EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted July 9, 2007 Pretty self-explanatory. AL MVP: Magglio Ordonez, Det Alex Rodriguez holds a slight lead in OPS. Ordonez however holds a 33 point lead in On Base Percentage, a key statistic. I don't think Rodriguez's defense covers the difference. NL MVP: Chase Utley, Phi Utley currently leads the National League in runs created. He is fourth in OPS and when you consider he plays a key up-the-middle position, I think it is an obvious choice. Barry Bonds has the rate statistics covered but is hurt by missing 10% of his games. AL Cy Young: Dan Haren, Oak I'm not entirely convinced (he looked shaky when I saw him pitch live), but you can't argue with results. Haren holds a 10-3 record and leads the AL in ERA. NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy, SD A close race between Peavy, Brad Penny and now Chris Young has pitched his way into the discussion. I give the edge to Peavy thanks to his league-leading strikeout total. AL Rookie of the Year: Jeremy Guthrie, Bal Surprise pitcher is second in ERA in the American League. Absolutely pathetic run support has hurt his win/loss record. As good as Guthrie is, his ERA strictly as a starter is a mere 2.16. NL Rookie of the Year: Hunter Pence, Hou It's not even close right now. AL Manager of the Year: Jim Leyland, Det A team many felt was a one-year wonder now sports a BETTER winning percentage than they did last season. NL Manager of the Year: Bobby Cox, Atl Atlanta is back in contention with another young core. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vivalaultra 0 Report post Posted July 9, 2007 AL Cy Young: Dan Haren-I'm betting Johan comes on strong in the second half and takes it, but, for now, Haren's in. NL Cy Young: Brad Penny-Really close betwixt he, Peavy, and Young. AL MVP: Magglio Ordonez-Yeah. NL MVP: Prince Fielder-Leads the league in HRs, leading the offense on a contending Brewers' team. AL ROY: Hideki Okajima-Sorry Dice-K, but Okajima is the crown jewel of the Orient this season. 43 IP/24 hits/4 ER/0.83 ERA/539 ERA+/0.831 WHIP. NL ROY: Hunter Pence-Easily. His .342 BA not only leads NL Rookies, it leads the whole National League. He's a goofy looking guy that doesn't look 'good' doing anything, but he does everything well. Leads all rookies in RBI (42), 3rd in HRs (11), 1st in doubles (23), 1st in OPS (.956), 1st in Total Bases (162), 1st in Extra Base Hits (40). Yeah, Hunter Pence wins this thing walking away. Ryan Braun, Tulowitzki, Josh Hamilton are all having good seasons, but Hunter Pence is having a better season than any rookie and a better season than a lot of non-rookies. He's been 'due for a regression' because he doesn't take a lot of walks or something else for the last month and a half, but it hasn't happened yet. His worst statistical month was June where he hit .314/.336/.542 with 11 2Bs, 2 3Bs, and 3 HRs. I'm not speaking as a homer, but I could see Hunter winning the batting title in the NL this year in addition to his ROY award. The kid's ridiculous. AL Manager of the Year: Eric Wedge NL Manager of the Year: Ned Yost Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheech Tremendous 0 Report post Posted July 9, 2007 AL MVP - Alex Rodriguez, NYY It's a near dead heat between him and Ordonez from the plate. Magglio is slightly better at getting on base, which is offset by A-Rod's power advantage. I gave A-Rod the nod because of his superior defense and baserunning along with the fact that many of his biggest hits have come in key moments for the Yankees this year. AL Cy Young - Dan Haren, OAK Haren's been the best pitcher in baseball this year to the surprise of many. He just edges out Johan for the first half honors, due to better ERA and HR/9 rates. AL ROY - Jeremy Guthrie, BAL Guthrie has been absolutely filthy this year. A true out of nowhere performance. AL MOY - Terry Francona, BOS I could go with him or Eric Wedge. Boston is sporting the best record in baseball desptite some abysmal performances from many of their players. Tito's done a good job at masking the team's deficiencies. NL MVP - Barry Bonds, SF No standout performer in the NL to give the award to. Utley, Hanley and Miggy have all put together good performances as well. Bonds is leading the league in OBP and OPS, which is enough to give him the nod. NL Cy Young - Jake Peavy, SD This could be a tie between him and Brad Penny. Peavy's got the advantage in K. NL ROY - Hunter Pence, HOU Nothing to say here. NL MOY - Ned Yost, MIL Milwaukee's been great this year. Yost has made the most out of a young squad and made a few unique roster moves that have worked out to the team's advantage. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KingPK 0 Report post Posted July 9, 2007 AL MVP - Magglio Ordonez NL MVP - Prince Fielder AL Cy Young - Dan Haren NL Cy Young - Jake Peavy AL ROY - Hideki Okajima (he and Papelbon make the 8th and 9th innings a mere formality most nights) NL ROY - Hunter Pence AL MOY - Eric Wedge NL MOY - Ned Yost Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
