#35701
2003-09-26 1:31 AM
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Well, we're winding down to the end. Who are your picks for the seasonal awards in MLB?
Me, for the AL I'll take Pujols for the NL MVP over Bonds. I'm gonna go our on a limb and pick Prior of the Cubs for NL Cy Young.
For the AL for MVP I think it'll be Giambi over ARod. Sorry Alex, but your team sucks. How can you be MVP when you're team is consistently among the worst in MLB? Nothing to brag about when you're MVP of a pile of crap.
Again, I'll go out on a limb and pick Moyer for Cy Young over Halladay. Just because it'd be cool for a 40 year old pitcher to win it. I think he has a solid chance if he ends up with 22 wins and Halladay has 21.
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#35702
2003-09-26 6:16 PM
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I don't see anyone else seperating themselves from the pack like Tejeda did last year with so many game winning hits, so Arod gets my pick this time. He's going to lead the league in homers, runs scored, slugging percentage(with an outside shot at the RBI title), and he's going to win a gold glove. Oh, and he just ended a streak of 547 consecutive games played. Ichiro's slumped, Giambi hasn't had as strong a year(mostly due to injuries; a nasty eye infection), and Garrett Anderson isn't on a winning team, either. The only guy I see close is Manny Ramirez, and he probably won't get any first place votes because of the whole sickness incident.
In the NL, I give the MVP to Pujols, as Bonds has missed a lot of games, and part of being valuable to your team is being there.
With the Cy Young, it's going to come down to the final game. Moyer(who only has one more start so he can't win 22) and Halladay are the two prime candidates for the AL Cy Young, and Prior and Schmidt are the two prime candidates for the NL Cy Young, though, in my opinion, Eric Gagne should win it simply for having a ridiculous year.
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#35703
2003-09-26 6:33 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Animalman:
The only guy I see close is Manny Ramirez, and he probably won't get any first place votes because of the whole sickness incident.
Sports Illustrated did their picks this week, and they didn't even have Manny in the top ten! They had two other Boston players, Nomah and Bill Mueller, in there, though. This is probably a sign that the media REALLY dislikes Manny at this point, which sucks because, like you said, he's the only one close to ARod.
A fan poll on ESPN.com recently had the MVP as:
1) ARod
2) Manny
So it would appear that this is strictly a media thing to shut Ramirez out.
Another name out there that's getting no respect is Frank Thomas. Like Giambi, he's had a low batting average this year but high home runs and RBIs, and has been clutch. Maybe he's not #1, but when you talk about a team's dependence on one player, I don't see how you can't throw Thomas in there.
quote:
Moyer(who only has one more start so he can't win 22) and Halladay are the two prime candidates for the AL Cy Young
What about Esteban Loaiza? I've heard his name more than Moyer's the past couple of weeks.
I'd put down my own picks but I haven't paid enough attention this year. I mean, I haven't even seen a Halladay game this year, so I'm hardly an authority as to whether he deserves Cy Young...
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#35704
2003-09-27 1:03 AM
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As good as Loazia has been, he's cooled lately and has 17 wins. A 20 game winner with a good ERA will win it over a sub 20 game winner everytime. Moyer and Halladay have been unhittable in September as well. I'm hoping the voters will remember that Moyer has been one of MLB's winningest pitchers for the past 7 years and reward him for it.
I still don't know about ARod though. Being on a team that was out of it practically at Spring Training and going for the fences each time out because he has nothing else to go for really is a statement on his situation, but there really isn't anything else in the AL.
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#35705
2003-09-27 1:04 AM
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Loaiza seemed like a lock 3 weeks ago, but he's pitched poorly since. His September ERA is 6.35, raising his once league leading ERA from 2.46 to 2.96. He had 3 straight losses at one point, all against division title contenders KC and Minnesota; a big part of Chicago's late flop.
