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MLB Awards

By Dalton Del Don

NL MVP – Albert Pujols: A no-brainer. Of the four main awards given out, this one is the clearest call. His BA (.357) and OBP (.462) trailed only Chipper Jones, but Pujols had nearly 100 more at-bats and his .653 slugging percentage led the league by a wide margin. He also led the NL in adjusted OPS+, runs created and sported a ridiculous 54:104 K:BB ratio. He’s also the game’s best fielding first baseman and major league baseball’s best base runner. Ryan Howard’s 48 homers and 146 RBI can’t be completely ignored; his .320/.439/.589 line with RISP may have been somewhat of a fluke and unsustainable, but it also means he was more valuable this year than his .881 OPS indicates. Still, even Lance Berkman was a better hitter in 2008, so he’s my choice for runner-up. Pujols clearly deserves the hardware.

AL MVP – Kevin Youkilis: Carlos Quentin or Milton Bradley would have taken this award, but both simply missed too many games this season. Like in 2006, there really isn’t anyone who jumps out here. Dustin Pedroia has been a nice player and all, but the guy’s OPS ranks 22nd just in the AL, and that number drops to .827 when he doesn’t have Fenway park helping him out. If you want to rate defensive importance highly, then Joe Mauer is the better pick. Or even Grady Sizemore.

NL Cy Young – Tim Lincecum: Johan Santana, Dan Haren and Cole Hamels are all excellent candidates, but the nod goes to The Freak. Lincecum walked the seventh most batters in the NL this season while also throwing the most wild pitches, but that’s far less hurtful when he combats it with an MLB-leading 265 strikeouts. In fact, his 10.51 K/9 IP mark was a full one punchout better than the second best mark. He also did an excellent job of limiting home runs, and although AT&T Park worked in his favor, he was pitching in front of a terrible defensive team. His FIP is 2.67; no other starter in the NL has one lower than 3.00. CC Sabathia has been the better pitcher since joining the NL, but this is a league given award, so there’s no way he was as valuable while throwing 100 fewer innings. As for Brandon Webb, it would be an absolute joke if he won, as he wasn’t even the best pitcher on his own team. In fact, Ricky Nolasco was a superior pitcher this year.

AL Cy Young – Roy Halladay: Narrowly, and I mean narrowly edging out Cliff Lee, who had a fantastic season as well. Halladay’s 1.053 WHIP and 5.28:1 K:BB ratio led all of baseball in 2008, and although Lee had a slightly better ERA (2.54 to 2.78), Halladay pitched 22.2 more innings, which is fairly substantial. Halladay did have the benefit of a good defense behind him, but pitching in the AL East is a much tougher task than the AL Central. In fact, he faced the Red Sox, the Yankees and the Rays a combined 16 times. Lee faced the Giants and Padres (once each) as often as he did the Yankees and Red Sox this season. As for Francisco Rodriguez, all hope for the future of society is lost if he finishes in the top-10.

NL ROY – Geovany Soto: Jair Jurrjens and Hiroki Kuroda had solid seasons on the mound, but this one came down to Soto and Joey Votto. In the end, Soto gets the nod because he put up similar numbers while playing catcher.

AL ROY – Evan Longoria: Alexei Ramirez was a worthy candidate, but Longoria takes home the trophy thanks to 60 extra-base hits in 448 at-bats. Honorable mention goes to Joey Devine, whose 0.59 ERA is the lowest in the history of major league baseball (minimum 40 innings). Good thing the Braves got three months of Mark Kotsay for him.

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3 responses to “MLB Awards”

  1. Dreamweapon Avatar
    Dreamweapon

    I would LOVE to see Youkilis as AL MVP, but only because then everyone would have to shut the hell up about Morneau in ’06 being the weakest selection ever. I guess he was the best guy on that team, and no one else stands out on any of the other teams (I could only possibly see Quentin or Mauer, or, haha, Morneau again) being even remotely worthy for the others. To me, the actual MVP is Sizemore, hands down, because he had a spectacular year with a supporting cast that was, quite literally, inferior to at least half of the baseball teams in the SEC or ACC. Hafner, vaporware. Martinez, non-entity. Cabrera, giant bust. Who was their second-best batter? Peralta? Ben Francisco? Without Sizemore (and of course Lee), this could have be the 100-loss team everyone was forecasting the Giants to be this year. I’m amazed he didn’t get a steady diet of intentional walks and/or 58′ sliders all year.

    As for NL, I hear what you’re saying, but it’s hard for me to overlook what Sabathia has done. I love Lincecum for Cy Young, he totally deserves it and giving the MVP to Sabathia is an easy way of splitting the baby. Pujols’ year was good, but hardly unprecedented, it’s not a historic accomplishment. Lincecum just had the best year for any right handed pitcher, apart from Pedro’s ’99 season, of any pitcher in history, on the numbers. That’s a historical achievement and must be recognized. At the same time, Sabathia’s efforts have only a single comparison in Sutcliffe in ’84; apart from that, no one else has ever had that kind of impact. And as far as the “value” component goes, following the Brewers religiously, I would put bet my life on the claim that he was single-handedly equal to at least five wins for them in the short time they had him, in a wild card race they won by a single game.

    As for AL Cy Young, I guess I just don’t buy that the AL East is anything special any longer. In fact, I think the AL Central is a tougher division. Look at the runs scored for all the teams. Every team in the Central, except Kansas City, scored at least 800 runs. Even crappy Cleveland. Exactly one team (Boston) managed that feat in the East. That means something. If you’re separating Lee and Halladay based on their schedules, I actually think the scales should come down in the other column.

  2. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Dreamweapon – Good stuff. I think I’d actually have Sizemore as my runner-up, so I’m with you there. He led the AL in runs created. But ya, there’s def. not a real great candidate this year.

    I hear you regarding Sabathia, and it’s not his fault he spent half the year in each league. I stand by my picks, but I’d rather Sabathia win MVP than R. Howard, that’s for sure.

    Someone else argued this to me about the Central vs. the East. And I’ll concede that part of the argument falls flat (although when you factor in pitches seen, the East is still very tough). But I underrated the Central for sure. I’d still give it to Halladay tho – he allowed fewer baserunners, had the better K/BB rate and pitched nearly 25 more innings. But VORP and FIP side with Lee. Either would be a fine pick.

  3. Bret Avatar
    Bret

    DDD,

    I think Ryan Braun has a legit shot at NL MVP. I don’t disagree with the Sabathia mentioning, but I’m not sure how it will work with voters, considering he only spent a few months there.

    Joey Votto deserves some serious consideration as NL ROY.

    Jacoby Ellsbury will likely finish a close second if not win the award outright as AL’s ROY.

    Great points on Halladay, but I think Cliff Lee will get the nod. Both are equally deserving. Can we give Ervin Santana the 3rd place votes?

    Nice analysis of the AL MVP. I agree there is no candidate that stands out. I’d love to see Sizemore win it because he carried that team without Hafner and Martinez.

    Tim Lincecum not winning the Cy Young would be a bigger joke than signing Barry Zito to a 7 year deal.

    Brandon Webb getting more votes than Cole Hamels and Johan Santana would be a bigger joke than Tim Lincecum not winning the Cy Young.

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