My 2020 IBWAA Awards Votes for AL and NL Managers of the Year

 Aaron Boone is not the American League's Manager of the Year. In fact, I didn't even list him on my ballot (and for good reason). The New York Yankees were supposed to steam roll the entire American League en-route to a trip to the World Series and an eventual 28th World Series Championship for the franchise. All these things could still happen, but it will have to come as the 6th seed in the American League playoffs. To quote the manager that Boone replaced, it's not what you want. 

American League Manager of the Year: Rick Renteria (CHW)

Not many had the Chicago White Sox shocking the world and making the postseason in 2020, but I did, and the reason for much of their success has to start at the top. Their management rebuilt from within and did it the right way, and dividends are starting to pay off for the team, the management, and for manager Rick Renteria. Renteria had the AL's top spot until the final weekend of the season and absolutely deserves the AL's top manager award in my opinion. The only other manager who could give Renteria a run for his money, in my opinion, is Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays. 

                        National League Manager of the Year: Don Mattingly (MIA)

The National League is a no-brainer for me, and not much needs to be said about it. Don Mattingly led the Miami Marlins, 60-game crazy season or not, to the postseason. David Ross and David Bell would have probably been frontrunners in any other season, but not in 2020. The undefeated (in the postseason) Miami Marlins enter the postseason ready to upset some people, and I am here for it. 

My 2020 IBWAA Awards Votes for AL and NL Rookies of the Year

The race for the American League Rookie of the Year Award may have been one of the most entertaining awards races to watch down the stretch with the Chicago White Sox Phenom Luis Robert contending with Kyle Lewis of the Seattle Mariners for much of the season. Unfortunately, the Yankees did not have anyone who really entered the discussion this year, although that doesn't take away from the amazing season that Deivi Garcia and other Yankees enjoyed. Robert and Lewis were just on another level. Meanwhile, in the National League, the pitching side of things showcases a bright future for teams like the Miami Marlins and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but there was a certain guy out in San Diego that has been watching Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis a little too much to lose here in 2020. 

AL Rookie of the Year: Luis Robert (CHW)

For much of the season Robert and Lewis went back-and-forth, but Robert pulled ahead in the final three weeks of the season to secure the award, in my opinion. Robert and Lewis were neck-and-neck for much of the season, but while Lewis came down to Earth just a little, Robert got even better. At one point Robert and his surprise (to some) Chicago White Sox had the top seed in the American League before faltering on the final weekend of the season and settling for a third seed. 

NL Rookie of the Year: Jake Cronenworth (SD)

Listen, I love Dustin May as much as the next guy, and I really enjoyed watching Sixto Sanchez pitch before many of you knew who he was (admittedly, before 2020 I didn't know who he was, but Derek Jeter owns the Miami Marlins so I pay attention to his farm system), but Jake Cronenworth ran away with the NL Rookie of the Year vote in my opinion. Every good young team builds up the middle and the Padres have done with that middle infielder (and relief pitcher, in a pickle) Cronenworth. Cronenworth did a little bit of everything here in 2020 and is probably the most complete package of the three listed. 

My 2020 IBWAA Awards Votes for AL and NL Cy Young

The 2020 regular season is over and the Most Valuable Players from the offensive side of the game have been voted on, but what about the pitching. Good pitching beats good hitting, right? So, with that said, these guys should be mowing down everyone who was on that MVP list, right? Predictions incoming...

AL Cy Young Award: Shane Beiber (CLE)

There isn't much that really needs to be said here because no one is really anywhere on the level that Shane Beiber is this season. Liam Hendricks is in the discussion, as are Gerrit Cole and Kenta Maeda, but that's only because there is a discussion that needs to be had. Beiber leads in most every statistical category and just pitched out of his mind all season long. Beiber may win today, and may win the AL Cy Young, but I am okay with that as long as Cole wins on Tuesday night in Game One of the postseason. 

