MLB awards 08

[See Red]

Guys, do you realize that K-Rod hasn't pitched yet in a save situation with a man on base (when he enters)? He has yet to pitch more than an inning in a game.

Those are the key words.

A typical Frankie save opportunity:

Single, K, SB, BB, K, flyout. Seriously, let him walk, save the money for reupping on Vlad and signing Teixiera long term, and bring in Arredondo in the 9th next year.

Got that right. Just imagine how many saves Nathan, Rivera, Papelbon, Sherrill, or Soria would have if they were on the Angels.

Probably the same amount... they'd just have a better ERA while they all do it. And actually, Sherrill sucks. Jenks would be more appropriate.

[BJBerthiaume]

Guys, do you realize that K-Rod hasn't pitched yet in a save situation with a man on base (when he enters)? He has yet to pitch more than an inning in a game.

Those are the key words.

A typical Frankie save opportunity:

Single, K, SB, BB, K, flyout. Seriously, let him walk, save the money for reupping on Vlad and signing Teixiera long term, and bring in Arredondo in the 9th next year.

Got that right. Just imagine how many saves Nathan, Rivera, Papelbon, Sherrill, or Soria would have if they were on the Angels.

Probably the same amount... they'd just have a better ERA while they all do it. And actually, Sherrill sucks. Jenks would be more appropriate.

Yeah but if they were on the Angels would they have blown as many saves as K-Rod has?

[See Red]

Guys, do you realize that K-Rod hasn't pitched yet in a save situation with a man on base (when he enters)? He has yet to pitch more than an inning in a game.

Those are the key words.

A typical Frankie save opportunity:

Single, K, SB, BB, K, flyout. Seriously, let him walk, save the money for reupping on Vlad and signing Teixiera long term, and bring in Arredondo in the 9th next year.

Got that right. Just imagine how many saves Nathan, Rivera, Papelbon, Sherrill, or Soria would have if they were on the Angels.

Probably the same amount... they'd just have a better ERA while they all do it. And actually, Sherrill sucks. Jenks would be more appropriate.

Yeah but if they were on the Angels would they have blown as many saves as K-Rod has?

Most of them already do. But at the same time, none of these guys ONLY come in to start innings clean. I didn't know that about K-Rod, but someone earlier mentioned he did. That makes quite a difference.

[ShinyHubCaps]

AL MVP: Frankie Rodriguez (homer pick, but it's at least marginally jusitified)

AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee

if K-Rod is your MVP surely he would have to win the Cy Young by default?

I had the same thing (one is MVP and the other Cy Young)... After seeing the discussion on Rodriguez, I can see why he wouldn't be MVP, but like all sports, you get a bump for being the best player on the best team. Not to say he's the best player, but he's had a hand in so many of their wins. I don't know if there is a formula for Win Shares in baseball, but I imagine he'd be up there.

Cliff Lee, on the other hand, doesn't deserve MVP, but he deserves something. I'd give him the Cy Young. Only one 20-game winner last year, and there may be 2 or 3 this year, but Lee was the first. He's no MVP, though.

I guess a reliever getting the MVP would be strange, but what are the criteria? None, besides being on the best team and residing in a large market.

[Bronxmet]

AL MVP: Josh Hamilton, Texas

Cy Young: Cliff Lee, Cleveland (impressive since he's the Tribe's first 20-game winner in 34 years)

Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay

Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay

NL MVP: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia

Cy Young: Brandon Webb, Arizona

Rookie of the Year: Jay Bruce, Cincinnati

Manager of the Year: Lou Piniella, Chicago Cubs

[CC97]

NL MVP: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia

How does he beat out Pujols??

[BJBerthiaume]

NL MVP: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia

How does he beat out Pujols??

In my opinion there is no way a guy who strikes out as much as Howard does should win the MVP.

[See Red]

NL MVP: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia

How does he beat out Pujols??

In my opinion there is no way a guy who strikes out as much as Howard does should win the MVP.

Why? Why is striking out as opposed to grounding out or flying out such a bad thing? An out's an out, and there's times when a K is better than an out where you put the ball in play.

His average is my issue, but he's still scored/drove in 20 some more runs than Pujols, I believe.

That said... Pujols is my NL MVP.

[See Red]

I'm sticking with just the AL because I don't care about the NL.

