Well, the book is closed on the 2014 regular season. It seems like just yesterday we left work early to watch the countdown clock at MLB.com tick to zero and flipped on the first Grapefruit League game of the season. A lot has happened since then. Playoff hopefuls collapsed into league worsts, powerhouses emerged from the ashes of injury, and long awaited prospects finally hit the big stage.
With the end of the season comes one of OTBB’s venerated fall traditions: our picks for the MLB’s big awards. This year, however, we will be adding a slight new wrinkle. In addition to Sean and Max making their picks and laying out their justifications, our hard-working editor-of-genius Ari Glantz will be getting in on the mix and offering up his take on the season’s best. So, without further ado:
[colored_box color=”eg. blue, green, grey, red, yellow”]MVP[/colored_box]
American League:
Max: Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
Yes, yes, Mike Trout is going to win this award. That’s essentially a foregone conclusion. I also know that I’ve gone out on a limb with my very first pick. Everyone knows Altuve–the second basemen so short that a website (How Many Altuves) is dedicated to measuring things with Jose as the base unit of measure–had a great season, but I don’t think people appreciate just how good he was. Altuve led the majors this season with 225 hits, and only Michael Brantley of the Indians had at least 200 in the rest of the majors. He hit .341, 6 points ahead of Victor Martinez for the AL batting title and 22 points better than the NL leader. He stole 56 bases, the same number as Billy Hamilton and the most in the AL. He tied his career high in homers and set his personal mark in RBIs. He had a WAR of 6.0 on a team that only won 70 games, and best of all, he struck out only 53 times in 660 ABs. (The Eiffel Tower is 182.019568026583 Altuves, by the way)
Sean: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
Where Max’s pick is about recognizing one of the great seasons ever by a second baseman, and arguably the very best in the last 90 years (his 225 hits were the most by a second baseman since 1936), Trout’s MVP award is very much about righting past indiscretions. Though undoubtedly deserved–he leads the league in runs, RBI, and total bases; he clubbed 36 homers and stole 16 bags; he did it all while playing center field; and he led a team with no pitching to the best record in the bigs–it’s his worst season as a pro. Which really only tells you how out of this world good he was the past two years.
Ari: Nelson Cruz, Baltimore Orioles
Let’s. Get. Weird. Actually, let’s get philosophical. Let’s have the argument that naive baseball fans the world ’round have before they realize that the MVP is awarded by a quorum of stupid old writers with a penchant for anachronistic valuations and pigheaded traditionalism. Nelson Cruz didn’t have a job until the beginning of Spring Training. He was passed over by 29 teams because no one thought he could do it clean, and certainly no one wanted to sign the PED baggage. But Nelly came back with a vengeance, to the tune of the majors’ only 40 homer season, 108 RBI, and the emotional capital to push the pitch-poor O’s (3.96 team FIP) to an AL East crown. (So, yeah, what I meant to say was “Mike Trout.”)
National League:
Max: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw missed a month of the season. I think that should help his MVP case, not hurt it considering that he still lead the NL in wins, ERA, winning percentage, complete games, WHIP, K/9, K/BB, and FIP. He also leads the NL in WAR. Not WAR for pitchers, just regular old WAR. He’s been more valuable in the 27 games he played than any other player was in 162. Kershaw had a historically good season, again. I’ve written that sentence in 3 of the last 4 years but it just keeps being true. His 1.77 ERA miraculously bests last years 1.84 mark and 2014 is the 4th straight time he’s led the league in that category. It’s very possible we’ve never seen a pitcher like Kershaw. This stretch of dominance is incredible: he simply doesn’t give up runs, and when he takes the ball his team wins the game 8.7 times out of 10.
As to the whole ‘can a pitcher be the MVP’ thing, I say why not? If a pitcher was the most valuable player to his team over the course of the season, he should win the award. Giancarlo Stanton was superb this season but I’d still rather have Kershaw on my team than anyone else and that makes him the MVP.
Sean: Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates
I really struggled with this one. Yes, Kershaw’s stretch of dominance has been incredible, but I really think that the missed month hurts his case. I couldn’t get over the fact that he’s affected just 27 games. The other prominent candidates had issues. Though the Marlins’ lineup looks totally lost without their slugger, Giancarlo Stanton provided little with his defense and baserunning, and wasn’t historically great offensively. Anthony Rendon deserves serious consideration as he held the Nationals together with his consistent hitting and defensive versatility. I typed Rendon’s name before settling on McCutchen.