NL Cy Young Award: Trevor Bauer

The Cincinnati Reds have already announced that they were willing to do whatever they had to in order to keep Trevor Bauer after the 2020 season, but a National League Cy Young Award will make that pretty difficult in my opinion. I don't think the Yankees will even be in the discussion for Bauer this winter, so that is not factoring into my decision, but I think he will be one of the highest touted pitchers this winter after a strong 2020 campaign. The win/loss record isn't there, but the peripherals are. Bauer finished the season with 100 strikeouts, two shutouts, and an ERA under 2.00. Yu Darvish is probably going to finish second in the voting and had one more start than Bauer did, with comparable stats. My ballot was finished off with Max Fried, Clayton Kershaw and of course Jacob deGrom. 

Predicting the 2019 Season: The MVP’s

And finally, the big one. The award that every player, pitcher or positional player, dreams of winning. The Most Valuable Player Award. Who will be the most outstanding, and subsequently the most valuable, player in each league in 2019? Well, if you’re using my predictions as a gauge, I can tell you that this is your first mistake, but even a blind squirrel eventually finds a nut. At least I hope, anyway.

If I am going to be wrong anyway at least I will be able to say looking back on these predictions that I was bold. The easy pick to win the American League MVP Award is to pick Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, etc., but that’s not me. I am picking Houston Astros infielder Alex Bregman. Bregman quietly had a great season in 2018 and is still only 24-years old, he turns 25-years old later this month. Bregman is just not ENTERING his prime and is still putting up the .286/.394/.532/.926 slash with 31 home runs and 103 RBI that he put up in 2018. The sky is the limit for this guy, folks, and I think that sky peaks this season with an AL MVP Award. Plus, he hates Boston possibly as much as I do… which isn’t nothing.

If I go bold in the AL, I have to go bold in the National League as well, right? I mean, it’s only fair, so with my National League pick I am going to go with a right-handed hitting first baseman out of the Philadelphia Phillies organization. His name is Rhys Hoskins, and not only will he win the NL MVP Award, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that he wins the 2019 State Farm Home Run Derby as well. Book it, it’s happening. Hoskins turns 26-years old this month and is coming off a season where he hit .246/.354/.496/.850 with 34 home runs and 96 RBI. Now he has Andrew McCutchen and others protecting him and getting on base in front of him, so look out for him here in 2019.

Those are your MVP Award winner predictions, and I guess they could go down as bold predictions as well. Check back with me in November or so to see how well, or not-so-well, I did. Enjoy!

My IBWAA 2018 MLB Awards Ballot Reveal

2018 IBWAA Season Awards Ballot

	AL MVP	AL CY YOUNG	AL ROY	AL MANAGER	AL RELIEVER
1	MOOKIE BETTS	CHRIS SALE	MIGUEL ANDUJAR	KEVIN CASH	EDWIN DIAZ
2	JOSE RAMIREZ	IAN SNELL	GLEYBER TORRES	BOB MELVIN	CRAIG KIMBREL
3	MIKE TROUT	LUIS SEVERINO	SHOHEI OTANI	ALEX CORA	AROLDIS CHAPMAN
4	JD MARTINEZ	JUSTIN VERLANDER
5	FRANCISCO LINDOR	COREY KLUBER
6	MATT CHAPMAN
7	AARON JUDGE
8	JOSE ALTUVE
9	GIANCARLO STANTON
10	CHRIS SALE

	NL MVP	NL CY YOUNG	NL ROY	NL MANAGER	NL RELIEVER
1	NOLAN ARENADO	JACOB DEGROM	RONALD ACUNA	CRAIG COUNSELL	KENLEY JANSEN
2	FREDDIE FREEMAN	MAX SCHERZER	JUAN SOTO	GABE KAPLER	FELIPE VAZQUEZ
3	LORENZO CAIN	AARON NOLA	BRIAN ANDERSON	BRIAN SNITKER	RAISEL IGLESIAS
4	JAVIER BAEZ	PATRICK CORBIN
5	MATT CARPENTER	ZACK GREINKE
6	CHRISTIAN YELICH
7	PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT
8	EUGENIO SUAREZ
9	JACOB DEGROM
10	MAX SCHERZER

And the 2018 “Stephen Drew Sucks Award” Goes To….