Conversely, Roy Halladay has been absolutely lights out in September, with a 0.86 ERA so far this month, including a 10 inning 3 hit shutout on the 6th where he threw just 99 pitches, which game in the middle of a stretch of 41 straight innings without an earned run. His ERA was once cited as the reason he shouldn't win at 3.68, but now at 3.22(Moyer's is 3.27), in the division that scored the most runs this year, it's a big reason why he should.
Even after all that, here's my favorite stat, about Roy Halladay:
8 complete games. Loaiza and Moyer have 1 apiece(Moyer got his first of the year in his last start).
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#35706
2003-09-27 1:09 AM
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Don't fault Moyer for having the better bullpen. There were several games he could have completed but the bullpen needed work. But that is an interesting stat.
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#35707
2003-09-27 1:17 AM
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And no team is out of it at spring training. Look at Florida.
Saying Arod's not valuable because he swings for the fences every time is unfair, because that's what your 3rd hitter is suppose to do, especially in a lineup with guys like Hank Blalock, Mike Young, Rafiel Palmiero, Mark Teixeira, and, for some of the year, Juan Gonzalez.
Besides, that's not where Arod's value ends. He's made just 8 errors this year at one of the toughest defensive positions in baseball(the toughest, behind catcher). He played in all but 1 game this year(the game on Thursday, though he was on deck ready to pinch hit in the bottom of the 9th), through injuries and slumps and just general weariness. And, he played his best down the stretch, like all great players do. If Andre Dawson can win it on a last place team, Arod should be able to, as well.
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#35708
2003-09-27 1:25 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by jafabian:
Don't fault Moyer for having the better bullpen. There were several games he could have completed but the bullpen needed work. But that is an interesting stat.
Better bullpen, maybe, but by no means a spectacular one. Sasaki was hurt and missed a lot of time, Jeff Nelson was traded, his replacement Armando Benitez had his share of troubles, and even the usually lights out Arthur Rhodes struggled and had an off-season. Were it not for the breakout years of Shigetoshi Hasegawa(who was fabulous in his brief period as the closer) and Rafael Soriano(who will almost certainly be in the starting rotation next year), it would be hard to classify the bullpen as anything but poor.
The point is, you help your bullpen by going that extra mile. Part of it is up to the manager, but in the end if you're pitching well enough you're usually going to get that chance. Joel Piniero and Ryan Franklin both have more complete games this year, despite not having better overall numbers.
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#35709
2003-09-27 2:20 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by jafabian:
As good as Loazia has been, he's cooled lately and has 17 wins. A 20 game winner with a good ERA will win it over a sub 20 game winner everytime.
Loaiza's 20-9.
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#35710
2003-09-27 2:24 AM
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Loaiza's 20-9, Moyer's 20-7, Halladay's 21-7 and Pettitte's 21-8(but with a 4.02 ERA). All but Pettitte(who started tonight) should get another start before season's end.
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#35711
2003-09-27 2:36 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Animalman:
And no team is out of it at spring training. Look at Florida.
And, he played his best down the stretch, like all great players do. If Andre Dawson can win it on a last place team, Arod should be able to, as well.
But down the stretch Texas was so far out of it that it didn't really matter how well he played. That was like what the White Sox(Magglio Ordonez especially) did the past two years, where they didn't put up the numbers until after it counted.
Jayson Stark says that Arod didn't perform when they needed him to in this column...here.
Like I said, I haven't been paying attention this year, so I don't know if there are any good counters to what he's saying...
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#35712
2003-09-27 3:08 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Kristogar Velo:
But down the stretch Texas was so far out of it that it didn't really matter how well he played. That was like what the White Sox(Magglio Ordonez especially) did the past two years, where they didn't put up the numbers until after it counted.
Jayson Stark says that Arod didn't perform when they needed him to in this column...here.
Like I said, I haven't been paying attention this year, so I don't know if there are any good counters to what he's saying...
