MLB Award season thread

[MartyFunkhouser]

AL Gold Glove winners announced. If you didn't already know that this award was a sham, look no further than Derek Jeter winning a gold glove.

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5784846"]Ichiro Suzuki ties OF record with 10th AL Gold Glove - ESPN[/ame]

[MartyFunkhouser]

Neyer on Jeter's gold glove.
http://espn.go.com/blog/SweetSpot/po...mixed-as-usual

[cougjunkie]

I agree its a sham with Jeter winning but it is also no secret that Neyer is in bed with Billy Beane. Look at his picks Daric Barton, Kurt Suzuki, Mark Ellis.

[Surfah]

The Gold Glove is a dumb award anyway.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I agree its a sham with Jeter winning but it is also no secret that Neyer is in bed with Billy Beane. Look at his picks Daric Barton, Kurt Suzuki, Mark Ellis.

All of them are more than deserving of the awards, Ellis and Barton in particular. Mark Ellis not winning a gold glove is a perfect example of how the award is a sham.

Neyer isn't in bed with Billy Beane, he is just smart and knows how to evaluate players using meaningful defensive statistics. It also isn't surprising that 3 A's were on his ballot, because the A's have been targeting defense for years. It was one of the reason they made a play for Beltre in the offseason.

[cougjunkie]

Buster Posey wins the NL Rookie of the year.

Neftali Feliz wins the AL Rookie of the year.

(votes were cast before the playoffs started).

[Parrot Head]

Yes, I'm biased, but the disparity between 1st-place votes for Posey and Heyward was awful. I think Heyward had the better and full season, igniting a team that wasn't supposed to be there and worse case, this could have been a great season for split vote, but to only get 9 of the first place votes behind Posey's 20?

And who were those other fools that threw other guys on there ahead of these two?

[creekster]

Yes, I'm biased, but the disparity between 1st-place votes for Posey and Heyward was awful. I think Heyward had the better and full season, igniting a team that wasn't supposed to be there and worse case, this could have been a great season for split vote, but to only get 9 of the first place votes behind Posey's 20?

And who were those other fools that threw other guys on there ahead of these two?

When you start talking about a team that wasnt supposed to be there let me present to you your 2010 world champeen giants! and Buster ball game ignited the team opt those heights. Just becaseu the vast majority think Buster is number one doesnt mean it wasnt close, just that it was a consensus result.

[cougjunkie]

Yes, I'm biased, but the disparity between 1st-place votes for Posey and Heyward was awful. I think Heyward had the better and full season, igniting a team that wasn't supposed to be there and worse case, this could have been a great season for split vote, but to only get 9 of the first place votes behind Posey's 20?

And who were those other fools that threw other guys on there ahead of these two?

Posey plays 35 less games than Heyward yet they have the same amount of homeruns, almost identical RBIs and very close in hits. Posey hits 30 points higher in average and strikes out 80 times less he does all this while playing a much more demanding position and handles what turned out to be the leagues best pitching staff. You are right it should not have been as close as it was.

Not to mention Posey hit cleanup on the NL West champions and threw out close to 40% of all base stealers.

[Parrot Head]

When you start talking about a team that wasnt supposed to be there let me present to you your 2010 world champeen giants! and Buster ball game ignited the team opt those heights. Just becaseu the vast majority think Buster is number one doesnt mean it wasnt close, just that it was a consensus result.

Didn't factor in.

Posey plays 35 less games than Heyward yet they have the same amount of homeruns, almost identical RBIs and very close in hits. Posey hits 30 points higher in average and strikes out 80 times less he does all this while playing a much more demanding position and handles what turned out to be the leagues best pitching staff. You are right it should not have been as close as it was.

Not to mention Posey hit cleanup on the NL West champions and threw out close to 40% of all base stealers.

Without the 6 weeks of injury, the numbers would have been far and away better, but I know that's something that plays into the game. Heyward killed the walks and carried a team with his clutch hitting, has had amazing historical numbers for someone this age, great D for his position, and didn't have the support of one of the league's best pitching staffs. Plus, NL East, not the NL West and I know catcher is more demanding, but then factor in the geography of where Heyward played his full season. I know it hit 85 with 25% humidity a couple of times in SF and those days were *unbearable* but the entire east coast will wear you out.