World's Worst Man 0 Report post Posted July 9, 2007 I like Alex Rodriguez for AL MVP. His slugging percentage is 61 points higher than Ordonez, and while his average and OBP are lower, they're still respectable. NL MVP is tough. I like Fielder or Holliday I think. Fielder's slugging is still .620 even though he had been struggling. His average and OBP aren't great though. Holliday has a terrible OBP compared to his average, but is hitting .343 with a .573 slugging. I suppose Utley could be thrown in too, as he has a similar OBP, slightly higher OBP, and slightly lower average than Holliday. AL Cy Young is Dan Haren's to lose as this point. His numbers are just better than everyone else. Chris Young over Jake Peavy for NL Cy Young due to the lower ERA. They have identical WHIP and Peavy has a better K/BB ratio, but ERA is more important. Really could go either way though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brett Favre 0 Report post Posted July 9, 2007 AL MVP - Alex Rodriguez NL MVP - Prince Fielder AL Cy Young - Dan Haren NL Cy Young - Jake Peavy AL ROY - Daisuke Matsuzaka NL ROY - Hunter Pence AL MOY - Eric Wedge NL MOY - Ned Yost Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MFer 0 Report post Posted July 9, 2007 AL MVP: Maggs AL CY: Haren AL ROY: Okajima AL MOY: Leyland (Hargrove if he had stuck around) NL MVP: Prince (just barely over Holliday) NL CY: Peavy NL ROY: Pence NL MOY: Yost (not as impressive as it seems IMO, but no other great options) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dandy 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 Anyone that doesn't have Pence for NL ROY needs smacked. One of the finest rookies I've seen in a while. NL MVP is hard for me. I want to say Fielder because of Milwaukee's success and his part in that. I'd almost give Jake Peavy and Chris Young Co-MVP's right now, though. I'll say Fielder. NL Cy Young is a terrific race. Brad Penny is having a terrific season, but trails the big two in SO's. I'd like to see a "run support" statistic for Peavy, Young and Penny. Al? Before looking at that stat, I'll say Peavy for the commanding lead in SO's. NL Manager goes to Bud Black in my opinion, because it has to be hard to win if your team can't hit very well. In the AL MVP race, I give it to Maggs. Awesome year so far. ARod has great stats and has been phenomenal late in the game, but in my eyes he suffers because he can't get his team to win. Most people say this shouldn't matter, but I think the MVP should be someone that is so valuable that they pretty much carry the team. Detroit has several good bats, but Ordonez is where it's at right now. AL ROY---Dice-K AL Cy Young---Dan Haren leading by a lot. As for AL Manager, I'm torn. Eric Wedge or Jim Leyland? Stupid reason, but I have always liked Leyland so I will pick him in a toss-up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 NL Cy Young is a terrific race. Brad Penny is having a terrific season, but trails the big two in SO's. I'd like to see a "run support" statistic for Peavy, Young and Penny. Al? Before looking at that stat, I'll say Peavy for the commanding lead in SO's. These numbers are adjusted per 27 outs. Numbers are courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Brad Penny (5.31) Jake Peavy (5.02) Chris Young (4.14) What does it mean? Given a team with average pitching (4.5 runs allowed per game), the team scoring 5.31 runs/game would win 94 games a season. The 5.02 team would win 90 and the 4.14 team would win 74. That's just for perspective. If you click on any player on baseball-reference.com, check their gamelogs for 2007 and scroll to the bottom, you can check out their run support for the season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vivalaultra 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 I have nothing to add about the mid-season awards threads. I just wanted to point out something about run support. Roger Clemens left the Astros because he wasn't getting enough run support to go to the offensive juggernaut Yankees. Last season, his avg. run support was 3.80 runs per game. This year it's 2.90 runs per game. That's not so much about run support as it is just pointless Clemens bitching, but yeah. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 Also 3.43 in 2005. Which is an object lesson as to how a pitcher who obviously "knows how to win" can win just 13 games over a full season despite a 1.87 ERA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest joshtothemaxx Report post Posted July 10, 2007 Anybody that really thinks a pitcher "knows how to win" is a fool. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 Anybody that really thinks a pitcher "knows how to win" is a fool. Of course. Usually that's the standard media response to a poor W/L record despite otherwise good statistics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dandy 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 Thanks for the stats, Al. