Official Mlb Awards

[TMoneyBags 0]

Wow, that article made MY day. Man I hate that guy. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to give him a TV show. I want to see Mike Max back. I loved saying Pujols was a dime a dozen. Right buddy.

[wsox8 10]

I think either of them would have been a good choice but I picked Howard and think he is a great choiceforit.

[Zealous Donkey 0]

Really, they should just make a simple little formula of RBIs and HRs and let that system elect the MVP. Those are the glory stats and apparently the BWAA doesn't look any deeper than those anyway. Howard had a monster year, but Pujols is better in every other catagory.The gap between them in this area continues to expand... If Howard gets the MVP, going to be interesting to see how the voters talk their way around this one... Pujols RISP: .398 Howard RISP: 240 Pujols RISP 2 out: .439 Howard RISP 2 out: .227 Also, Pujols has driven in 78 runs when he's had those runners in scoring position. And Howard has driven in 74. But what makes that interesting is, Pujols has driven in FOUR MORE runs than Howard with RISP even though Howards HAS HAD 40 MORE AT-BATS in those situations. And with RISP and two outs, Howard has driven in 30 runs in 75 at-bats; Pujols has driven in 30 on only 41 at-bats. This is why, under the Harball Times "clutch" ratings system, Pujols ranks No. 3 in the NL with a rating of plus 11.7. And Howard ranks 75th in the NL with a rating of minus 9.5. This was by Bernie Miklas Forum in mid or late september. Also you have to remember Pujols won the Gold Glove for his defense this year. If the stats were reversed and Phillies made the playoffs, then Howard would have won in a landslide. Can you say EAST COAST BIAS. This will prove itself out in the future, so evidence will continue to mount over the years. BTW I love Ryan Howard, he is from Missouri and I love watching him play, but this was wrong, and all you have to do is look a little bit under the surface to understand that.

[Zealous Donkey 0]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/col...&id=2669162An excellent article on MVP voting.

[magnus72 0]

Justin Morneau AL MVP!!!!!!!!!

[greatwhite 0]

Justin Morneau AL MVP!!!!!!!!!

Jeter was robbed.

[TMoneyBags 0]

Ahhahaha. The Twins fifth best player won the AL MVP award.I stil find it funny that Mauer had comparable stats to Jeter and has never really considered for the award. Although he did end up 5th, which is a nice showing.

[mrdannyg 274]

Jeter was robbed if you ignore that he's below-average defensively.

unfunny FYP.i love that the Canadian boy got it, and over a Yankee and Boston player makes it all the sweeter. Not sure he deserved it though. I gotta give the edge to Ortiz.

Ahhahaha. The Twins fifth best player won the AL MVP award.

well, i like not giving it to Santana, even though he's arguably more valuable.Mauer is arguable, though I'd say that Morneau is more valuable.Who are the other two?

[greatwhite 0]

Ahhahaha. The Twins fifth best player won the AL MVP award.

5th? I think he's the second most valuable behind Santana. Third is arguable though.

[TMoneyBags 0]

Liriano, and Nathan. Not that they were 'more valueable'. But they are above Morneau on my Twins players rankings. Well, I suppose Liriano is currently off that list.Obviously that is just my thought, but I think its safe to say that ....1. Santana2. MauerThere is really no way that I can fully justify Morneau winning, but it's so great to see Jeter lose.Ok, so remember when the Twins started to go on their tear? From June 8th on, Morneua hit .361 with 23 HR and 92RBI.Maybe thats what the voters were looking at. Don't ask me.

[TMoneyBags 0]

Haha, in exploring blogs and comments on Morneau winning over Jeter I found comments blaming A-Rod for Jeter not winning because obviously everything that goes wrong in New York is A-Rods fault. And then I found this gem "He [Jeter] meant far more to his team than Morneau who was surrounded by Hunter, Mauer for pretty much a full season." Yes Mauer is a very, very good catcher, but honestly that is possibly the dumbest comment I've ever heard. Especially considering that Morneau didn't bat behind Mauer, he hit behind Cuddyer. Also Keith Law wrote about the injustice of the award over at ESPN.com, but noone should take that article for anything since he stated that Mauer won the gold glove award, which he didn't.