AL MVP: Carlos Quentin

But if the White Sox miss the playoffs and the Red Sox make them, could easily go to Pedroia or Youkilis. In fact, the top 4 guys in my opinion -- Quentin, Pedroia, Youkilis, and Jermaine Dye -- all play for either the White or Red Sox... fascinating.

AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee

20 wins + a 2.30-ish ERA makes him a lock, just about. Roy Halladay's in the discussion but it's not really that close. Dice-K should be nowhere near the discussion.

AL ROY: Evan Longoria

Though I really am tempted to go with Alexie Ramirez of the White Sox, but that .324 OBP is bad. Does the man ever walk?

AL Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon

Pretty obvious choice.

[Telemundo219]

What about Jerry Manuel for NL MOY?

[Bronxmet]

NL MVP: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia

How does he beat out Pujols??

In my opinion there is no way a guy who strikes out as much as Howard does should win the MVP.

I picked Howard since he's leading two of the three Triple Crown categories. Plus, his Phillies have a bigger chance for POSTSEASON than Pujols' Redbirds.

[CC97]

NL MVP: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia

How does he beat out Pujols??

In my opinion there is no way a guy who strikes out as much as Howard does should win the MVP.

I picked Howard since he's leading two of the three Triple Crown categories. Plus, his Phillies have a bigger chance for POSTSEASON than Pujols' Redbirds.

Yeah but Howard is hitting like what? .120 points LOWER than Pujols? No way should a .230 hitter ever beat out a .360 hitter when they post similar power and RBI numbers.

[BBTV]

NL MVP: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia

How does he beat out Pujols??

In my opinion there is no way a guy who strikes out as much as Howard does should win the MVP.

Why? Why is striking out as opposed to grounding out or flying out such a bad thing? An out's an out, and there's times when a K is better than an out where you put the ball in play.

His average is my issue, but he's still scored/drove in 20 some more runs than Pujols, I believe.

That said... Pujols is my NL MVP.

When you consistently put the ball in play, things can happen. Runners can advance on fielders' choices, errors can happen, occasionally one or two might fall in for base hits. Striking out kills rallies, with no outs and men on it allows the defense to play for the DP (because you couldn't advance the man on first), and it's just demoralizing.

Ryan Howard winning MVP would be nearly as absurd as Bobby Abreu winning a gold glove a few years ago.

[See Red]

NL MVP: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia

How does he beat out Pujols??

In my opinion there is no way a guy who strikes out as much as Howard does should win the MVP.

Why? Why is striking out as opposed to grounding out or flying out such a bad thing? An out's an out, and there's times when a K is better than an out where you put the ball in play.

His average is my issue, but he's still scored/drove in 20 some more runs than Pujols, I believe.

That said... Pujols is my NL MVP.

When you consistently put the ball in play, things can happen. Runners can advance on fielders' choices, errors can happen, occasionally one or two might fall in for base hits. Striking out kills rallies, with no outs and men on it allows the defense to play for the DP (because you couldn't advance the man on first), and it's just demoralizing.

Ryan Howard winning MVP would be nearly as absurd as Bobby Abreu winning a gold glove a few years ago.

I understand where putting the ball in play is beneficial, but a GIDP is far more of a rally killer with less than two outs than a K is. Don't get me wrong, I don't like high K guys all that much but sometimes a K is far from the worst thing that can happen.

And even despite the K's, Ryan Howard is still responsible for more runs scored according to Runs and RBI's, anyway.

[BBTV]

NL MVP: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia

How does he beat out Pujols??

In my opinion there is no way a guy who strikes out as much as Howard does should win the MVP.

Why? Why is striking out as opposed to grounding out or flying out such a bad thing? An out's an out, and there's times when a K is better than an out where you put the ball in play.

His average is my issue, but he's still scored/drove in 20 some more runs than Pujols, I believe.

That said... Pujols is my NL MVP.

When you consistently put the ball in play, things can happen. Runners can advance on fielders' choices, errors can happen, occasionally one or two might fall in for base hits. Striking out kills rallies, with no outs and men on it allows the defense to play for the DP (because you couldn't advance the man on first), and it's just demoralizing.

Ryan Howard winning MVP would be nearly as absurd as Bobby Abreu winning a gold glove a few years ago.

I understand where putting the ball in play is beneficial, but a GIDP is far more of a rally killer with less than two outs than a K is. Don't get me wrong, I don't like high K guys all that much but sometimes a K is far from the worst thing that can happen.

And even despite the K's, Ryan Howard is still responsible for more runs scored according to Runs and RBI's, anyway.

