to keep his potent bat in the lineup.  It worked as Hideki hit 28 home runs & drove in 90 for the Bronx Bombers.

SP Zack Greinke seems to have it altogether for the Royals, being named Pitcher of the Year.  16-8 with a league best 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts in 229′ innings, doesn’t begin to tell the story of this youngster’s dominance, with any kind of run support at all he certainly would’ve been a twenty game winner.

RP Mariano Rivera There are closers, then there is Mariano Rivera.  He is that good, he is a step above every other closer in the game, and like a fine wine, he just keeps getting better with age.  He has this cutter, a gift from God, the hitters know it’s coming, but can’t do anything to hit it.  He has taught his famous cutter to a few pitchers throughout the league, to the chagrin of many hitters.  This year Mo, at the age of 39, had 44 saves to go along with a 1.76 ERA, ho-hum.

Tags: Aaron Hill, AL, All Stars, angels, blue jays, derek jeter, evan longoria, Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki, jason bay, joe mauer, Mariano Rivera, mariners, mark teixeira, Rays, Red Sox, royals, Sporting News, Torii Hunter, twins, Yankees, Zack Greinke

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The Sporting News announced St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols as the winner of the Player of the Year award for the 2nd consecutive year as determined by a vote of a panel of 338 major league players, he was a unanimous selection.

For the 9th straight year, since arriving in the big leagues, Albert has batted over .300, with more than 30 home runs, and over 100 RBIs.  He also won the award in 2003.  This year Pujols hit 47 homers and scored 122 times, both tops in the NL, in addition to batting .327 and driving in 135, all this with an elbow which required postseason surgery.  He joins these other Cardinals who have won the award, 1944 Marty Marion, 1946 & 1951 Stan Musial, 1964 Ken Boyer, 1971 Joe Torre, and 1974 Lou Brock.

Tags: Albert Pujols, cardinals, joe torre, Ken Boyer, Lou Brock, Marty Marion, Player of the Year, Sporting News, Stan Musial

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The Sporting News has announced the winners of the Manager of the Year award as Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Colorado Rockies Jim Tracy.

This was the 10th year Mike Scioscia has been the Angels skipper, averaging exactly 90 wins per year.  He is a two time Manager of the Year award winner, winning the award in 2002, when his ballclub won the World Series.  Although LAA won three less games (97) than the previous year (100, his only 100 win season), Scioscia had one of his best seasons at the helm.  Early in the year an up & coming rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart was tragically killed in an automobile accident, Scioscia’s steadying influence kept the Angels focused.  But the biggest thing Mike brings to the table as manager is “Angels baseball”, it starts in the minors, and everybody in the organization knows what’s expected of them.  If somebody doesn’t do their job, they’re are pulled out of the ballgame, and reminded of what’s expected.  It’s a throwback brand of ball, where the little things are expected, little things produce big results.

Jim Tracy took over from Clint Hurdle as the Rockies manager on May 29th.  In only 116 games at the helm, he turned Colorado around, with a 74-42 record, winning a wild card playoff berth.  Under Tracy the team lost their first three games in Houston, and he came in that next day and said, “Guys, I want to just let you guys play the game.  But if you all force me to come out here, I’m going to come out here”.  Jim Tracy has experienced success before as a big league skipper, in 2004 he guided the Los Angeles Dodgers to a first place finish with 93 victories.

Both Scioscia & Tracy are the one and only winners of the Manager of the Year award in their ballclubs history.

Tags: angels, Jim Tracy, Manager of the Year, Mike Scioscia, Rockies, Sporting News

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