Yeah, I saw that column. He makes some points, but most I can easily counter, and really, he's arguing more that Arod isn't the MVP by the standards of the writers, rather than he's not the most valuable player in baseball. He's essentially admitting the biases and skewed criteria writers consider when voting. Funny.
His biggest point of contention is that Arod wasn't doing well at the beginning of the year when Texas got off to a bad start, saying that MVP's are the guys that are holding up the boat when everyone else is sinking.
Well, if that's true, then Miguel Tejeda shouldn't have been the MVP last year; Alex Rodriguez should have been. Tejeda was batting .272 when Oakland went through their biggest losing streak of the year, falling 6 games under .500. It was when Oakland was winning that he became the MVP. That's real value. When you play well, your team wins.
And, Texas's overall record aside, that was true for Alex Rodriguez this year. When Texas had their biggest winning streak of the year(8 in a row, and 10 of 11), Arod had his best hitting streak(hit safely in 13 straight, 24 of 25 games), and raised his average from .297 to .306. He also hit 6 homers during those 11 games, and hit 15 homers that month.
Brief anecdote here:
Except for the two games in San Juan against the Expos, which were untelevised, I watched every Ranger game this year, but I only went to 1 game live. It was July 31st, against the Red Sox(I went to see Pedro Martinez), and Alex Rodriguez hit a walkoff grand slam. Interestingly enough, 1 year and 3 days earlier, on his 27th birthday, Arod hit another walkoff grand slam, against Oakland.
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#35713
2003-09-28 1:24 AM
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Roy Halladay and Mark Prior locked up the Cy Young awards with strong performances today. Halladay got his 22nd win and his 9th complete game, both of which are club records, and league highs. Prior got his 18th win, and helped the Cubs win their first division title since 1989.
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#35714
2003-09-29 1:50 AM
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Yeah, Moyer said after the game today that since he isn't a K artist and doesn't rack up complete games he wouldn't be in the running for Cy Young and thought Halladay would win it.
NY Times is doing a real campaign for Posada to be named AL MVP, citing his .281 average, 30 HR's, 101 RBI's, a .402 OBP and a .513 slugging percentage. It'd be nice to see a catcher win it.
They feel as though ARod's shortcomings are specifically in May and June, where the Rangers lost 20 of 22 and during that time he had only 3 HR's and 7 RBI's and was 4-29 with runners in scoring position. Delgado is being touted by Toronto, but if Vernon Wells is the MVP of the team how can Delgado win the award? The Twins are understandbly pushing Shannon Stewart, but I think their pitching coming around in the 2nd half has as much to do with their success as Stewart does. The A's think Keith Foulke deserves serious consideration and KC is pushing for Beltran to get some votes.
The more I think about it, I'd love for Posada to get it.
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#35715
2003-09-29 1:59 AM
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My official picks:
AL
Cy Young: Roy Halladay
MVP: Alex Rodriguez
RotY: Angel Berroa
MotY: Tony Pena
Gold gloves: Kenny Rogers(P), Ben Molina(C), Doug Mientkiewicz(1B), Brett Boone(2B), Alex Rodriguez(SS), Eric Chavez(3B), Ichiro Suzuki(OF), Torii Hunter(OF), Carlos Beltran(OF)
NL
Cy Young: Mark Prior/Eric Gagne
MVP: Albert Pujols
RotY: Dontrelle Willis
MotY: Jack McKeon
Gold Gloves: Greg Maddux(P), Ivan Rodriguez(C), Luis Castillo(2B), Edgar Renteria(SS), Scott Rolen(3B), Juan Pierre(OF), Andruw Jones(OF), Richard Hidalgo(OF)
Guys who should win something but won't:
Bobby Cox-in 12 full seasons with Atlanta, 12 division titles, 5 World Series appearances, 1551 wins......1 Manager of the Year award. Every year critics find a new reason why Atlanta won't finish in 1st, and they always do.