If you're worried that a guy is going to ground into a double play, he shouldn't be on your lineup (unless he's the pitcher), and certainly can't be considered an MVP candidate. Sure GIDP happens, but I'd wager that the percentage is a lot lower than you'd expect.

[CC97]

Great blog post discussing K-Rod as MVP

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/08/31...time-excellent/

*OK, so I know some people who seem to be considering ? very seriously, I might add ? voting for K-Rod as the American League MVP. The guy has thrown 58 innings this year ? FIFTY EIGHT INNINGS ? and they?re really thinking about it because of all the saves and whatever.

So, let me just get this out on the table right now ? and I say this with all due respect to the year K-Rod is having, hey 53 saves already, good on ya, mate. But ?

Innings

K-Rod: 58 1/3

Nathan: 57

Hits

K-Rod: 42

Nathan: 38

Walks

K-Rod: 29

Nathan: 13

Strikeouts

K-Rod: 67

Nathan: 62

Runs allowed (total)

K-Rod: 18

Nathan: 9

Earned runs allowed

K-Rod: 16

Nathan: 7

Blown saves

K-Rod: 5

Nathan: 3

ERA

K-Rod: 2.47

Nathan: 1.11

ERA+

K-Rod: 174

Nathan: 373

Um, picking K-Rod over JOE NATHAN just to close out the ninth would be a horrendous choice. Picking him as league MVP would be one of the all-timers. Don?t do it. PLEASE ? just don?t do it.

[w00tness]

AL MVP: Carlos Quentin

But if the White Sox miss the playoffs and the Red Sox make them, could easily go to Pedroia or Youkilis. In fact, the top 4 guys in my opinion -- Quentin, Pedroia, Youkilis, and Jermaine Dye -- all play for either the White or Red Sox... fascinating.

It's really too bad Quentin is out for the season. Highly doubt he'll win the MVP award now.

[See Red]

AL MVP: Carlos Quentin

But if the White Sox miss the playoffs and the Red Sox make them, could easily go to Pedroia or Youkilis. In fact, the top 4 guys in my opinion -- Quentin, Pedroia, Youkilis, and Jermaine Dye -- all play for either the White or Red Sox... fascinating.

It's really too bad Quentin is out for the season. Highly doubt he'll win the MVP award now.

Agreed. Though, on the brightside (for you, anyway), this probably helps Jermaine Dye's chances.

[pcgd]

NL MVP: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia

How does he beat out Pujols??

In my opinion there is no way a guy who strikes out as much as Howard does should win the MVP.

Why? Why is striking out as opposed to grounding out or flying out such a bad thing? An out's an out, and there's times when a K is better than an out where you put the ball in play.

His average is my issue, but he's still scored/drove in 20 some more runs than Pujols, I believe.

That said... Pujols is my NL MVP.

When you consistently put the ball in play, things can happen. Runners can advance on fielders' choices, errors can happen, occasionally one or two might fall in for base hits. Striking out kills rallies, with no outs and men on it allows the defense to play for the DP (because you couldn't advance the man on first), and it's just demoralizing.

Ryan Howard winning MVP would be nearly as absurd as Bobby Abreu winning a gold glove a few years ago.

I understand where putting the ball in play is beneficial, but a GIDP is far more of a rally killer with less than two outs than a K is. Don't get me wrong, I don't like high K guys all that much but sometimes a K is far from the worst thing that can happen.

And even despite the K's, Ryan Howard is still responsible for more runs scored according to Runs and RBI's, anyway.

My problem with taking Runs and RBIs into too much consideration is they are too dependent on what is around you. If you put an MVP on a team surrounded by league average players, their RBIs and runs take a nose dive because both of those require people either getting on in front of you or behind you.

Not saying they shouldn't count, but to me the RBI total holds as much value as the Win total does for the Cy Young. Typically the best players are at the top, but to order the top players with that stat isn't very fair in regards to the team's around them.

I realize you already said you'd vote for Pujols but I just wanted to throw my thoughts on RBIs out there. As my years go up in age, I'm starting to pay attention to OPS, Slugging, Runs Created, AVG, HRs, much more than RBIs. However if I remember previous threads, you're a SABR guy as well...

[NJTank]

I think the MVP race in the NL is starting to look good in favor of Carlos Delgado.

The amount of clutch homers he has in the last two months, and the monster second half he is having, if the Mets win the division he has to get the MVP.