As much as I was looking forward to the end of the regular season this year I have to admit, I've actually kinda missed being able to check up on the Twins everyday. I don't miss the feeling of loss after loss, but I miss the day-to-day. Fortunately, this year's MLB playoffs have been REALLY good and have been filled with major market schadenfreude which has been medicine for my weary baseball soul. I'm very pleased with the 4 teams that remain and I was really happy for Milwaukee fans who saw their baseball team snatch a Game 5 victory from the clutches of defeat in winning their first playoff series since 1982. I was born in 1983 so to think that in my entire lifetime, the Brew Crew hadn't won a playoff series...wow, this is big. I really like their team too, the combination of power and hustle, scrap and confidence,...and their swagger is undeniable. I like their rotation, I like their bullpen and if they go on to win the World Series, I think I might even have a smile on my face.
Anyway, I didn't put my pen to paper to write about the post-season, plenty of others are writing much more meaningful pieces. The purpose of my piece today is more obligation, but calling it 'obligation' gives it the wrong connotation. As a part of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) we are asked to cast our votes every year for various awards and then those votes are compiled amongst all the blogs in the network and the network as a whole comes out with it's winners. This has already been done for manager of the year (Connie Mack Award) which you can check out here. For my part, I'd like to take on a couple of Awards, notable the "Walter Johnson" Award (honoring the best SPs) and the "Stan Musial" (honoring the MVPs). Since we are a Minnesota Twins blog, we vote for the American League winners of these awards.
Walter Johnson Award - Best Starting Pitcher (AL)
The Walter Johnson Award uses a 5-3-1 point system so we are supposed to vote for our 1st, 2nd and 3rd place vote getters which makes this whole process a little more interesting if you ask me.
1st Place: Justin Verlander (5 points)
I've trolled my Yankee followers on Twitter a little bit lately suggesting that Verlander was a 'no doubt' winner of this Award despite the fantastic, but under appreciated season that Yankee ace CC Sabathia had. That said, Verlander had a super-human season and I don't see you could give the award to anyone else. First, the vitals:
24 Wins (not really important, but hey, it's a lot of wins for a single-season)
2.40 ERA - Lead the AL
0.920 WHIP - Lead the Majors
2.99 FIP - 4nd in the AL
3.12 xFIP - 2nd in the AL
251.0 IP - Lead the Majors
250 Ks - Lead the Majors
4.39 K/BB ratio - 2nd in the AL
2.84 SIERA - Lead the AL
5.14 WPA - Lead the Majors
7.0 WAR - 2nd in the AL
The argument for Verlander is pretty convincing. He helped his team run away with the AL Central crown, he was dominant from start to finish, and he lead the Majors in a few of the more important measures of pitching success.
2nd Place: CC Sabathia (3 points)
I already alluded to it earlier but this should come as no surprise. CC actually was worth 7.1 WAR this season which was. 0.1 more than Verlander and also out-pitched Verlander in FIP (2.88) and xFIP (3.02). Pro-CC people will argue that it should be taken into consideration that CC also pitches in the AL East and is therefore facing tougher opponents on a more regular basis. I would say that's a legitimate point, but who a pitcher faces is nothing that the pitcher can determine so what division a given pitcher is in cannot be used as criteria for an award. CCs reward for a great season will be either a) 5 more seasons at $23M per in New York or b) a HUGE free-agent deal somewhere else.
3rd Place: James Shields (1 point)
I'm going out on a limb a little for my 3rd place selection. What I am most impressed with about Shields season was all of the complete games...11 of them to be precise, which led all of Major League Baseball. For a guy who had never been a dominant pitcher, Shields had a breakout year of sorts winning a career-high 16 games with career bests in ERA (2.82), IP (249.1), WHIP (1.04), Ks (225), and WAR (4.9). I will say that Shields had an awfully "lucky" season considering his BABIP was .258 while his career average for that category sits at (.299). That will occasionally happen with ground-ball heavy pitchers though and for this season, it no-doubt worked in Shields' favor.
Stan Musial Award - AL MVP
Here is my list of my top 10 with a general discussion at the end.