The 2018 season and the annual “Stephen Drew Sucks Award” given out here on The Greedy Pinstripes has a little bit of a different feel to it. Last year and in years past we have always given this award to not only one of the players on the roster that we expected to fall far below expectations, but we also prefaced the award presentation by stating that this player would receive far too much playing time than he deserved because of manager Joe Girardi’s insistence on playing a veteran over a rookie or young guy at all costs. With the hiring of new manager Aaron Boone I am not entirely sure anyone really knows what to expect going forward in terms of bullpen usage and how production will or will not dictate playing time. With that said we will simply have to use the thought process and prediction power that we clearly (and sarcastically) possess to predict, and subsequently award, the player we think that will most live up to the name, Stephen Drew Sucks. Congratulations, I think, go out to the newest member of the New York Yankees, Neil Walker.

Now before I get too far into this post I want to preface this by saying that after the news that Greg Bird would start the season on the disabled list and would miss six-to eight weeks (which in Greg Bird terminology means six-to-eight months) I felt pretty fortunate to have Walker on the team. The guy is a veteran than can play all over the field, literally, and is a player that was once thought of as a middle-of-the-order type hitter that signed for a measly $4 million plus incentives on a one-year deal. I am not terribly upset to have him for depth purposes, but it doesn’t mean I think he is going to excel here in 2018 either, and for more than a few reasons.

Walker is very injury prone and has been for quite some time now at the Major League level. Playing in the American League should only help him as he can potentially take “half days off” at the designated hitter position whenever necessary, but I still can’t bring myself to really feel confident that he can hold up over the course of a 162-game season. I won’t feel confident in that until he proves he can do it for a season or two, who could blame me?

Walker posted a combined 1.4 WAR in 2017 according to Baseball Reference, and that was playing every day with the New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers. Walker could conceivably see his playing time reduced in 2018, which would ultimately see his WAR and overall production numbers drop as well. It isn’t like a 1.4 WAR is all that great anyway, well unless you consider players like Manny Pina, Jordy Mercer, Evan Gattis, Rafael Devers and Cameron Maybin to name a few who all put up similar or close WAR’s in 2017 as well to be “great” players. At this point in his career Walker is just average, if even that, and he is line to take a huge step back, even if he stays healthy.

I am not meaning to talk bad about Walker, and again I am grateful for his presence on the team with the loss of Bird… I just can’t bring myself to be excited about him being here though. I usually have high hopes, but I picked Walker over players like Brandon Drury (who Bryan Van Dusen is not high on this upcoming season if you read his most recent post), Jacoby Ellsbury, CC Sabathia and others… so that should tell you something about how I feel about the prospect of having him in Pinstripes here in 2018. Prove me wrong, Neil, but if you do you have to give the award back. “Thems the rules”

IBWAA SELECTS KLUBER, SCHERZER IN CY YOUNG VOTE

IBWAA SELECTS KLUBER, SCHERZER IN CY YOUNG VOTE

 

Los Angeles – The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) announced the winners in its Cy Young category Wednesday, with the Cleveland Indians’ Corey Kluber winning the group’s American League prize, and Max Scherzer, of the Washington Nationals, being selected in the National League, both for the second consecutive year.

 

Kluber received 118 first-place votes (80.27%) and 942 points while being named on all 146 ballots. Others receiving first-place votes include Chris Sale (29).

 

Scherzer received 91 first place votes (61.90%) and 846 points while being named on 146 of 147 ballots (99.32%). Others receiving first-place votes include Clayton Kershaw (50), Zack Greinke (2) and Corey Knebel (2).

 

Election results are as follows:

 

AL Cy Young:

 

1^st Place:                  Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians – 942 points
2^nd Place:                 Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox – 653
3^rd Place:                  Luis Severino, New York Yankees – 328

4^th Place:                 Carlos Carassco, Cleveland Indians – 178

5^th Place:                 Justin Verlander, Houston Astros – 129

 

NL Cy Young:

 

1^st Place:                  Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals – 846 points
2^nd Place:                 Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers – 658 
3^rd Place:                  Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks – 323

4^th Place:                 Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals – 276

5^th Place:                 Gio Gonzalez, Washington Nationals – 127

 

Ballot tabulations by Brian Wittig & Associates, using the Borda Method.

