Fuck a PM, my ballot is public.
I still place some value on team success for MVP, until they remove the word "valuable" from the award. I probably weigh it 80/20 but make obvious exceptions. For me, if it was meant to be stat based only, it would be Most Outstanding Player.
NL MVP
1. Ryan Braun
2. Buster Posey
3. Andrew McCutchen
4. Aramis Ramirez
5. Matt Holliday
6. Carlos Beltran
7. Adam LaRoche
8. Todd Frazier
9. Craig Kimbrel
10. Aroldis Chapman
Kimbrel & Chapman were too dominant to leave off. Nobody respects the closer until your team doesn't have one and can't finish games...Braun had the best offensive season...McCutchen lost this with his horrid August, the month that his team also fell apart. Had he performed well in August, all other things being equal, he wins for me...The Reds are not in the playoffs without Frazier, who filled in for Rolen, and then more importantly, filled in for Votto for 51 games. No Frazier would have meant Miguel Cairo (.498 OPS, which is not a mistake) receiving all of that playing time...No Votto on my list. who missed 51 games. Reds had higher winning percentage without him, and pulled away while he was hurt.
NL Cy Young
1. RA Dickey
2. Gio Gonzalez
3. Johnny Cueto
4. Craig Kimbrel
5. Aroldis Chapman
Dickey was he most dominant pitcher from start to finish, and had a mid season stretch where he was literally unhittable. Won 20 and led the league in strikeouts...Cueto led the league in adjusted ERA and put up a 2.78 pitching most of his games in GAB. Was 8-3 following a Reds loss. Did not allow a single SB, and led the league in pickoffs...I went with the closers over Kershaw, Cain, etc because they were historically dominant and it should not be ignored.
NL Rookie
1. Todd Frazier
2. Bryce Harper
3. Wilin Rosario
4. Wade Miley
5. Norichika Aoki
Frazier had a better slash line than Harper, drove in more runs, and had six less EBH in 133 less AB's. He also filled in at three positions, including filling in more than adequately for Votto for 50 games and carrying the Reds through long stretches. A hideous September is the only reason it ended up close. Frazier was the better player for 5 out of 6 months...Rosario plays awful defense but hit 28 HR's in less than 400 AB's...Aoki quietly had a very good season.
NL Manager
1. Dusty Baker
2. Bruce Bochy
3. Bud Black
4. Don Mattingly
5. Terry Collins
Baker won the NL Central going away without the best hitter in the NL for 51 games. Did his best job probably ever in handling a pitching staff that lost its closer (Madson) & top setup man (Masset) before the season even started, and had another top RP (Bray) for 8 innings. Took heat for moving Chapman to the pen, a move that may have saved the season...Bochy faced similar injury/suspension issues. Did a great job juggling bullpen arms and surviving the Lincecum disaster...Bud Black was handed a bad roster, saw what some thought was his best player do virtually nothing (Maybin), and held it together to the point that they not only never quit, but briefly crawled into the WC race...No Davey Johnson on my list, because shutting down Strasburg when you have a chance to win it all is asinine, especially when there is zero medical evidence that supports the move.
AL MVP
1. Miguel Cabrera
2. Mike Trout
3. Robinson Cano
4. Adrian Beltre
5. Prince Fielder
6. Josh Hamilton
7. Edwin Encarnacion
8. Josh Willingham
9. Adam Jones
10. Fernando Rodney
It's been beaten to death. Cabrera was the best hitter in baseball by a wide margin and won the Triple Crown. Trout wins in any other year. Not this year...Hamilton slips down my list for his awful mid season slump, and disastrous dropped fly ball...Rodney for the same reason as the NL closers. Too dominant to ignore, especially in favor of some random 30 HR guy on a 70 win team.
AL Cy Young
1. Justin Verlander
2. David Price
3. Jared Weaver
4. Felix Hernandez
5. Fernando Rodney
Verlander barely edges out Price...Try hards will point to Weavers peripherals, I don't care. All that matters to me is the results. Lowest WHIP, lowest BA against, third in ERA, 20 wins. I dont care how he arrived there, only that he did...Rodney too good to leave off. Lowest ERA in decades. Didn't give up runs, let alone leads.
AL Rookie
1. Mike Trout
2. Yoenis Cespedes
3. Yu Darvish
4. Jarrod Parker
5. Tommy Milone
Duh. Top three were easy, bottom two could go to Parker, Milone, Chen, Diamond, or Moore. Maybe even Montero or Middlebrooks. I went with the Oakland pitchers.
AL Manager
1. Buck Showalter
2. Bob Melvin
3. Robin Ventura
4. Joe Maddon
5. Joe Girardi
I give the slight edge to Buck, because I think Melvin has a far superior pitching staff to work with. How Buck pieced together that staff all year is a mystery, with the likes of Randy Wolf off of the scrap heap making key starts...I hate not voting for Melvin, who smartly used platoons, worked with a bevy of rookie starters, and was not afraid to change closers frequently...Girardi was bashed mercilessly in NY for his infamous "book", but he faced a ton of injury issues, survived shaky starting pitching, and lost Mariano Rivera yet still managed to hold it together. Only good for fifth when you have the Yankees payroll advantages, though.
