2012 MLB Mid-Season Awards

[Primetime]

It's that time of the year again...


NL MVP:
AL MVP:
NL Cy Young:
AL Cy Young:
NL ROTY:
AL ROTY:
NL MOTY:
AL MOTY:

 

[Primetime]

NL MVP: Joey Votto
AL MVP: Mike Trout
NL Cy Young: R.A. Dickey
AL Cy Young: Chris Sale
NL ROTY: Wade Miley
AL ROTY: Mike Trout
NL MOTY: Davey Johnson
AL MOTY: Buck Showalter

 

[EmpireWF]

NL MVP: CF Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates

I looked at 4 guys for this (McCutchen, Votto, Holliday, Wright) above the others. These 4 have the best numbers and are playing for first place or second place teams. My homer hat says I must go with Wright and he does have some numbers you can make a case for (59 RBI, 16 less strikeouts than the next guy, .352/.443/.567 and a 1.010 OPS), but I can't look away from McCutchen. 109 H (leads these 4), 5 3B (leads), 16 HR (leads), 14 SB (leads), .359 BA (leads), .605 SLG (#2) and 1.017 OPS (#2). It'd be nice if he walked more (28:62 BB:SO) but he's the #1 reason the Pirates are in first. Back to being a homer…Wright leads the NL in WAR :cap:

AL MVP: OF Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

The 4 I looked at here (Trout, Cabrera, Hamilton, Cano), but it really comes down to Hamilton or Trout. Do you take the kid who helped change the Angels season as they have the best record in baseball since he was called up. Or do you take the star of the, consistently best in the AL, Rangers? Hamilton has played in 15 more games (40 more ABs) so he has better numbers for the most part (Trout only edges him out in Runs, Triples, less Strikeouts, more steals, BA, OBP…they're tied in Doubles). BUT, Trout's WAR is 1.5 points better. That is incredible. That along with the fact the Angels have been a totally different team with him, he's the first half MVP.

NL Cy Young: R.A. Dickey, New York Mets

This comes down to 7 guys (Cueto, McDonald, Dickey, Cain, Strasburg, Kershaw, Gonzalez) but come on…you know who the first half Cy Young is…KNUCKLEBALL! R.A. Dickey leads all NL pitchers in WAR (3.6 to Cueto's 3.5). Tied for wins with Gio with 12, best WHIP, 4th in SO/9, 2 shutouts, 3 complete games, 2nd in strikeouts (five less than Strasburg).

AL Cy Young: Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels

Here, we have Sale, Wilson, Verlander, Price, Peavy and Weaver. This is a tough one because common sense says Verlander with his enormous IP count. WAR has it Sale (4.4), Verlander (4.4), Peavy (3.9), Price (2.7) and Weaver (2.6). I love Weaver this year, but he's only thrown 96.2 innings (Verlander has over 130). There is something to be said for durability. Verlander and Wilson have each tossed 18 starts..Verlander has 20 more innings and has a lower WHIP and a lower BAA with 19 less walks. Chris Sale has great numbers, too, including a sub .200 BAA but he's thrown 102 IP and if you consider him, then Weaver must be the Cy Young.

Fuck it, I'm changing my mind. This award is not the most valuable pitcher…it's BEST PITCHER. Jered Weaver has 15 starters on the year (just 3 less than Verlander/Wilson) and in 96.2 IP, 65 H, 21 ER, 5 HR, 22 BB, 73 K. 0.90 WHIP, 1.88 BAA. Leads in walks & hits per IP and threw a no-hitter, too.

NL ROTY: OF Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals

Miley, Cozart and Harper are the legitimate options (I like Wilin Rosario as much as the next guy but a .247 BA and a .279 OBP are not getting it done no matter if he has almost double the HRs Harper has). Harper gets the nod over Cozart for having better power numbers (8 HR to Cozart's 9 in 18 fewer games….8 more RBI). Harper is hitting .283/.355/.475, all better than the Reds SS. Plus, his OPS is .831. He's got all the production you could want (2B, 3B, BB, SB and of course, runs). Miley with 100 IP under his belt has a 70:21 SO/BB ratio, with a 1.09 WHIP and .232 BAA. A 9-5 record for 3rd place Diamondbacks is a hell of a half-year for a rookie starter. He hasn't been helped out by their offense in his losses, but Harper will of course get it.

AL ROTY: OF Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

You know why.

NL MOTY: Davey Johnson, Washington Nationals

Yes, the Nats exceeded expectations so far and have been the mainstay atop the NL East for the majority of the season. They have the 3rd best home record and the best road record in the NL (2nd best in MLB). He has done a hell of a job, with the aid of a great pitching staff that's the only group in the majors to not have given up at least 300 runs yet. Impressive. Other candidates include Terry Collins (Mets), Clint Hurdle (Pirates) and Don Mattingly (Dodgers).