 

The IBWAA was established July 4, 2009 to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections being announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results being announced the following January.

 
Among others, IBWAA members include Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports Hardball Talk; Bill Chuck, Billy-Ball.com; Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Jon Heyman and Jesse Spector, Today’s Knuckleball; Danny Knobler, Bleacher Report; Kevin Kennedy; Kostya Kennedy, Sports Illustrated; Brian Kenny, MLBN; Will Leitch, Sports on Earth; Bruce Markusen, Hardball Times; Ross Newhan; Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com; Tom Hoffarth and J.P. Hoornstra Los Angeles Daily News; Pedro Moura, Los Angeles Times; Tracy Ringolsby, MLB.com; Ken Rosenthal, TheAthletic.com; Eno Sarris, FanGraphs; David Schoenfield of ESPN.com; Jim Bowden and Bill Arnold.

 

Association membership is open to any and all Internet baseball writers, with a $75 lifetime fee. Discounts for groups and scholarships are available. Members must be 18 years of age to apply.

For more information please visit www.ibwaa.com.

Contact:

 

Howard Cole
Founding Director, IBWAA
baseballsavvy@aol.com

IBWAA SELECTS FRANCONA, LOVULLO IN MANAGER OF THE YEAR VOTE

IBWAA SELECTS FRANCONA, LOVULLO IN MANAGER OF THE YEAR VOTE

 

Los Angeles – The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) announced the winners in its Manager of the Year category Tuesday, with the Cleveland Indians’ Terry Francona winning the group’s American League award, and Torey Lovullo, of the Arizona Diamondbacks, being selected in the National League.

 

Francona received 57 first-place votes (39.04%) and 468 points while being named on 134 of 146 ballots (91.16%). Others receiving first-place votes include Paul Molitor (64), A.J Hinch (13), Joe Girardi (9) and Mike Scoiscia (2).

 

Lovullo received 75 first-place votes (51.72%) and 477 points while being named on 121 of 145 ballots (82.31%). Others receiving first-place votes include Dave Roberts (27), Bud Black (14) and Dusty Baker (9).

 

Election results are as follows:

 

AL Manager:

 

1^st Place:                  Terry Francona, Cleveland Indians – 468 points
2^nd Place:                 Paul Molitor, Minnesota Twins – 421
3^rd Place :                  A.J. Hinch, Houston Astros – 247

 

NL Manager:

 

1^st Place:                  Torey Lovullo , Arizona Diamondbacks – 477 points
2^nd Place :                 Dave Roberts, Los Angeles Dodgers – 250

3^rd Place:                  Bud Black, Colorado Rockies – 218

 

Ballot tabulations by Brian Wittig & Associates, using the Borda Method.

 

The IBWAA was established July 4, 2009 to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections being announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results being announced the following January.

 
Among others, IBWAA members include Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports Hardball Talk; Bill Chuck, Billy-Ball.com; Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Jon Heyman and Jesse Spector, Today’s Knuckleball; Danny Knobler, Bleacher Report; Kevin Kennedy; Kostya Kennedy, Sports Illustrated; Brian Kenny, MLBN; Will Leitch, Sports on Earth; Bruce Markusen, Hardball Times; Ross Newhan; Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com; Tom Hoffarth and J.P. Hoornstra Los Angeles Daily News; Pedro Moura, Los Angeles Times; Tracy Ringolsby, MLB.com; Ken Rosenthal, TheAthletic.com; Eno Sarris, FanGraphs; David Schoenfield of ESPN.com; Bill Bowden and Bill Arnold.

 

Association membership is open to any and all Internet baseball writers, with a $75 lifetime fee. Discounts for groups and scholarships are available. Members must be 18 years of age to apply.

For more information please visit www.ibwaa.com.

