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.
Beyond Howard and Chuck
It's easy to find folks ripping apart the M's right now. The M's make it too easy, with all the losses and a manager like Eric Wedge quitting before he can be fired. Mind you, Wedge insisted on finishing his tenure in Cleveland after he was fired, and was given the chance to do that. Eric Wedge isn't a quitter, to say the least, but something happened in Seattle that made him do that.
Personally, I had grown tired of the way Wedge used his bullpen. I also wonder if his constant mantras about working and grinding inhibited the production of guys like Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, and Jesus Montero. I don't see much room to grind out hits if you are a good hitter spraying the ball around the ballpark. Then you're just getting good hits. Maybe the players internalize grinding differently than I do though.
So I am stuck in an awkward place as a fan. Maybe you are too. One one hand, woohoo! New manager on the way! Lots of money to spend in the offseason! Young players doing interesting things! On the other hand...the manager just quit...the young players have lots of room for growth...what manager will take a job from a GM in the final year of his deal...what player would want to come to Seattle right now?
Pessimism reigns supreme, thanks to another losing season that extends the M's current run on irrelevance. It's natural to point fingers at suspected culprits, and when the players, coaches, and front office executives completely cycle through without the on-field product changing all that much, it's pretty obvious the fingers will point at the folks not moving around.
Ownership. Or, in the case of the Mariners, the chairmen who represent the ownership, Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong.
I don't know if I have much of meaning to say. I don't know how much Lincoln and Armstrong do (or don't) interact with the M's players and leadership. I'm not exactly sure what it means to be a good sports owner, either. Something seems systemically dysfunctional with the Mariners, given how much they've lost over an extended period of time, but pointing at ownership without solid reasons besides screaming, more or less, "I'M TIRED OF LOSING GO AND FIX IT BECAUSE YEAH" isn't very productive. The problem is likely more complicated than ownership, and I'll my case with a couple simple examples.
Personally, I had grown tired of the way Wedge used his bullpen. I also wonder if his constant mantras about working and grinding inhibited the production of guys like Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, and Jesus Montero. I don't see much room to grind out hits if you are a good hitter spraying the ball around the ballpark. Then you're just getting good hits. Maybe the players internalize grinding differently than I do though.
So I am stuck in an awkward place as a fan. Maybe you are too. One one hand, woohoo! New manager on the way! Lots of money to spend in the offseason! Young players doing interesting things! On the other hand...the manager just quit...the young players have lots of room for growth...what manager will take a job from a GM in the final year of his deal...what player would want to come to Seattle right now?
Pessimism reigns supreme, thanks to another losing season that extends the M's current run on irrelevance. It's natural to point fingers at suspected culprits, and when the players, coaches, and front office executives completely cycle through without the on-field product changing all that much, it's pretty obvious the fingers will point at the folks not moving around.
Ownership. Or, in the case of the Mariners, the chairmen who represent the ownership, Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong.
I don't know if I have much of meaning to say. I don't know how much Lincoln and Armstrong do (or don't) interact with the M's players and leadership. I'm not exactly sure what it means to be a good sports owner, either. Something seems systemically dysfunctional with the Mariners, given how much they've lost over an extended period of time, but pointing at ownership without solid reasons besides screaming, more or less, "I'M TIRED OF LOSING GO AND FIX IT BECAUSE YEAH" isn't very productive. The problem is likely more complicated than ownership, and I'll my case with a couple simple examples.
Zduriencik Staying
Well, lo and behold it has been over a month and a half since I posted! This was mainly caused by two forces:
1) Moving/new full time job. The major life transitions put the blog on a hold for a bit. But then again...
2) What exactly was there to write about in the last month and a half?
It's hard to separate one from the other. The Mariners know how to bury their very existence in the dog days of August, followed by irrelevant Septembers. 40+ year-old Raul Ibanez chasing down 40+ year-old Ted Williams is pretty cool, and I'm rooting for one more dinger, but that's about it as far as newsworthy things I feel I've missed in the past month and a half or so. That and Taijuan Walker's MLB debut I suppose. But there we go! All caught up. That wasn't hard, for better and for worse.*
*Mostly worse. The Seahawks and their relevant games have reminded me just how irrelevant the Mariners are right now. Sigh.
Today a few newsworthy items broke about the Mariners, one piece of news clearly better than the other. We'll start with the bad. Danny Hultzen's shoulder is apparently ailing again, and the M's team doctor thinks his labrum is torn. Hultzen will get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, a legendary sports doctor who doubles as the grim reaper for pitching arms. This story isn't likely heading for a happy ending.
So, on to the better news! Jack Zduriencik is staying for another year! You can't deny that Z staying is better than the impending doom around Hultzen at the moment, but there is a pretty wide margin on just how much better the news might be. Many (including yours truly) have soured some on Z, and as 2013 comes to a close it's easier to see a dark rain cloud than the silver lining that might lurk beyond it.
Decide which narrative seems more likely...
1) Moving/new full time job. The major life transitions put the blog on a hold for a bit. But then again...
2) What exactly was there to write about in the last month and a half?
It's hard to separate one from the other. The Mariners know how to bury their very existence in the dog days of August, followed by irrelevant Septembers. 40+ year-old Raul Ibanez chasing down 40+ year-old Ted Williams is pretty cool, and I'm rooting for one more dinger, but that's about it as far as newsworthy things I feel I've missed in the past month and a half or so. That and Taijuan Walker's MLB debut I suppose. But there we go! All caught up. That wasn't hard, for better and for worse.*
*Mostly worse. The Seahawks and their relevant games have reminded me just how irrelevant the Mariners are right now. Sigh.
Today a few newsworthy items broke about the Mariners, one piece of news clearly better than the other. We'll start with the bad. Danny Hultzen's shoulder is apparently ailing again, and the M's team doctor thinks his labrum is torn. Hultzen will get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, a legendary sports doctor who doubles as the grim reaper for pitching arms. This story isn't likely heading for a happy ending.
So, on to the better news! Jack Zduriencik is staying for another year! You can't deny that Z staying is better than the impending doom around Hultzen at the moment, but there is a pretty wide margin on just how much better the news might be. Many (including yours truly) have soured some on Z, and as 2013 comes to a close it's easier to see a dark rain cloud than the silver lining that might lurk beyond it.
Decide which narrative seems more likely...