1. Curtis Granderson (13 points)
2. Jacoby Ellsbury (9 points)
3. Miguel Cabrera (8 points)
4. Ian Kinsler (7 points)
5. Dustin Pedroia (6 points)
6. Jose Bautista (5 points)
7. Justin Verlander (4 points)
8. CC Sabathia (3 points)
9. Alex Gordon (2 points)
10. Ben Zobrist (1 point)
If I'm going strictly off of WAR (Wins Above Replacement) values, then Ellsbury wins this award running away...but in considering "valuable-ness", Granderson gets my nod. The Red Sox were/are absolutely loaded with talent. Among the WAR leaders, the Red Sox have 3 of the top 9 players (Ellsbury, Pedroia, A. Gonzalez). The Yankees are also loaded with talent, but not to that degree having only 2 players in the top 13 (Granderson & Cano). In a year in which A-Rod was not himself and Teixeira was streaky, Granderson was the constant producer setting career highs in Runs, RBIs, HRs, BBs and OPS all while committing only 3 errors in the field all year next to a dozen highlight-reel catches. Granderson's 7.0 WAR pales in comparison to Ellsbury's 9.4, but to me Granderson was more valuable in the sense that his team really needed his production to win.
I had a couple pitchers on my MVP ballot, though to be clear I would not have put them anywhere near the top. I've talked about this before (mostly on Twitter) but I feel that the MVP award name should be changed to Best Offensive Player. Keep the Cy Young Award as "the best pitcher" and make MVP the best hitter award. "Value" is to subjective and I don't think great offensive seasons should be ignored, much like Alex Gordon's was, simply because the player is stuck on a bad team. In the same way that the team a given pitcher plays for should not factor into the discussion for the Cy Young Award, the team a hitter plays for and whether or not that team makes the playoffs should not factor into their selection as the best hitter.
Anyway, that's enough pontificating for now. I hope to post more regularly here this off-season. My job has changed a bit in the sense that I have less and less time to blog about the Twins, but I am going to try my hardest to keep the discussion going here. It should be an exciting off-season!
Showing posts with label Regular Season Awards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Regular Season Awards. Show all posts
Monday, October 10, 2011
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Twins Regular Season Awards
"The Twins window for a championship is now. They lack a dominant ace pitcher (could Liriano be that guy?), but this team has enough talent all the way through to make a run. Starters 1 through 3 are consistent, the bullpen is improving, the lineup will definitely score runs and the management seems to have the latitude to shore up the holes when the time comes."
(AK) Most-Improved Player Award: Delmon Young
Ok, I know, nobody wants the "most improved" award because that usually means you sucked before...but Young fits the bill perfectly. Young's best full season prior to this one was his 1st season as a Twin when he hit .290/.336/.405 with 80Rs and 69RBIs. Everyone knows how underwhelming Young's career has been so far but this year he has truly broken through and was especially valuable in the middle of the season when he was hitting the cover off the ball. His current .810 OPS is by far the best of his major career and his 102 RBIs, 18HRs and 40 doubles (and counting) are all career bests. Most encouraging has been a drop in his strikeout rate which suggests that the former #1 pick and 25-year-old may have finally turned the corner.
(DD) Comeback Player of the Year: Jesse Crain
After an absolutely atrocious start to the year, Jesse Crain has turned into arguably the best reliever on the staff, prompting apologies from a number of Twins bloggers who had written him off (among plenty of other fans, this guy included, who had given up hope for Crain at some point in the recent past, even if we didn’t write about it). One of the most satisfying moments of the entire season for me was in the first game in the last series against the White Sox - after Guerrier worked into a bases-loaded jam with only one out, Crain came in and blew away Konerko on some 97mph heat and made Manny look absolutely ridiculous on a filthy slider. He’s posted excellent numbers this year, the shiniest being a 2.39 ERA, but his FIP is also great at 3.29. xFIP doesn’t like his .259 BABIP and 5.3% HR rate, but he’s striking out more batters than he ever has and keeping the walks at least somewhat under control with a solid WHIP of 1.12. He’s always appeared to have the raw stuff to get it done at this level, but in the past has alternated between showing flashes of brilliance and being downright terrible. This season, though, he’s been extremely consistent since his rough start and now is perhaps the go-to “fireman” of the rotation, giving Gardy someone he can rely on in high-leverage situations whenever they arise. Regardless of what you think of the mental side of the closer role, I think there is something to it, and Crain has expressed not being comfortable being that guy. But if his outing against the Sox was any indication, he’s got what it takes to perform in the most pressure situations. Let’s hope that success continues.