Contact:

 

Howard Cole
Founding Director, IBWAAbaseballsavvy@aol.com

This Day in New York Yankees History 11/15: A Rod wins 2nd Yankee MVP

On this day in 2005 the Yankees Alex Rodriguez won his second MVP award in three seasons edging out the Red Sox David Ortiz in the vote. Ortiz may have won the award had he played a position and not been a full time DH, sparking a heated debate and controversy, but the Yankees and Alex will take it either way.

Also on this day in 2001 Roger Clemens won the American League Cy Young award with a 20-3 record with a 3.51 ERA. Roger would become the first player to win this award for the sixth time in his career and the first Yankees player to win the award since Ron Guidry won it in 1978.



Also on this day in 1961 Roger Maris won his second consecutive Most Valuable Player award after setting the single season home run record with 61 round trippers. Maris only beat the second place finisher, his teammate Mickey Mantle, by four votes with a 202-198 vote.



Finally on this day in 1951 the Yankees Gil McDougald won the American League Rookie of the Year Award. It is worth noting that Willie Mays won the award in the National League on the same day. It is also worth noting that neither player were listed on their team’s original Spring Training rosters.

IBWAA SELECTS JANSEN, KIMBREL IN RELIEF PITCHER AWARDS VOTE

IBWAA SELECTS JANSEN, KIMBREL IN RELIEF PITCHER AWARDS VOTE

 

Los Angeles – The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) announced the winners in its relief pitcher category Sunday, with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen winning the 2017 IBWAA Hoyt Wilhelm National League Relief Pitcher of the Year Award for the second straight year, and Craig Kimbrel, of the Boston Red Sox, being selected as the 2017 IBWAA Rollie Fingers American League Relief Pitcher of the Year.

 

Jansen received 124 first-place votes (87.94%) and 656 points while being named on 138 of 141 ballots (93.88%). Others receiving first-place votes include Corey Knebel (9), Archie Bradley (4) and Greg Holland (2).

 

Kimbrel received 131 first-place votes (91.61%) and 679 points while being named on 141 of 143 ballots (95.92%). Others receiving first-place votes include Alex Colome (9), Andrew Miller (1) and Dellin Betances (1).

 

The relief pitcher awards were established in 2010.

 

Election results are as follows:

 

NL Reief Pitcher:

 

1^st Place:                  Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers – 656 points
2^nd Place:                 Corey Knebel, Milwaukee Brewers – 320
3^rd Place :                  Archie Bradley, Arizona Diamondbakcs – 77

3^rd Place:                 Greg Holland, Colorado Rockies – 77

 

AL Relief Pitcher:

 

1^st Place:                  Craig Kimbrel, Boston Red Sox – 679 points
2^nd Place:                 Alex Colome, Tampa Bay Rays – 151 
3^rd Place:                  Andrew Miller, Cleveland Indians – 101

 

Ballot tabulations by Brian Wittig & Associates, using the Borda Method.

 

The IBWAA was established July 4, 2009 to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections being announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results being announced the following January.

 
Among others, IBWAA members include Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports Hardball Talk; Bill Chuck, GammonsDaily.com; Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Jon Heyman and Jesse Spector, Today’s Knuckleball; Danny Knobler, Bleacher Report; Kevin Kennedy; Kostya Kennedy, Sports Illustrated; Brian Kenny, MLBN; Will Leitch, Sports on Earth; Bruce Markusen, Hardball Times; Ross Newhan; Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com; Tom Hoffarth and J.P. Hoornstra Los Angeles Daily News; Pedro Moura, Los Angeles Times; Tracy Ringolsby, MLB.com; Ken Rosenthal, TheAthletic.com; Eno Sarris, FanGraphs; David Schoenfield of ESPN.com; Bill Bowden and Bill Arnold.

 

Association membership is open to any and all Internet baseball writers, with a $75 lifetime fee. Discounts for groups and scholarships are available. Members must be 18 years of age to apply.

For more information please visit www.ibwaa.com.

Contact:

 

Howard Cole
Founding Director, IBWAA
baseballsavvy@aol.com