Grading the BBWAA

For many years now the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) have gotten away with putting forth historically bad recipients for their respective awards. Since there is apparently no one else to hold them accountable for their actions, I thought I'd go ahead and do it on this blog, which Commissioner Bud Selig reads every day, hence assuring that all incompetence will be extinguished.

Class is now in session.


A.L. Cy Young: Cliff Lee






BBWAA Grade: A







You really couldn't have gone wrong here with Lee or Halladay. Both were very good, but I'd agree with the voters and give Lee the slight edge. The only real gripe I have hear is the fact that K-Rod finished third in the Cy Young voting. You could maybe make a case that he was third best A.L. reliever, although even that would be pretty farfetched. However, I can live with it since Lee and Halladay finished 1-2. Good job here, guys.


NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum






BBWAA Grade: A










Thankfully, there was no real scare here with Brandon Webb. Lincecum won it easily, and it was much deserved. Kudos to the writers for also recognizing Santana's great season as well. Maybe they're learning? Or getting smarter voters? Who knows.


A.L. Manager of the Year:
Joe Maddon





BBWAA Grade: B







Maddon has gotten FAR too much credit for what he's done in Tampa Bay. Sure, he's done a fine job and it's great that they were able to turn things around this season, but he had much less to do with it than what would be perceived by the media. As Grif has attested to many times (not here, but other places), Maddon made quite a few God-awful decisions throughout the season. The grade would be worse were it not for the implement of the bullpen ace format--although it's unclear whether that's a front office creation or managerial preference. Obviously I can certainly understand the reasoning for voting for Maddon, it just seems evident after looking deeper into it that Gardenhire would've been the better choice. Still not the worst decision, though.


NL Manager of the Year:
Lou Piniella




BBWAA Grade: A





No argument here. Great manager. Great choice.


AL Rookie of the Year:
Evan Longoria





BBWAA Grade: A








Mike Aviles probably should've finished higher, but they got the most important one right so I'll let it pass. This was a pretty easy one, though.


NL Rookie of the Year:
Geovany Soto





BBWAA Grade: C-








Don't be fooled here. Geovany Soto was the right choice. I'm penalizing the voters for something much worse. Edinson Volquez finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting DESPITE NOT EVEN BEING A ROOKIE! That's right, somehow a player who is not even eligible to win the award snuck on to the ballot. Not only that, HE GARNERED THREE SECOND PLACE VOTES! So, while I've overlooked the entirety of the ballot with other awards, I simply can't ignore such sheer stupidity. Seriously, how were these ballots even allowed to be counted? How hard is it to look up the eligibility of a player before you vote? I just looked it up on B-R in about 9 seconds. So the answer is: not very hard. These three writers--whoever they are--should be removed lest we see Derek Jeter finish third in the Cy Young voting in 2009. I applaud you guys for at least getting the winner right, but this is just... there are no words.


Overall BBWAA Grade So Far: C+


I know, the math doesn't quite add up. I ended up docking some serious points for Edinson Volquez receiving three goddamn votes (not to mention Kosuke Fukudome???). But hey, I'm surprised I was able to stay objective for as long as I did. Chances are the BBWAA will tragically fuck up one of the MVP awards, anyways, thus justifying my exaggerated disdain.

Delgado for MVP!

60+ Saves = Best Pitcher in Baseball

The guys at FJM do a much better job of tearing Joe Morgan's chats apart than I could ever do, so I'll refrain from trying to tackle the whole thing. However, this single quote from today is just so good that it simply can't be overlooked.

Joe Morgan: But I do want to add that I believe K-Rod should win the American League Cy Young. He's going to have over 60 saves, which no pitcher in baseball has ever done. When you do something like that, it seperates you and makes you the best in the league that year.

Holy Shit. This is extremely short-sighted, even for Morgan. How can anyone, with a straight face, say that K-Rod deserves the Cy Young over Cliff Lee? K-Rod has a worse ERA, ERA+, WHIP, OPS Against, etc. and he's a RELIEVER! Cliff Lee has literally thrown three times the amount of innings that Rodriguez has, while being better in practically every facet of the game.

You know what separates you and makes you the best in the league, Joe? Being the best in the league. Saves do not accomplish that. By your childish, naive logic, Joe Borowski was the best reliever in baseball last year despite having a 1.34 WHIP and an ERA over five. K-Rod is not even the best closer in the American League. Joe Nathan, Mariano Rivera, and Joakim Soria (just to name a few) are each having seasons that are drastically superior.

I would much rather have Carlos Delgado win the MVP award than see Francisco Rodriguez win the Cy Young. I think that pretty much sums up the absurdity of the proposal right there.

Since We're on the Subject

It seems that recently there's been a lot of MVP/Cy Young award talk going on, which makes sense as the season starts winding down; so I thought it'd be good to just let it be known what a few of ATH's picks are at this point. I'm fairly confident we all share the same opinions (having discussed this quite a few times), but I'm sure anyone who disagrees will let it be known soon enough. Here we go!

A.L. Cy Young








Cliff Lee







N.L. Cy Young








Tim Lincecum









A.L. MVP








Cliff Lee (Again)









N.L. MVP







Albert Pujols










Now, how many of these guys will actually win is another question. At this point, I'd say Lee will most likely win the AL Cy Young, but have no chance at the MVP (although he should). Lincecum has a decent shot at the NL Cy Young, but if Webb has even an okay September with 3-4 more wins I could see the voters easily giving it to him. Pujols, even though this should be one of the easier decisions, is probably a close call. He doesn't seem to be getting nearly as much recognition as he should and if his team falls out of the playoff race I could easily see it going to a David Wright, Chase Utley, Ryan Braun, or even a *gasp* Carlos Delgado. None of them should win it, but I could see the voters going that way.

There really wasn't any point to this post other than attempting to lay our picks out for scrutiny just as much as others.

One more month!

More MVP chatter

On the front page of mlb.com, we are presented with this lovely photo of Red Sox 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia:










Presumably, he either believes he can fly or is trying to act out something from "Hamlet 2". Anyway, the headline states:

MVPedroia? Second baseman makes his case

He is having a very nice season (.327/.372/.490, 59 XBH, 3rd among AL 2nd baseman in Revised Zone Rating, 6th in Out of Zone outs, 9th among AL position players in VORP). However, he must bow down to our current pick for AL MVP:



I bet if Lee pretended to be Jesus, he would get more MVP love.