Estaban Loiaza-easily this year's most improved player. If Chicago makes the playoffs, he's the Cy Young winner. To make matters worse, now he has to stay at home and watch his crosstown rival have a chance to win the World Series for the first time in nearly a century.
Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens-Clemens gets 300 wins(Maddux close behind) and 4000 k's; Maddux breaks Ty Cobb's record for most consecutive 15 win seasons. These are two of the best to every play the game, and if this really is it for them, what a Hall of Fame class we'll have in 5 years.
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#35716
2003-09-29 10:47 AM
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I agree with all of your picks Animalman...except that I think that Russ Ortiz should win NL Cy Young Award and not Prior
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#35717
2003-09-29 4:20 PM
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Ortiz had a great year, and is definitely deserving of recognition(infact, he might end up winning the award anyway), but there were three main reasons why I picked Prior over Ortiz:
1.Prior's ERA(2.43) is significantly better than Ortiz's ERA(3.81).
2.Prior had 3 complete games, whereas Ortiz had just 1, and Prior went deeper into ballgames, averaging 7.033 innings per start, to Ortiz's 6.235 average. A big reason behind this was Ortiz's high pitch count totals; he walked a league leading 102 batters.
3.Prior pitched spectacularly down the stretch, when his team needed him, posting a 0.69 ERA in August and a 2.27 ERA in September. In that stretch, he had just one loss and zero no decisions, with 10 wins. Ortiz, however, slumped in the second half of the year, posting a 4.19 ERA in August and a 4.50 ERA in September.
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#35718
2003-09-29 4:45 PM
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Also, I really wanted to not go with the popular choice for rookie of the year(hence my picking Berroa instead of Matsui in the AL), but you can't ignore the impact Dontrelle Willis had on the Florida Marlins, both on and off the field.
The Marlins were 15-21 when he was called up. Their manager had been fired, their pitching staff had been decimated by injuries. #1 starter A.J Burnett was out for the year, Josh Beckett was out for several months, and Mark Redman had just gone down and was going to miss a few weeks. This looked like a team that had nothing.
Not only did they go 76-50 while Willis was there, but the buzz he generated with his exciting pitching style brought fans to Pro Player Stadium. In late July, Willis outdueled future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson in a game that drew over 37,000, nearly 3 times the average attendance at that point. A month and a half later, Willis outdueled aforementioned Russ Ortiz and division rival Atlanta in a game that drew over 40,000, the most seen at a Florida Marlins home game since July of 2001, when the Yankees came to town. Keep in mind, this is a team that would routinely get only 5 or 6,000 people last year.
To put it frankly, Dontrelle Willis not only saved the Florida Marlins season, but he may have saved the Florida Marlins, as a franchise.
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#35719
2003-10-01 6:02 PM
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I want Scott Posednik to win rookie of the year in the NL, only because I like the way it rolls of your tongue. Try it... Posednik Posednik Posednik... Gagne should get CY Young (even over my homie Prior ![[sad]](images/icons/frown.gif) ), but he won't... I'd hate to see Willis get anything, only because the Cubbies traded him away for Antonio Alfonseca! D'oh!
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#35720
2003-10-01 9:01 PM
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Well, they also got Matt Clement.
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#35721
2003-10-04 8:50 PM
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Abe Lincoln? Yeah, but he's too spotty...Witness today's game four. Don't get me wrong, it was a good trade...Anything that get's Julio Tavarez off your hands is a good trade...But still...It hurts. *sniff*
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#35722
2003-10-04 9:42 PM
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Aflonseca managed not to fuck up today, though.
If the trade isn't made I doubt Dontrelle Willis is even up at this point. He was called up for the Marlins out of necessity, with all the injuries. The Cubs have a plethora of young arms in the minors. In the longrun, I doubt it will really matter, since the Cubs have lefthanders like Andy Sisco and Justin Jones now, anyway. At the least, one of those two will be starting in a Cub uniform for many years to come.
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