(AK) Rookie Of The Year: Danny Valencia
I don't think there will be any argument here, Danny Valencia has been truly special this year with several clutch hits, solid fielding at 3rd (.979 fielding %) and what appears to be some staying power. What's been truly amazing about Valencia this season has been his hitting prowess at home. His home batting line this season is a staggering .436/.466/.636 in 110ABs. His BABIP is .371 this season so regression is bound to happen at some point, but he's been fun to watch so far and I couldn't be happier that he basically put Nick Punto out of a job.
(AK) Clutch Player of the Year: Delmon Young
When the Twins have needed a big hit, Young is the one you've wanted at the plate to get the big hit. Time and time again this season, Young has hit a go-ahead HR or smacked a run-scoring double in a crucial spot for the Twins. His average with RISP for the season is .361 and his OPS in the same situations is .933, a higher OPS than he has in any other hitting situation. According to FanGraphs, he has the 6th highest 'Clutch' value in all of baseball. He has fallen off the last couple months, but was a big reason that the Twins were able to retake 1st from the White Sox in July. In July alone he had 30 RBIs while hitting to the tune of .434/.455/.736. More of his hits, homeruns and RBIs have come against the White Sox than other team this season which has been especially valuable these past couple months. I'm a little nervous about his recent decline, hopefully he can pull it together for the playoffs.
(AK) Best Off-Season Pickup Award: Jim Thome
Without a shred of doubt, Bill Smith's best move last winter was signing Jim Thome. For $1.5M and some incentives, Jim has provided a .276/.408/.619 hitting line from the left side with 24HRs and 58RBIs in 268ABs. That is a frickin' STEAL, especially when you consider Thome's impact on the clubhouse, being able to mentor the likes of Danny Valencia and other Twins youngsters. Oh, and he gave us THIS, which was probably worth about $500,000 of his salary.
(DD) Most Awkward Outfield Defensive Play: Delmon Young
Ok, so we just threw this one in there for laughs, and if you’ve watched enough games this season, you’d know that there are no shortage of nominees for this award. Span, Kubel and Cuddyer have all had their share of gaffes (although it seems that Kubes somehow turns in a highlight-reel snag once every few weeks). Perhaps the worst though is also the most improved and most clutch player on the team, and despite all the promise he’s shown this year with his bat, we can all agree that Delmon is no Gold-Glover. There were a few plays to choose from here to select Delmon’s worst, but as I mentioned in my previous article, the play against Oakland where he awkwardly jumped over the warning track and into the wall, losing his glove in the process, has to take the cake. I don’t think I need to say anything more than that, but enjoy the highlight.
(AK) Most-Valuable Player: Francisco Liriano (3rd highest WAR among MLB starters)
This one is certainly up for debate, in fact, I've started a poll on the side bar for you to cast your vote, but I'm going to elect Francisco Liriano as the Twins most-valuable player this season. Coming into the season there had been reports that Liriano was "back" or at least resembled his former greatness and then in Spring Training we all got to see it for ourselves. All that being said, he was still the #5 guy coming out of Spring Training. He pretty quickly reasserted himself as the Ace highlighted by 4 April starts in which he gave up only 3 runs in 29 innings, striking out 27. Liriano's true value has been in the 2nd half where he held hitters to a .235 average with 8 wins, 1 loss, a 2.84 ERA, and 74Ks in 76 innings. Liriano ranks 2nd in the Majors in both FIP and xFIP and yes, he's had his clunkers, but more often than not, having Liriano on the mound has given the Twins a good shot at winning. I think most Twins fan expect to see him on the mound for Game 1 of the ALDS.
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