ESPN Awards: MVP pick you guys will love (+ the Jays get an award)

[theblujay]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9727380/end-season-mlb-awards-honoring-very-best-worst

 

Oh boy. Here we go again. A year ago, in this very space, I did my darndest to explain why Mike Trout deserved this award, even over a real, live Triple Crown winner. And it came down to this: Miguel Cabrera may have had an offensive season for the ages, but Trout was a better baseball player. So why, a year later, am I about to brand myself as an official flip-flop artist and argue for why Cabrera ought to be the MVP? Yeah, yeah. I'm aware this comes down to basically the same conversation. But the context isn't the same -- because not every season presents us with the same set of circumstances. Now maybe you don't see it that way. A lot of really smart people don't. And I'm not here to say they're wrong, because face it: There is no wrong answer here. I wrote just last week about the greatness of Mike Trout. So no need to lecture me on that front. But can we stop for a moment to admire the brilliance of the other guy in this debate? Would that be OK? Cool. Because here are Miguel Cabrera's numbers, as of Friday morning:

 

.345/.440/.637/1.077/44 HR

 

You know how many hitters have matched or beaten those numbers since World War II? Exactly three: Barry Bonds, Mickey Mantle and Larry (Yes, He Played at Coors) Walker. And if we include RBIs (with Cabrera at 137 as we speak), nobody else has done it. You know the last right-handed hitter to put up that slash line, with that many home runs? That would be Jimmie Foxx. In 1938. And the only other men who have ever matched or beaten those stats in any era are Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Hack Wilson. Period. So this just in: Miguel Cabrera isn't just a really good hitter having a really good year. He's one of the greatest hitters who ever dug into a batter's box. And he's having a historically insane year, even as he plays through a groin/abdomen injury that has sapped him of his thunder (.246 in September, with just two extra-base hits). So what this debate comes down to, one more time, is how we define "valuable."

 

My AL MVP ballot

1. Miguel Cabrera

2. Mike Trout

3. Chris Davis

4. Josh Donaldson

5. Robinson Cano

6. David Ortiz

7. Manny Machado

8. Evan Longoria

9. Adrian Beltre

10. Max Scherzer

If there are bright people out there who believe the only definition of "valuable" is "value above a replacement player," they're allowed to see it that way. Or any way. But they don't have the right to demean anyone who sees this differently. The MVP conversation has always involved differentiating the most "valuable" player in the league from the most "outstanding" player. So I don't understand the logic that, apparently, we're no longer allowed to even contemplate the question, "Could this team possibly have won or contended if Player X hadn't been around to do his thing?" The fact is, while it's clearly not Trout's fault that the Angels have spent one day all season above .500, that's the cold reality. His team last played a meaningful game when? About Memorial Day? That wasn't the case last year. The Angels actually won more games than the Tigers. They weren't eliminated until the final weekend of the season. But this year has been a whole different deal. And if you don't believe it's more meaningful, and more pressure-packed, to be a difference-making player -- let alone a historically difference-making player -- on a team that has to grind for six months to win something, ask any player who has ever been there, done that. They know. And they don't need any decimal points to tell them. So this vote, one year later, goes to Miguel Cabrera. Not because I don't understand how special Mike Trout is. Because, after thinking this through long and hard, I'm allowed to come to a different conclusion after a very different season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AL Least Valuable Player (LVP): Josh Johnson and the Blue Jays

 

 

Six months ago, I picked Josh Johnson to win the AL Cy Young Award. I picked the Blue Jays to win the AL East. I thought their monster trade with the Marlins was a stroke of genius. I even thought Melky Cabrera was a decent roll of the Ontario dice. So it's safe to say I'm in no position to dump on this team and its ultra-thoughtful GM, Alex Anthopoulos, for all the stuff that went wrong this year. But holy crappola.