Cutch has lead the Pirates to the postseason. He leads NL position players in OBP, OPS, WAR, wOBA, and WRC+. He hit 26 homeruns and stolen 18 bags. He plays a superb centerfield and has been vital to the Pirates’ postseason run.
Ari: Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins
Tough, tough call. Everything stated above is true. Cutch brings the defense; Kershaw is channeling Kofax; Stanton is a Marlin. But Stanton hits bombs. In equal playing time to McCutchen, Giancarlo blasted 12 more homers, scored the same number of runs, drove in 22 more runs (on a terrible team), and stole just 5 fewer bases. When McCutchen went down with a rib injury, Pittsburgh trod water; when Stanton lost his face, Miami lost their spirit (6-11 without Giancarlo). Bottom line: Dodgers sans Kershaw, likely a playoff team; Pirates sans McCutchen, potentially; Marlins sans Stanton, easily lose 95 games.
[colored_box color=”eg. blue, green, grey, red, yellow”]Cy Young[/colored_box]
American League:
Max: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
I wavered on this one, I’ll be honest. Corey Kluber had a remarkable season but I think Felix was just a little bit better. The King once again missed the playoffs but that can hardly be pinned on him. Hernandez led the AL in ERA, WHIP, BAA, and hits/9 over 236 innings, though Kluber isn’t that far behind in many of those categories. Felix was a workhorse for a team that missed the playoffs on the last day of the season and posted a league best ERA over a league leading 34 starts. Why do I keep harping on ERA? Because keeping runs off the board is the pitcher’s number one job and Felix excelled at it. Cases can be made for other players, but you just can’t take anything away from what Larry Bernandez’s alter ego did this season.
Sean: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
Felix had a streak this season of 16 consecutive starts of pitching at least seven innings while allowing two or fewer runs. As incredible as that streak was, I loved his quote afterwards. “It’s over. I’ll start a new one.”
Felix finished leading the league in ERA. Max said it, but I’ll say it as well: ERA is the most important stat on which to judge a pitcher. While Kluber may have struck out more and sported a better FIP, Felix allowed fewer runs per 9 innings. And he’s a boss.
Ari: Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians
Whelp, you’ve heard the case for Felix, now try this on for size. Kluber bested Felix in: W, K, K/9, HR/9, FIP, and WAR. He also had a wow factor going that even Felix didn’t best, routinely mowing down 12-14 batters per game. Plus, Felix was just good old Felix–Kluber came out of nowhere.
National League:
Max: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw stole a base and hit triple this season. Also, see above.
Sean: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Kershaw hugged a kangaroo before the season started. Colby Lewis may be in the market for a kangaroo next season.
Ari: Jordan Zim—- Clayton Kershaw
20 wins in 27 starts? 1.71 ERA? Boyish charm and flowing golden locks? It was over before it started.
[colored_box color=”eg. blue, green, grey, red, yellow”]Rookie of the Year[/colored_box]
American League:
Max: Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox
I really, really wanted to pick someone else here. It’s too easy to just go with the favorite, and I wanted to highlight another good young player–but have you seen Abreu’s numbers? He hit .315 in his first year in the league! I know he was a professional ballplayer before the MLB and that give him a leg up to be sure, but his accomplishments aren’t just impressive for a guy seeing a brand new pitcher every day, they’re impressive for anyone. .315 AVG and 38 bombs to got with 105 RBIs, a .379 OBP and a 5.5 WAR. That’s only half a win worse than my MVP pick. According to Jayson Stark, the only rookies with better slash lines than Abreu had this year were Albert Pujols and Ted Williams, though they were both actual rookies, of course.
Sean: Collin McHugh, Houston Astros
Collin McWho? If this were a real ballot, I would be casting my vote for Jose Abreu for all the reasons that Max outlined, but it’s not, so I get to take a moral stand against the “Rookie” designation for foreign players. Jose Abreu and Masahiro Tanaka were so clearly not rookies that they should not be eligible for this award. This spirit of this award is that it should be for people who played in affiliated ball the year prior. Enter Collin McHugh. The Astros rookie had the sixth best ERA in the AL for pitchers who threw more than 150 innings. He outpaced Max Scherzer, David Price, Sonny Gray, and James Shields. His strikeout rate was 7th in the league among pitchers with more than 150 IP. He’s done it without an overpowering fastball, throwing his heater just 41.3% of the time, the seventh lowest in baseball. I’m a fan. He doesn’t deserve to win the real Rookie of the Year, Abreu clearly does, but he wins my rookie of the year.
