Playing Pepper 2015

Daniel Shoptaw at C70 At The Bat always does a series of team previews with the help of bloggers that follow each team. The Mariners post is up, and I added my two cents along with Jeff Engels at Jeff's Mariners blog. It's a fun little read to get thinking about the big storylines for the Mariners in 2015. Enjoy it if you get the chance!

2015 BBA Hall of Fame Vote Recommends 7 for Cooperstown

The BBWAA will reveal the Hall of Fame's class of 2015 on Tuesday, but the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (which I am a member of) revealed their choices today. Here are the results, straight from the BBA press release:

Seven players from the 2014 Baseball Writers of America ballot were recommended for enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame by the members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance on Friday.

Given the backlog of quality players on the ballot, this year the BBA adopted the plan suggested by St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Derrick Goold of a binary ballot. Each player on the ballot was given a yes or no vote by the BBA voters and those receiving over 75% were then recommended.

With this format, pitcher Randy Johnson received 100% of the vote while pitcher Pedro Martinez was close behind at 95%. Others that topped the 75% mark were catcher/second baseman/outfielder Craig Biggio (90%), pitcher John Smoltz (89%), catcher Mike Piazza (85%), first baseman Jeff Bagwell (77%) and outfielder Tim Raines (77%).
Those that just fell short of the mark were designated hitter Edgar Martinez (71%) and pitcher Curt Schilling (68%).

The rest of the voting was as follows:

• Mike Mussina 67%

• Barry Bonds 65%

• Roger Clemens 63%

• Alan Trammell 53%

• Jeff Kent 44%

• Gary Sheffield 38%

• Larry Walker 37%

• Fred McGriff 33%

• Mark McGwire 33%

• Don Mattingly 31%

• Lee Smith 31%

• Sammy Sosa 23%

• Carlos Delgado 19%

• Nomar Garciaparra 13%

• Cliff Floyd 4%

• Brian Giles 4%

• Rich Aurilia 3%

• Darin Erstad 3%

• Troy Percival 3%

• Aaron Boone 1%

• Jason Schmidt 1%

• Jermaine Dye 0%

• Tom Gordon 0%

• Eddie Guardado 0%

Using this binary method, only 13% turned in a ballot with less than 10 names selected. 40% turned in a ballot with 15 or more names selected, with a high of 20.

I took liberal advantage of the binary ballot and ended up with 18 players I voted in favor of. I do not consider myself a proponent of a "big" Hall of Fame, but I suppose I will have to examine my position after my voting this year. I voted in favor of all seven enshrinees, the next nine highest vote-getters, and then both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Sheffield, Kent, McGwire, and Sosa were the last four on my ballot, if you were wondering, and probably the only four you could really talk me out of voting for on this year's ballot.

The BBA hasn't been around incredibly long, but has done its own Hall of Fame voting for several years. Historically I would call BBA votes "progressive." In general, the group votes more players into the Hall of Fame on each ballot than the BBWAA, but not more members in overall. The BBA simply votes in eventual Hall of Famers faster. For instance, Barry Larkin got in on the BBA's first ballot but the BBWAA's second. This year's vote looks like no exception as the BBWAA looks likely to elect five Hall of Famers but leave Bagwell and Raines out for now, though with high vote totals that usually end up with eventual enshrinement.

2014 BBA Awards

As a member of the BBA I have the pleasure of voting for the BBA's postseason awards. Furthermore, as chapter president this year, I had the pleasure of collating the collective voice of Mariners BBA blogs. Here is the Seattle chapter's ballot for BBA postseason awards:

Connie Mack Award (Best Manager)

1. Buck Schowalter, Orioles
2. Lloyd McClendon, Mariners
3. Mike Scioscia, Angels

Willie Mays Award (Rookie of the Year)

1. Jose Abreu, White Sox
2. Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees
3. Dellin Betances, Yankees

Goose Gossage Award (Best reliever)