 

MY AL LVP ballot

1. Toronto Blue Jays

2. Josh Hamilton

3. Chris Young

4. Carlos Pena

5. Mike Moustakas

Special two-team citation: Mike Morse

Biogenesis Division:

Nelson Cruz, Jesus Montero

This outfit produced so many deserving LVP candidates, I had to let them share in this award. Johnson went 2-8 in 16 starts, made his fifth and sixth trips to the disabled list in the last seven seasons, killed the rotation, destroyed his free-agent marketability and became the second starter in the history of the franchise (joining Dave Lemanczyk) with an ERA (6.20) and WHIP (1.66) this ugly in this many innings. Melky had a .682 OPS, got four extra-base hits after May and then headed off for back surgery. Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis both had a sub-.600 OPS and combined for more errors (17) than steals (13). J.P. Arencibia hit .194, with a .229 OBP and 56 more strikeouts (147) than hits (91), and apparently wasn't real happy his broadcast team decided to mention that. He also helped the Jays become just the fourth team in the last 40 years to have three different catchers (Arencibia, Josh Thole, Henry Blanco) hit below the Mendoza Line (in 40-plus PA). And a rotation that was supposed to be their backbone wound up ranking 29th in the big leagues in ERA (4.80) and innings per start (5.57).

 

Normally, the LVP award is an individual achievement. But these Blue Jays remind us that every once in a while, we need to pick out an entire group and ask: "What the heck just happened?"

[G-Snarls]

Above from Jayson Stark FYI if people were wondering and didn't click the link

[Jays]

And a rotation that was supposed to be their backbone wound up ranking 29th in the big leagues in ERA (4.80) and innings per start (5.57).

 

We traded our future to improve the rotation too. Epic fail, AA.

[theblujay]

We traded our future to improve the rotation too. Epic fail, AA.

 

It's gonna be funny when Syndergaard has a higher WAR than Dickey next year.

[Boxcar]

His reasonings for most of the awards are atrocious, but his thoughts reflect the majority of the BBWAA. I dunno if you thought that most people who think Trout (putting up back to back 10 win seasons in his first two years) is indeed the best player in the game are delusional, but everyone knows Cabrera is going to again unjustly win MVP because he plays for a team with good pitching and Trout does not.

[Jays]

It's gonna be funny when Syndergaard has a higher WAR than Dickey next year.

 

and Alvarez has 1.7 WAR in 93.2 IP this year.

[Captain Adama]

and Alvarez has 1.7 WAR in 93.2 IP this year.

 

HRFB% before this year 17.2%

HRFB% this year: 2.8%

 

Everyone knows Marlins park is a pitchers park but hory shet.

[GD]

So much dumn

 

I wish FJM was still around to break this one down

[jays_fever]

Yep this guy gets paid to write about baseball. He voted for Miggy because the Tigers make the playoffs, but then snuffs DOnaldson over Davis when god for bid the O's didnt make the playoffs..

 

Mike Moose put up a 1 war season making less than a million dollars..not sure how hes the least valuable when we had 4 starters this year all making more money than he did.

[TheHurl]

I really think that Chris Davis takes some votes away from Miggy with the really old school thinking guys (although Trout will probably only be 3rd on all those ballots).

[TheHurl]

If anyone didn't know that Stark is an idiot, they know now. Calling the Marlins trade a stroke of genius should have been a fireable offense.

 

his most egregious mistake in this article isn't even putting Miggy ahead of Trout, leaving Matheny off of the NL Manager of the year ballot is blasphemous, especially when you consider that he himself predicted the Cards to not make the playoffs.

[TheHurl]

Yep this guy gets paid to write about baseball. He voted for Miggy because the Tigers make the playoffs, but then snuffs DOnaldson over Davis when god for bid the O's didnt make the playoffs..

 

Mike Moose put up a 1 war season making less than a million dollars..not sure how hes the least valuable when we had 4 starters this year all making more money than he did.

 

Actually he voted for Trout over Miggy last year.