AL MOTY: Buck Showalter, Baltimore Orioles

This is an easy one. The Orioles are a winning team for the first time in forever it seems. Despite being 2nd behind NYY in the AL East, they are 6 games above .500 as of today. The best bullpen in the majors has helped them, even if they've cooled off a bit of late (4-6 in their last 10). Nobody expected Baltimore to be playoff contenders, so far they are. Other candidates include Robin Ventura (White Sox), Ron Washington (Rangers), Joe Girardi (Yankees) and Manny Acta (Indians)

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

NL Rookie A: 179 AB, .279/.347/.559, .905 OPS, 13 doubles, 5 triples, 9 HR, 29 RBI

NL Rookie B: 244 AB, .283/.355/.475, .831 OPS, 15 doubles, 4 triples, 8 HR, 25 RBI

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

If you don't pick A, you sleep with the fishes.

 

[Goober]

Wade Miley is a rookie of the year candidate? LOL. I understand it's an off year for rookies in the NL, but come on.

 

[Len B]

:toddfather:

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Wade Miley is a rookie of the year candidate? LOL. I understand it's an off year for rookies in the NL, but come on.

9-5, 3.04 ERA, higher fWAR than any of the position players. I'd say he's a strong candidate right now. What's your beef?

 

[Goober]

9-5, 3.04 ERA, higher fWAR than any of the position players. I'd say he's a strong candidate right now. What's your beef?

There's nothing exciting about him, the low strikeout totals, and declining performance screams bottom of the rotation pitcher at best. His ERA by month:
April: 1.29
May: 3.16
June: 3.46
July: 5.40
He's regressing to the mean quickly. With rookie of the year voting, I'd rather award the player who has had the most outstanding performance, even if the sample size is smaller. Miley's value is coming from eating innings, which just doesn't do it for me. I don't think he's the best NL rookie pitcher, let alone best overall rookie.

 

[EmpireWF]

I don't think he's the best NL rookie pitcher, let alone best overall rookie.

So, that'd be Mike Fiers?

 

[Goober]

So, that'd be Mike Fiers?

Fiers and Lance Lynn, yes. One of these things is not like the other:

6.26 K/9, 3.52 FIP
9.17 K/9, 3.33 FIP
9.64 K/9, 2.06 FIP

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

There's nothing exciting about him, the low strikeout totals, and declining performance screams bottom of the rotation pitcher at best. His ERA by month:
April: 1.29
May: 3.16
June: 3.46
July: 5.40
He's regressing to the mean quickly. With rookie of the year voting, I'd rather award the player who has had the most outstanding performance, even if the sample size is smaller. Miley's value is coming from eating innings, which just doesn't do it for me. I don't think he's the best NL rookie pitcher, let alone best overall rookie.

Ah, I should have figured there was a Brewers angle to this.

The Brewer has made 10 less starts than Lance Lynn, and half the starts of Miley. For me, he hasn't played enough yet to be in the conversation. Let's see where they all stand by the end of the year, when Fiers has a chance to "regress to the mean" the same way the other two have as of late.

 

[Leftwich]

Gob hates every player on my team he doesn't want.

 

[Goober]

Ah, I should have figured there was a Brewers angle to this.

The Brewer has made 10 less starts than Lance Lynn, and half the starts of Miley. For me, he hasn't played enough yet to be in the conversation. Let's see where they all stand by the end of the year, when Fiers has a chance to "regress to the mean" the same way the other two have as of late.

Okay, but what's the logic of taking Miley over Lynn? Similar numbers, except Lynn has a few more walks but I think that is outweighed by the far superior strikeout numbers.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Okay, but what's the logic of taking Miley over Lynn? Similar numbers, except Lynn has a few more walks but I think that is outweighed by the far superior strikeout numbers.

I didn't take Miley over anybody. I said he was a strong "Mid Season ROY" candidate. So is Lynn.

 

[Goober]

I didn't take Miley over anybody. I said he was a strong "Mid Season ROY" candidate. So is Lynn.

I think, comparing the numbers you can quickly write off Miley.

 

[Goober]

Also I think it's worth pointing out that empire thinks Matt Holliday is a strong MVP candidate. Please note empire, the Cardinals are not a first or second place team, which goes against your apparent selection criteria.:yao: This is a player who isn't even Top Ten in the NL in most categories, and highest ranking is fifth in runs. Dude should not be mentioned in this discussion.

 

[Woy]

Lynn is not eligible for ROTY consideration. Too much service time.

NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen
AL MVP: Mike Trout
NL Cy Young: R.A. Dickey
AL Cy Young: Chris Sale
NL ROTY: Bryce Harper
AL ROTY: Mike Trout
NL MOTY: Clint Hurdle
AL MOTY: Buck Showalter

 

[Goober]

Fangraphs lists Lynn as a rookie, I just assumed they were correct.

 

[Woy]

Fangraphs lists Lynn as a rookie, I just assumed they were correct.

Nope. Lynn was with the 25-man roster from June to August last year, exceeding 45 days thus ending his rookie eligibility.