1. Dellin Betances, Yankees
2. Wade Davis, Royals
3. Sean Doolittle, Athletics

Walter Johnson Award (Best pitcher)

1. Felix Hernandez, Mariners
2. Cory Kluber, Indians
3. Chris Sale, White Sox
4. Jon Lester, Athletics
5. David Price, Tigers

Stan Musial Award (MVP)

1. Mike Trout, Angels
2. Felix Hernandez, Mariners
3. Cory Kluber, Indians
4. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
5. Jose Abreu, White Sox
6. Jose Altuve, Astros
7. Robinson Cano, Mariners
8. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
9. Michael Brantley, Indians
10. Adrian Beltre, Rangers

Have fun agreeing or, more likely, disagreeing!

AL West Preview at 500 Level Fan

Jeremy Gibson at 500 Level Fan asked me to weigh in on the AL West for his 2014 preview. Here's a link to the post, for your lunchtime pleasure.

2013 BBA Award Results

The totals are in and counting for this year's BBA Awards. I've summarized the AL picks below, with my selections in parentheses:

Connie Mack
John Farrell, Red Sox (Terry Francona, Indians)

Willie Mays
Wil Myers, Rays (Wil Myers, Rays)

Goose Gossage
Koji Uehara, Red Sox (Koji Uehara, Red Sox)

Walter Johnson
Max Scherzer, Tigers (Max Scherzer, Tigers)

Stan Musial
Mike Trout, Angels (Mike Trout, Angels)

We shall see who the BBWAA chooses for their awards. The BBA vote wasn't close for the Musial, but I expect the BBWAA to have a tougher time choosing between Trout and Cabrera.

2013 BBA Awards

It's that time of year again, to make my picks for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance awards. I only vote on the AL, since I am a Mariners blog. Without further ado, my picks:

Connie Mack Award (Manager of the Year)
Terry Francona, Indians - Cleveland's stunning run to a playoff berth in September made Francona a pretty easy choice. Cleveland spent some significant money in the offseason, signing both Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, so I don't want to make it sound like Francona willed this team to some sort of miraculous new level. However, neither Swisher nor Bourn lit the world on fire. Most of Cleveland's improvement came from players within, perhaps most notably from Jason Kipnis taking a step forward and possibly becoming this generation's version of Chase Utley. The Indians somehow believed that they belonged with the likes of the Rangers, Orioles, and Yankees down the stretch when the wild card race got tight. They literally didn't lose when the wild card spots when wild card spots were up for grabs at the end of the season. Plus, by picking Francona, I have a vaguely good reason to link to a couple great videos and say go on down to Cleveland town!

Willie Mays Award (Rookie of the Year)
Wil Myers, OF, Rays - Frankly, peaking at the NL rookie class this year, there's an argument that the AL should donate this award to the NL so that they can have two recipients. It's remarkable how different the rookie classes are in both leagues. However, since I have to pick a rookie, I'll go with Myers. He was quite good, and would have run away with this award quickly if he had started the year in the majors. He turned out to be a key cog in the middle of the Rays order, and the Rays were were a playoff team this year too. David Lough of the Royals and Brad Miller of the Mariners might have been able to catch this award too with more playing time.

Goose Gossage Award (Reliever of the Year)
Koji Uehara, Red Sox - I was very tempted to go with Mariano Rivera, because he was good this year, but really I would have handed it to him more as a lifetime achievement award. I decided I would do that if there were no stand-out relievers. The problem is that Uehara's season is unlikely to be duplicated, like, ever. He retired 37 consecutive batters at one point this season, which is insane considering 27 in a row is a perfect game. Uehara was probably the beneficiary of several lucky bounces, but he combined that with some serious talent. It all added up to a magical season in relief, particularly once he took over as Boston's closer. Greg Holland also doesn't get enough credit for how good he is, and I gave some serious thought to handing him this award too.

