And the winners are...
In a few days we'll know how everyone in the Baseball Writer's Association (BBWA) voted for this year's Major League Baseball awards. But I'm going to let you in on a little secret, I'm going to let you know who the real winners should be. The BBWA works sort of like the Academy, rewarding people for past accomplishments. Nobody doubts Denzel Washington has been an Academy Award winning actor, but most wouldn't list his role in Training Day as his finest. In the same respect, Alex Rodriguez has had some magnificent, MVP-caliber seasons, but 2003 was far from his best. So without further ado, here are this season's baseball awards, based on, well, this season:
AL MVP
Big Papi. Enough said.
NL MVP
Andruw Jones. Albert Pujols had a phenomenal season, as usual, and one day, he'll probably start racking up the MVP awards. But not for this season. Sorry to fans of teams in the NL East not named the Atlanta Braves, but this was your season to overtake the division crown. Unforunately for them, Jones realized this. He realized that they had one solid pitcher all season, he realized that they had to play a lot of the season without All-Star third baseman Chipper Jones, and he realized that even the Braves' own fans would have a hard time naming their starting line up with all the youngsters that filled it out. So what did Andruw Jones do with that knowledge? He picked the Braves up when they were down, and he carried them on his back into the playoffs. Pujols was great, but his team got the pitching, and the team around him was far better than the one surrounding Jones. Don't worry Cards fans, he'll get his soon enough.
AL Cy Young
Mariano Rivera. Without question the best pitcher in the AL this past season. I don't buy into the whole notion that a closer isn't worth of the Cy. And as a Red Sox fan, I get to see my team face Rivera more than I'd really like to. Rivera's stats after his first series of the season were nothing short of remarkable, and it makes me appreciate the fact that the Sox were actually able to get to him in the playoffs last year that much more. Colon had the wins, but little more, Buehrle, Garland and Santana all had the ERA and innings, but they lacked the wins. Rivera had the saves, the record, and the ERA to earn himself a Cy Young award this season.
NL Cy Young
Chris Carpenter. With a phenomenal start to the season, this youngster had the Cy Young locked up before his September woes. He finished the season 5th in ERA, and 2nd in innings pitched, wins and strikeouts. Sure the Rocket didn't get quite the run support, but he also pitched 30.1 less innings than Carpenter. And while the D-train finished with one more win than Carpenter, he didn't have to do it as the ace of the staff (though he might have become the ace) as Carpenter did.
AL ROY
Huston Street. Apparently losing Octavio Dotel for the season wasn't as bad for the A's as was originally thought. The A's young gun fired his way to 23 saves with a remarkable ERA of 1.71 and even better 1.01 WHIP. Everyone thought Beane was a lunatic when he traded away Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson last offseason, but apparently that lunatic knew what he was doing. At a mere 22 years of age, this flame-throwing rookie should be a force for years to come.
NL ROY
Ryan Howard. Jim Thome has been a fan favorite in Cleveland and in Philly. But young guys like Travis Hafner and Ryan Howard are making a habit of replacing him. Braves' rookie Jeff Francoeur made a good first impression, but faded down the stretch. While Phil's rookie sensation Ryan Howard mashed 22 homers and drove in 63 in only 88 games this season. Thome has again become a tradeable commodity.
AL Manager of the Year
Eric Wedge. With all due respect to Ozzie Guillen, we must not forget that post season accolades are not included in the voting for the award. Clearly, the winner should come out of the Central no matter who it is. And while nobody picked the White Sox to do what they did this year, even fewer expected the Indians to be competing for a playoff spot in the final series of the season. The Indians' coach brought the youngsters together and created a force to be reckoned with. In order for the White Sox to even consider a repeat next season, their real battle is going to be with the young Indians team next season.
NL Manager of the Year
Bobby Cox. See the above statement about this year being the missed opportunity for teams not named the Braves to try to win the NL East. Granted he's only got one World Series title to show for it, but the fact that the Braves are there year after year is amazing. What is even more amazing is the way in which he does it. With such a dominant staff in Atlanta for so many years, Cox has kept the streak alive recently with hitting, good rookie play, and a bit of magic.
AL MVP
Big Papi. Enough said.
NL MVP
Andruw Jones. Albert Pujols had a phenomenal season, as usual, and one day, he'll probably start racking up the MVP awards. But not for this season. Sorry to fans of teams in the NL East not named the Atlanta Braves, but this was your season to overtake the division crown. Unforunately for them, Jones realized this. He realized that they had one solid pitcher all season, he realized that they had to play a lot of the season without All-Star third baseman Chipper Jones, and he realized that even the Braves' own fans would have a hard time naming their starting line up with all the youngsters that filled it out. So what did Andruw Jones do with that knowledge? He picked the Braves up when they were down, and he carried them on his back into the playoffs. Pujols was great, but his team got the pitching, and the team around him was far better than the one surrounding Jones. Don't worry Cards fans, he'll get his soon enough.
AL Cy Young
Mariano Rivera. Without question the best pitcher in the AL this past season. I don't buy into the whole notion that a closer isn't worth of the Cy. And as a Red Sox fan, I get to see my team face Rivera more than I'd really like to. Rivera's stats after his first series of the season were nothing short of remarkable, and it makes me appreciate the fact that the Sox were actually able to get to him in the playoffs last year that much more. Colon had the wins, but little more, Buehrle, Garland and Santana all had the ERA and innings, but they lacked the wins. Rivera had the saves, the record, and the ERA to earn himself a Cy Young award this season.
NL Cy Young
Chris Carpenter. With a phenomenal start to the season, this youngster had the Cy Young locked up before his September woes. He finished the season 5th in ERA, and 2nd in innings pitched, wins and strikeouts. Sure the Rocket didn't get quite the run support, but he also pitched 30.1 less innings than Carpenter. And while the D-train finished with one more win than Carpenter, he didn't have to do it as the ace of the staff (though he might have become the ace) as Carpenter did.
AL ROY
Huston Street. Apparently losing Octavio Dotel for the season wasn't as bad for the A's as was originally thought. The A's young gun fired his way to 23 saves with a remarkable ERA of 1.71 and even better 1.01 WHIP. Everyone thought Beane was a lunatic when he traded away Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson last offseason, but apparently that lunatic knew what he was doing. At a mere 22 years of age, this flame-throwing rookie should be a force for years to come.
NL ROY
Ryan Howard. Jim Thome has been a fan favorite in Cleveland and in Philly. But young guys like Travis Hafner and Ryan Howard are making a habit of replacing him. Braves' rookie Jeff Francoeur made a good first impression, but faded down the stretch. While Phil's rookie sensation Ryan Howard mashed 22 homers and drove in 63 in only 88 games this season. Thome has again become a tradeable commodity.
AL Manager of the Year
Eric Wedge. With all due respect to Ozzie Guillen, we must not forget that post season accolades are not included in the voting for the award. Clearly, the winner should come out of the Central no matter who it is. And while nobody picked the White Sox to do what they did this year, even fewer expected the Indians to be competing for a playoff spot in the final series of the season. The Indians' coach brought the youngsters together and created a force to be reckoned with. In order for the White Sox to even consider a repeat next season, their real battle is going to be with the young Indians team next season.
NL Manager of the Year
Bobby Cox. See the above statement about this year being the missed opportunity for teams not named the Braves to try to win the NL East. Granted he's only got one World Series title to show for it, but the fact that the Braves are there year after year is amazing. What is even more amazing is the way in which he does it. With such a dominant staff in Atlanta for so many years, Cox has kept the streak alive recently with hitting, good rookie play, and a bit of magic.
posted by Trevor at 9:05 PM
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