[TMoneyBags 0]

Ok, the main reason that I can see that Morneau won the 2006 AL MVP. After his and the team's bad starts, Morneau had a line that looked like.362/.411/.611 with 23 HR 72 R and 92 RBI while leading the league in H and TB in that stretchAnd, not coincidentally, the team started winning. Whereas Mauer actually performed at less of a level than he did when the team was losing at.333/.427/.495 with 8 HR 57 R and 55 RBISo when you look at it like that, there's really no question who the Twin's MVP was. Like I said before, I don't believe Morneau is our best player.

[Naslund44 0]

Justin Morneau, Steve Nash, Joe ThorntonCanada owns!

[aadams_22 3]

Jeter was robbed.

Hardly, the key words are "Most Valuable" not "best player." The Yankees are still in the playoffs without Jeter in the lineup. Without Morneau's bat the Twins are a sub .500 team.

[MDXS 0]

The pick of Morneau makes no sense. I don't know if I'd consider him the Twins' fifth best player, but he's clearly at best third. He had a great year, but he's at best 6th on my ballot, though almost definitely lower. What I find amusing is that this pick shows how thick sportswriters are. Here's how: They give Jeter the Hank Aaron award for most outstanding offensive player in the AL. Then, he gets a gold glove for the most crucial defensive position. Somehow he doesn't get the MVP. The writers think he's the best offensive player in the AL, one of the best defensive players and the best at the most important position, we know how they feel about his intangibles, and he played for a first place team, and yet they give it to an unspectacular first baseman who isn't one of the three best players on his team.Bizarre. Funny how Jeter gets all these awards he doesn't deserve, but misses out on the one he's got a strong case for. I could go on for a while, but there's no need. I will say that I won't lose any sleep over Jeter getting screwed.

Hardly, the key words are "Most Valuable" not "best player." The Yankees are still in the playoffs without Jeter in the lineup. Without Morneau's bat the Twins are a sub .500 team.

Fine, but by your definition, without Mauer's bat (and his glove at a key up the middle position) they'd be further under .500. The pick is arguably more retarded than giving Soriano 8 years for 17 per.

[aadams_22 3]

I will say that I won't lose any sleep over Jeter getting screwed.Fine, but by your definition, without Mauer's bat (and his glove at a key up the middle position) they'd be further under .500. The pick is arguably more retarded than giving Soriano 8 years for 17 per.

I sincerely hope you are being facetious.

[TMoneyBags 0]

Well, I'm not entirely sold that Mauer added more wins to the team than Morneau. First looking at the line from June 8th on. And secondly, I watched 90% of the games and try to take an objective look at things, and I can tell you that I believe that Morneau was a more valuable bat that Mauers. But that is not adjusting for position. Does the fact that Mauer plays a more demanding position make him more valuable, yes, probably, but I can't say that it made up the gap.

[MDXS 0]

I sincerely hope you are being facetious.

Of course. If I'm right, your team is out a lot of cash. Where's Soriano playing next year? I heard they may move him to center field. Still hitting leadoff, right? If he plays like he did last year, it'll be an okay move for the first couple years. If he plays like he did in Texas, it's a friggin' disaster. How much they overpay in the later years (and they will be....his defense and speed will only suffer with age) will be determined by how much salaries increase over that time. I'd say it's 50/50 the Cubs get raped on this one.

Well, I'm not entirely sold that Mauer added more wins to the team than Morneau. First looking at the line from June 8th on. And secondly, I watched 90% of the games and try to take an objective look at things, and I can tell you that I believe that Morneau was a more valuable bat that Mauers. But that is not adjusting for position. Does the fact that Mauer plays a more demanding position make him more valuable, yes, probably, but I can't say that it made up the gap.