Walter Johnson Award (Cy Young)
Max Scherzer, Tigers - It doesn't matter your favorite stat, Scherzer is the obvious choice in the AL this year. Wins? He got 21, the only 20-game winner this year. ERA? Sub-3.00. Strikeouts? Over 10 per 9 innings. Innings pitched? Over 210. WAR? Leads pitchers in that category too. Scherzer is in the top 5 of virtually every pitching category that could possibly matter, though perhaps there is an argument that he was somehow propelled by the rest of the Tigers staff. Anibal Sanchez and Justin Verlander also populate the leaderboard with him in all sorts of stats. Yu Darvish would have been a very serious contender for this award without his mid-season injury.

Stan Musial Award (MVP)
Mike Trout, OF Angels - Trout is a total package unlike any other in the AL. Both Miguel Cabrera and Chris Davis had phenomenal power seasons, but it's not like Trout doesn't bring power to the plate (with 27 dingers), and he brings just as much hitting ability and patience with way more speed, baserunning, and defense. He was worth 10.4 WAR according to FanGraphs, which is over 2.0 WAR ahead of anyone else in the AL. Kyle Seager was the only Mariners position player to rack up more than 2.0 WAR on the season, just to put into perspective just how big the gap is between Mike Trout and everyone else*. Mike Trout should be an easy, easy choice for the AL MVP race, but there's little doubt in my mind that the big home run totals from both Cabrera and Davis will steal some (most?) of the votes away.

*And also put into perspective how putrid the improved Mariners offense (and it was improved) still was.

Check the Baseball Bloggers Alliance website to see who wins these awards as votes get tallied up, and compare them with the BBWAA awards to find out how badly they mess up this year.

BBA 2013 HOF Inductee

Lots of capital letters flying around the title. I apologize. It beats the long-winded title I would have if I wrote out every word. "Inductee" is not a typo either. Despite a bloated Hall of Fame class, only one player earned 75% of the BBA vote.

Jeff Bagwell is the whole 2013 Hall of Fame class for the BBA - which might be one member larger than the real one the BBWAA releases on Wednesday. Bagwell received over 75% on last year's BBA ballot too (along with Barry Larkin) but obviously did not get the same support from the BBWAA.

The most interesting and telling vote totals are for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens though.

2012 Award Winners

I never got around to posting the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) postseason awards as they were announced. However, thanks to my negligence, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) has also voted on their awards! So, below is a handy table comparing the two associations' choices for 2012:

	BBA	BBWAA
Connie Mack	AL: Bob Melvin	AL: Bob Melvin	Manager of
	NL: Davey Johnson	NL: Davey Johnson	the Year
Willie Mays	AL: Mike Trout	AL: Mike Trout	Rookie of
	NL: Bryce Harper	NL: Bryce Harper	the Year
Walter Johnson	AL: Justin Verlander	AL: David Price	Cy Young
	NL: R.A. Dickey	NL: R.A. Dickey
Stan Musial	AL: Mike Trout	AL: Miguel Cabrera	MVP
	NL: Buster Posey	NL: Buster Posey

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance also votes on the Goose Gossage award, given to each league's top reliever. This year Fernando Rodney was voted the AL winner, and Craig Kimbrel the NL winner. The Musings is a BBA member, and my ballot (AL only since I am a Mariners blog) can be found here.

The AL MVP debate has had more than enough words written about it at this point. I made my peace with the triple crown a few months ago, and won't write more, other than to note that the BBA picked Trout and the BBWAA picked Cabrera.

Back to warming my hands over the hot stove league...

2012 Awards

One of the great privileges that comes with Baseball Bloggers Alliance membership is the opportunity to vote on postseason awards. I am classified as a Mariners blog, so I vote only on American League awards. Results of BBA-wide voting will come out as October unfolds, and I will post the results as they come out. For now, you will have to settle with how I voted, along with my rationale: