Billy Hamilton and Tony Cingrani are up for multiple Minor League Baseball awards. Didi Gregorius is up for the play of the year (as is Cingrani). Delino DeShields is in a picture that is up for picture of the year. Go vote and be sure to vote Red.
Speaking of Billy Hamilton, the Reds are officially stating that they are moving him to center field. I don’t have a problem with the move. I would have liked to have seen how he could continue to develop there, because he was able to do some special things there, but with Cozart and Gregorius in front of him, it makes some sense. With his speed and athleticism, if Hamilton can even read the ball half way decent off of the bat, he should be very, very good defensively in center.
Let’s talk awards. Who wins your MVP, Cy Young and ROY awards for each league and why? My picks (and not who I think WILL win them, but who I would vote for) are as follows:
Cy Young
AL: Justin Verlander. He is a workhorse who threw 238.1 innings with a ton of strikeouts, a low ERA, low WHIP and a low walk rate. Easy choice.
NL: Clayton Kershaw. Much tougher choice. Came down to Kershaw and Dickey. Park adjusted ERA (ERA+) puts Kershaw a decent chunk ahead, both guys were horses and had a bunch of strikeouts and low walk totals. Basically it came down the the better adjusted ERA for Kershaw.
Most Valuable Player
AL: Mike Trout. He was easily the best player in baseball. Don’t talk to me about some triple crown. Ok, we can talk about it. That is freaking awesome. But it does not make Cabrera better (and I am sorry, but whoever the best player is provided the most value and any explanation that suggests otherwise is batcrap crazy talk). Winning the triple crown is rare. You know what is more rare? 30 home runs, 45 steals and 125 runs scored. Before Mike Trout, it had never happened in a season before. Miguel Cabrera was a better hitter in 2010 and 2011 than he was in 2012. Is Cabrera a better hitter than Trout? Absolutely. But it isn’t by much, at least this year (because Trout has a very high BABIP that I expect to regress some). But Trout is an elite defender in center and the best base runner in the game. Miguel Cabrera is a poor defender at a corner position and not even close to being a good base runner. Similar offensive value and huge advantages on defense and the basepaths makes it easy. Trout by a landslide.
NL: Buster Posey. Posey has hit for a league best 177 OPS+ (OPS adjusted for parks played in where 100 is league average) while playing a majority of his time behind the plate. Ryan Braun has been very good, but Posey is in the same league as him at the plate and defensively you aren’t going to give me an argument that says Ryan Braun has more defensive value than Posey.
Rookie of the Year
AL: Mike Trout. See the MVP debate.
NL: Bryce Harper. There was a time there where I was leaning towards Wade Miley, but Bryce Harper has turned things on over the last 6 weeks with a 1.052 OPS and his overall numbers are now back on the very good side of the ledger. Wade Miley has an ERA of 5.40 in September, which have pushed his numbers down. It was close, but I give the edge to Harper.
Those are my votes and my arguments. State your case.
Also, it is Wednesday and I don’t have an article planned, so we will also do an AQA. The rules are the same as always:
- Each person gets 3 questions.
- Avoid questions that will require more than a paragraph to answer or will likely require me to research something.
- Ask before midnight.