October Baseball Awards

Being the Cubs fan that I am, there wasn't much to watch this baseball season. But for a fun pastime, this really was an excellent season overall, with a lot of history being made and plenty of drama to unfold as the months went by. The addition of the second wild card I would say was a rousing success and definitely did not take away from the end of the season. And I did make it to games in 3 different cities this year, running my ballpark bucket list to 11 of 30 with a trip to Arlington in June to briefly tie my dad before he and my brother went off to Fenway.


I was talking yesterday morning with a couple guys at work right when I got to the office about how wide open the postseason really is. It's easier to count out the teams that likely don't have a chance versus the teams that have the best chance to win it all. And even that is iffy. While I haven't seen enough baseball to really figure out which teams have the best shot, I do think I can answer the important questions about who will win what awards in the MLB this season.

Manager of the Year

National League
Davey Johnson, WAS- Take a team with a teenage star in the making in Bryce Harper and a squad that people figured were on the way up but not quite ready yet, and lead them to the best record in the majors? Other than the shutting down of Stephen Strasburg (I think it was premature) he handled this group in excellent fashion.

American League
Robin Ventura, CHW- I was one of many who wrote the White Sox off before this season. And go figure, they played incredibly well up until late September. For a guy with no managerial experience to come in and not only exceed expectations, but have a team in the race until the final week is astounding in my book. Give him props.

Rookie of the Year

National League
Norichika Aoki, MIL- At this point I'm trying to grasp at straws I feel. There were so many directions I could have gone with no one rookie standing out and Anthony Rizzo didn't have enough service time in my opinion. Aoki hit well (.288), stole 30 bases, and had a very good K/BB ratio (55-43) in 151 games. 37 doubles helps too. All in all a good year for him.

American League
Mike Trout, LAA- Who else? More on him a little later.

Cy Young

National League
R.A. Dickey, NYM- 20-6, 2.73, 233.2 IP, 54 BB, 230 K, .226 BAA, 1.05 WHIP. Tough call between Dickey and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. I opted for Dickey because of his 20 wins to Kershaw's 14, but also because of the fewer walks in more innings and the league lead in innings pitched and strikeouts. Honestly the numbers are so close I'm looking for one thing that put it over the top, and for me it was the wins. But I wouldn't be upset if Kershaw takes the trophy again.

American League
Justin Verlander, DET- 17-8, 2.64, 238.1 IP, 60 BB, 239 K, .217 BAA, 1.06 WHIP. Another tough race between Verlander, Jered Weaver of the Angels and David Price of the Rays. Weaver led the AL in WHIP, but struck out almost 100 fewer batters than Verlander did. Price won 20 games and had the lowest ERA, but Verlander pitched more innings (thus having more opportunities for stats) and only walked one more batter than Price did. That's insane.

Most Valuable Player

National League
Buster Posey, SF- .336/.408/.549, 24 HR, 103 RBI, 39 2B. Wow. Had a tough time deciding between Posey and Ryan Braun again. I'm not holding anything against Braun's positive test last year that was overturned on a technicality. Braun led the National League in homers with 41 while stealing 30 bases and was a big reason why Milwaukee finished with a decent mark this year. But Posey played a tough defensive position that involved calling games for a pitching staff while also helping lead his team without Melky Cabrera? Let's also remember that Braun without Prince Fielder saw his team drop in the win column and miss the postseason. It's not an end-all, be-all, but it certainly plays a role. Tough call, but I'm taking Posey. Yet this was nothing compared to the choice for the final category.

American League
Miguel Cabrera, DET- .330/.393/.606, 44 HR, 139 RBI, 40 2B. Let's forget for a second that Cabrera won the Triple Crown, something that hasn't been done in a very long time. That has no relevance in this argument. By contrast, let's look at Mike Trout's season:

.326/.399/.564, 30 HR, 83 RBI, 27 2B, 8 3B, 49 SB

Staggering as well in its all-around brilliance. The big arguments for Trout have been his WAR (I think 10.5 is what I've been hearing, tops in the AL) and the fact that he plays better defense (a .988 fielding percentage for Trout compared to .966 for Cabrera with 13 errors), though manning the hot corner and patrolling center field are two totally different things. My big difference lies in the fact that Detroit made the playoffs while the Angels did not (granted, the Angels did finish with a better record), but in the process, Trout faded in September while Cabrera shined (.308/.378/.654, 10 HR, 24 RBI). Let's also look at one more stat: batting in late/close situations (as defined by MLB.com).

Cabrera: .310/.403/.517, 3 HR, 10 RBI

Trout: .267/.333/.378, 1 HR, 7 RBI

Sorry Mike. Maybe next year.