Mauer has him outWARPed by a couple of games. Defense plays a decent role here.One thing Morneau does have over Mauer is WPA (win probability added). This measures the change in the probability of a team winning before and over an at bat by a player. Therefore, at bats in close games are more valuable than in blowouts and at bats late in the game are more important than early (usually). Ortiz once again lapped the whole league in this category. Jeter was second. I'm not sure how to reconcile this with WARP, but it does narrow the gap between Mauer and Morneau.For the record though, Santana would have my vote over the both of them.

[TMoneyBags 0]

Ah yes, WPA, I love that stat. Too bad Jeter is represented well in it. Where did you happen to find that at?

[timwakefield 68]

Of course. If I'm right, your team is out a lot of cash. Where's Soriano playing next year? I heard they may move him to center field. Still hitting leadoff, right? If he plays like he did last year, it'll be an okay move for the first couple years. If he plays like he did in Texas, it's a friggin' disaster. How much they overpay in the later years (and they will be....his defense and speed will only suffer with age) will be determined by how much salaries increase over that time. I'd say it's 50/50 the Cubs get raped on this one.

Yeah what's the deal with Soriano hitting leadoff? He doesn't walk very often, hits below .300, hits lots of homeruns, and is pretty fast. Sounds like a #2 or #3. And was he a good outfielder? I thought he still wanted to be an infielder.

[7s7c 0]

They're going to bat him leadoff and play CF following the departure of Juan Pierre to LA. As a Cards fan I really like that Chicago got him and not Houston. Houston can pitch.

[MDXS 0]

Yeah what's the deal with Soriano hitting leadoff? He doesn't walk very often, hits below .300, hits lots of homeruns, and is pretty fast. Sounds like a #2 or #3. And was he a good outfielder? I thought he still wanted to be an infielder.

The things I've seen make him a pretty good left fielder. He even had a suprisingly high total of outfield assists last year with 22, though that stat does not correlate necessarily with outfielder quality (see: Ramirez, Manny). I do know that he was a terrible second baseman and that would be his preferred position.

Ah yes, WPA, I love that stat. Too bad Jeter is represented well in it. Where did you happen to find that at?

Not sure where I found it the first time. The second time was here. Go to post 108 for the goods. It has not just this season, but the top WPA performers from the last 4 years. No suprise who number 1 is. Number 2 is both suprising and not at the same time. Here's a link for WPA for everyone. I sorted it by "clutchiness" with the bottom of the barrel listed first. Hillenbrand being third worst made my day (that and getting out of work early).The rest of that thread is a fairly interesting MVP balloting breakdown with the general feeling being that Mauer vs. Jeter is a great debate, but Morneau was a bad choice. Some other tidbits:-The writer from Chicago (Cowley, I think) left Mauer of his ballot, but kept Pierzynski. I wasn't shocked to hear that he had his voting priviledges taken away before for voting like an idiot. -Four other people left Mauer off the ballot entirely. (How??)-Most of the stray votes for people (like Harner's second) were from the city where the player plays (not suprising). -Santana's one first place vote was from Dallas.

[aadams_22 3]

Of course. If I'm right, your team is out a lot of cash. Where's Soriano playing next year? I heard they may move him to center field. Still hitting leadoff, right? If he plays like he did last year, it'll be an okay move for the first couple years. If he plays like he did in Texas, it's a friggin' disaster. How much they overpay in the later years (and they will be....his defense and speed will only suffer with age) will be determined by how much salaries increase over that time. I'd say it's 50/50 the Cubs get raped on this one.

I wasn't referring to Soriano.

[MDXS 0]

I wasn't referring to Soriano.

Ah, well, nope, not facetious. The Twins would suffer more without Mauer than Morneau. It's real hard to find a catcher that good.

[oldirtyharry 0]

Ah, well, nope, not facetious. The Twins would suffer more without Mauer than Morneau. It's real hard to find a catcher that good.

I agree.