Ari: George Springer, Houston Astros
I’m with Sean here. Real vote: Abreu; on principle: a real rookie. Springer dazzled before he died. Extrapolated to a full season, his line is pretty striking for a rookie: .231/.336/.468, with 42 bombs, 106 RBI, 93 R, and and .804 OPS. I know he didn’t actually do that, but if he had, it would be a much tighter race with the Cuban sensation.
National League:
Max: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
Another uninspired pick, I know, but there wasn’t much to chose from. Billy Hamilton stole 56 bases but he had a dismal second half and ended up with a sub-.300 OBP. deGrom, on the other hand, sported a sub-3 ERA which I guess used to mean a lot more but is still very impressive. He will join a rotation with Zach Wheeler and Matt Harvey next year to form a 1-2-3 punch that could actually lead the Mets into some real live contention.
Sean: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
The crop of NL rookie position players was unbelievably poor. Billy Hamilton’s OBP below .300 guarantees that he’s not getting my vote. Ender Inciarte plays for the Diamondbacks. Joe Panik hit only one home run in his 287 plate appearances. There were a few pitchers who stood out, deGrom leading the way. deGrom simply deserves the award. His sub-3 ERA over 140 innings is legit. Hat tip to Kyle Hendricks, who outpaced deGrom but pitched 60 fewer innings.
Ari: Travis D’Arnaud, New York Mets
I’ll go with the guy who caught deGrom. Travis D’Arnaud led all NL rookies with 13 homers and did it as a catcher. He drove in 41, scored 48, and played very good defense. He was a big reason the Mets finished tied for second in the NL East this year, and a big reason deGrom was so successful.
[colored_box color=”eg. blue, green, grey, red, yellow”]Manager of the Year[/colored_box]
American League:
Max: Mike Scoscia, Los Angeles Angels
I’ve written before about how the Angels don’t really pitch to win. However, on August 20, Garrett Richards, their Ace, went down and they were supposedly in some seriously hot water. Since then, the Angels went 23-14 and cruised to a divisional crown. Even those numbers are skewed though as LAA when 3-7 over its last 10 after they’d already clinched a playoff berth. Sure, the Halos have a lot of talent, but managing Josh Hamilton isn’t easy and Scoscia led his team to the MLBs best record.
Sean: Lloyd McClendon, Seattle Mariners
The sabermetricians and logicians aren’t big fans of McClendon. His track record is suspect and his teams can underperform. However, this year the Mariners competed. They had exactly two good major league position players for much of the year and suffered injuries in the rotation. McClendon rested his starting pitchers on occasion, including Felix Hernandez, and that drew some ire across the Mariner’s fan base. At the end of the season, the Mariners were there and McClendon deserves some credit.
Ari: Buck Ausmus, Baltimore Tigers
I know, you don’t get to split it. But like Sean said, this is my blog and can do what I want. Both Showalter and Ausmus deserve a lot of credit. Showalter for once again rallying a bunch of dirt dogs together, calcifying around injury, and managing around a crap rotation. Ausmus deserves it for managing such a diva-laden roster, in a city reeling from back to back playoff heart breakers.
National League:
Max: Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates
I know Juan Uribe was the only undefeated manager this season and that there’s a lot of grumbling about Hurdle’s game management online but he’s led this inept franchise to two straight postseason appearances. The Pirates 88 wins aren’t as many as last season’s total but they hung with the Cardinals until game 161 and they have a shot at another NLDS. The truth is that there weren’t that many great candidates in the NL. I’ve written recently about my issues with Don Mattingly and Matt Williams and outside the playoff teams, only 1 other team finished above .500, the sorry Brewers. Hurdle was good, nobody was great.
Sean: Mike Redmond, Miami Marlins
The Marlins lost Jose Fernandez in April and Giancarlo Stanton was protected by Casey McGehee. They stayed more relevant than they should have and were tied for second place heading into game 161. Plus, Redmond spelled Saltalamacchia and Adeiny Hechavaria, and Jordany Valdespin correctly all year. Probably.
Ari: Matt Williams, Washington Nationals
So here’s the thing: I think Matt Williams messed up quite a bit this year. (For one, his initial handling of Harper was atrocious, and probably played a part in the wall-crash.) But the fact is, his Nats came off a disappointing season to open the post-Davey era with a division crown. He worked his pitching staff to perfection, and has his team poised for playoff glory.
Well that’s it. Playoffs are upon us, and October will fly by. Keep up to date with OTBB’s fresh takes on the post season, and come November we’ll see how we did on these prediction.
-OTBB Staff
Stat of the Day: Edwin Encarnacion managed a .268 BA with a .260 BABIP in 2014.