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheech Tremendous 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 Let us not forget to honor the first half's Least Valuable Player: Julio Lugo. It's not everyday that a player with a sub-.600 OPS keeps his starting job on a contending team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 Let us not forget to honor the first half's Least Valuable Player: Julio Lugo. It's not everyday that a player with a sub-.600 OPS keeps his starting job on a contending team. Julio Lugo? You've got to go with probably Jason Kendall (lower OPS, less power, less speed). Craig Monroe is also a strong candidate since he plays a corner. In the National League it's (sadly) Omar Vizquel. Any of those choices are better than Pat Burrell. (Really now Jayson Stark, a player with an above-average OPS? Yes he's overpaid but that's not an MVP criteria. Otherwise we'd only give the MVP to players making the league minimum.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brett Favre 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 Omar Vizquel really dropped. If he had like 3 more seasons like he had last year, with 2-3 more gold gloves, would he be a HOFer? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
USC Wuz Robbed! 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 How can anyone pick Dice K? He's not even the ROTY of his own team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheech Tremendous 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 How can anyone pick Dice K? He's not even the ROTY of his own team. Dice-K got off to a somewhat rocky start, but has been lights out ever since. He's probably one of the ten best pitchers in the league right now. Not to put down what Pedroia or Okajima have accomplished, but getting 6 or 7 quality innings every five days is worth a hell of a lot in my book. He's not my pick for ROY, but I think he's been the most valuable rookie to the Red Sox. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brett Favre 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 A starter is more valuable than a reliever, and he has really good numbers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 Omar Vizquel really dropped. If he had like 3 more seasons like he had last year, with 2-3 more gold gloves, would he be a HOFer? I'm inclined to say no. Vizquel at his peak was never close to one of the top players in baseball, which is important. I know people will draw comparisons to Ozzie Smith. Ozzie was better with the glove however, and he was actually more valuable at the plate. Ozzie made 15 All-Star teams and drew votes in six MVP races, finishing as high as second. Vizquel made three All-Star teams, never started, and in his career was named on ONE MVP ballot. At eighth place. In Vizquel you have a player who was never considered a big star or contributor, but people give him consideration because he was a very good defensive player and played a long time. Essentially, he's the defensive equivalent of Harold Baines. How can anyone pick Dice K? He's not even the ROTY of his own team. I hope you're referring to Dustin Pedroia, because the Okajima love is starting to annoy me. I think there's a good argument for Matsuzaka. A 3.84 ERA is immensely valuable in Fenway Park. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob_barron 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 Vizquel is one of those guys who was very good, but not great. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dandy 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 Any Least Valuable Player talk has to consider Pavano whether he played a game this year or not. That's quite the bang for your buck, there. Eric Milton, as well, who I would say is the worst free agent acquisition ever for the Reds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheech Tremendous 0 Report post Posted July 10, 2007 At least Pavano stays on the DL where he can't do any damage. Lugo has had over 330 plate appearances this year and has got on base less than 30% of the time. He's like a swirling black vortex where the Red Sox offense goes to die. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0 Report post Posted July 14, 2007 I was at Modell's today and Pavano merch is moving as slow one would expect. I can't even vote for these awards thus far though because I haven't been paying attention outside of the Yankees. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted July 14, 2007 I think it has been proven that Julio Lugo was the most overrated player in baseball. He is just a bad hitter. Juan Pierre is a shitty player too, but at least he's doing something. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
At Home 0 Report post Posted July 14, 2007 AL ROY - Reggie Willits Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