Hats off to both GA products (may wuap share in their joy) and if Heyward turns out like the last Brave who came up #2 in the ROY balloting, I'll be a happy fan.

[cougjunkie]

Didn't factor in.



Without the 6 weeks of injury, the numbers would have been far and away better, but I know that's something that plays into the game. Heyward killed the walks and carried a team with his clutch hitting, has had amazing historical numbers for someone this age, great D for his position, and didn't have the support of one of the league's best pitching staffs. Plus, NL East, not the NL West and I know catcher is more demanding, but then factor in the geography of where Heyward played his full season. I know it hit 85 with 25% humidity a couple of times in SF and those days were *unbearable* but the entire east coast will wear you out.

Hats off to both GA products (may wuap share in their joy) and if Heyward turns out like the last Brave who came up #2 in the ROY balloting, I'll be a happy fan.

If Posey was called up at the start of the season the numbers would not have been close. The NL West has much tougher ball parks to hit in. SF, SD and LA are 3 of the top pitchers parks in baseball.

The geography argument also favors Posey.

Not to mention Posey played gold glove defense at multiple positions. 1b and C.

[Parrot Head]

If Posey was called up at the start of the season the numbers would not have been close. The NL West has much tougher ball parks to hit in. SF, SD and LA are 3 of the top pitchers parks in baseball.

The geography argument also favors Posey.

I thought we were ruling out the If... argument. If not, then I'll play the If Jason hadn't been injured for 6 weeks... line a lot harder. And, yes, the geography did favor Posey and is more grueling on Heyward.

Not to mention Posey played gold glove defense at multiple positions. 1b and C.

Well, except that he didn't get a Gold Glove.

Anyways, yes, Posey won it. Yes, I would have rather that Heyward won it, but it was an awesome year for several rookies. Tough fight.

Now we all hold our breath until Wednesday's announcement of the Manager of the Year. I'm pulling for ... wait, who led Pittsburgh last year? I think it'll be Ron Washington in the AL and a race between Bochy and Baker in the NL, though the NL Central doesn't deserve any awards this year.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Posey plays 35 less games than Heyward yet they have the same amount of homeruns, almost identical RBIs and very close in hits. Posey hits 30 points higher in average and strikes out 80 times less he does all this while playing a much more demanding position and handles what turned out to be the leagues best pitching staff. You are right it should not have been as close as it was.

Not to mention Posey hit cleanup on the NL West champions and threw out close to 40% of all base stealers.

I agree with you that Posey deserved the award over Heyward, but it is a really close call. Most of the stats that you mentioned are either meaningless or extremely flawed. In stats that matter they are neck and neck. Posey should get the nod because he plays a premium defensive position.

Halladay is unanimous for the NL Cy Young. He deserved it over the other options, but I'm shocked no one else got a single 1st place vote.
[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5812194"]Roy Halladay wins National League Cy Young Award - ESPN[/ame]

[MartyFunkhouser]

Also, they got in wrong in the AL. Rookie of the Year should have gone to Austin Jackson. This is the 2nd year in a row that a closer got the ROY on the strength of racking up saves, but neither Andrew Bailey nor Feliz should have won it.

[filsdepac]

Didn't factor in.



Without the 6 weeks of injury, the numbers would have been far and away better, but I know that's something that plays into the game. Heyward killed the walks and carried a team with his clutch hitting, has had amazing historical numbers for someone this age, great D for his position, and didn't have the support of one of the league's best pitching staffs. Plus, NL East, not the NL West and I know catcher is more demanding, but then factor in the geography of where Heyward played his full season. I know it hit 85 with 25% humidity a couple of times in SF and those days were *unbearable* but the entire east coast will wear you out.

Hats off to both GA products (may wuap share in their joy) and if Heyward turns out like the last Brave who came up #2 in the ROY balloting, I'll be a happy fan.

Playoffs didn't factor in, but to Creekster's point, not many people had great expectations for the Giants either (besides the fans). This article shows far more analysts thought the Braves would make the Wild Card than Giants winning the West, so I think Posey's contribution to the Giants was seen as a bigger shock.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...cks/index.html

Going along with that, everyone picked Heyward to win the ROY, so I think he had a lot to live up to. Although I think he did for the most part, media buzzes are short-lived and the buzz turned to Posey in the late summer when he was tearing it up.