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 Cy Young Awards

Pitching can make or break a team, ask the 2018 Yankees that, according to some fans anyway, could never have enough pitchers. To a point, it’s true. Look at the first half Yankees from last season and the first half that their ace, Luis Severino, had. He was money and the Yankees were in first place. In the second half, Severino tailed off a bit, as did the Yankees who ultimately settled for a Wild Card berth and an eventual dismissal in the ALDS at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. Pitching makes a huge difference, especially when you have Cy Young caliber pitching. Who will have that Cy Young caliber year in 2019 and win the award? Keep reading to find out!

Chris Sale has somehow never won a Cy Young Award. Shocking, right? Sale has finished in the top five of the votes for six straight seasons, but I truly think the 2019 season will be the year that he finally closes the gap and captures the award. I know this sounds like an easy pick, and I know many expected me to pick a Yankee like Luis Severino, but really, it’s not. Not after the second half that Sale had and the shoulder problems that he may or may not have had. I don’t feel like this is a safe pick whatsoever. Sale wins the award, but the Yankees win the ultimate prize. I’ll take that.

In the National League I wanted to go with Max Scherzer or even Jacob deGrom, but I just can’t. Aaron Nola is special and with the security of a long-term extension now comforting him, I can see the Phillies right-hander breaking out in a big way in 2019. Nola may win 20 games for all we know. Do I think Nola will have enough help behind him in the rotation to really put the Phillies over the edge as a team? Probably not, especially if you look at my predictions that had Philadelphia finishing third, but I truly think Aaron is lining up for a special kind of season here in 2019.

IBWAA SELECTS DEGROM, SNELL IN CY VOTE

Los Angeles – The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) announced the winners in its Cy Young category Wednesday, with the Tampa Bay Rays’ Blake Snell winning the group’s American League prize, and Jacob deGrom, of the New York Mets, being selected in the National League vote.

 

This is the tenth annual election for the IBWAA in the Cy category.

 

Election results are as follows:

 

AL Cy Young:

 

1^st Place:                  Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays – 731 points
2^nd Place:                 Justin Verlander, Houston Astros – 462
3^rd Place:                  Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox – 336

4^th Place:                 Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians – 298

5^th Place:                 Gerrit Cole, Houston Astros – 150

 

NL Cy Young:

 

1^st Place:                  Jacob deGrom, New York Mets – 828 points
2^nd Place:                 Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals – 564 
3^rd Place:                  Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies – 389

4^th Place:                 Kyle Freeland, Colorado Rockies – 155

5^th Place:                 Patrick Corbin, Arizona Diamondbacks – 92

 

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 Jim Bowden, Pedro Moura, Ken Rosenthal and Eno Sarris, The Athletic; Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports Hardball Talk; Bill Chuck, Billy-Ball.com; Chris De Luca, Chicago Sun-Times; Jon Heyman, Fancred; Tyler Kepner, New York Times; Danny Knobler, Bleacher Report; Kevin Kennedy; Kostya Kennedy, Sports Illustrated; Brian Kenny, MLBN; Will Leitch, New York Magazine; Bruce Markusen, Hardball Times; Ross Newhan; Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com; Tom Hoffarth, Los Angeles Times; J.P. Hoornstra Los Angeles Daily News; Tracy Ringolsby, MLB.com; David Schoenfield, ESPN.com; 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

Hello… Respecting Jacob deGrom’s 2018 Season

Good morning Yankees family and welcome back to the blog. Give credit where credit is due, Jacob deGrom was an absolute animal here in 2018 despite not having much of a team behind him to speak of. I saw this tweet on Twitter the other day, but I cannot find it since so I am having to paraphrase (after doing the research myself on Baseball Reference).

If the Mets had scored just four runs or more in each of deGrom’s starts entering last night the Mets righty would be 30-0.

If the Mets had scored just three runs deGrom would have been 25-1.

If the Mets gad scored just two runs deGrom would have been 20-6.

Tell me again why New York held onto him at the trading deadline?

Baby, I love you and I hope you have the very best day.

Remembering My 2018 Predictions: Cy Young Award

Here is a quick look back at my 2018 predictions for the American League and National League Cy Young Award winners! 

Cue the music, it is time for the big awards to be predicted and subsequently handed out as just two major awards remain here in Predictions Season. The AL and NL MVP Awards, which we will cover at a later date, and the hardware we will be handing out today for the American League and National League Cy Young Awards. The AL and NL Cy Young Awards go out to the best pitcher in each respective league and, again I am not saying this to incite a riot or really spark a debate, for that reason it is these awards that should, but don’t, disqualify a pitcher from winning either the AL or NL MVP Award. If a hitter could win the Cy Young Award, then sure. If not, then it just shouldn’t be allowed. My opinion only, just like these predictions are my opinion only as well. Leave your thoughts, comments, debate, banter and opinions in the comments section below or shoot us a line on Twitter by tweeting @GreedyStripes. Thanks in advance! 

Will it finally be time for Luis Severino to shine? Will Masahiro Tanaka regain his dominance despite a lackluster spring? Is Sonny Gray finally going to get some run support here in the Bronx? Not likely. Not with the amazing bullpen that these young men have behind them and the undoubtedly short leash that they will all be on with new manager Aaron Boone presumably wanting to make a statement in his first season as an MLB manager. Boone will want as many wins as possible, and that in turn may mess with the win/loss records and peripherals of the Yankees starters much like it did under former manager Joe Girardi. With that said a New York Yankees pitcher will not win the 2018 American League Cy Young Award in 2018, but I truly believe that a member of the *pukes* Boston Red Sox will in Chris Sale. Sale had a down season in 2017 by many standards including a year where he did not record a victory against the New York Yankees. With the power of JD Martinez backing him in his starts and a few key bullpen pieces coming back from injuries and such for Boston I do not expect the Red Sox to go down quietly here this season, and I expect a much better campaign out of Sale. Unfortunately. 

I wanted to go with Max Scherzer in the National League, I mean I do have his team heading to the World Series and all in these set of predictions, but I wanted to go a little outside of the box with my predictions. With that in mind I am going to go with a member of those Philadelphia Phillies I predicted to do so well this season. No, I am not going with Aaron Nola. I said I wanted to go outside of the box. Instead, I am going to go with Jake Arrieta. Arrieta’s velocity is down and his peripherals are not trending in the right direction, but a change of scenery and a change into a more pitcher-friendly ballpark should only help the right-hander. Plus, in a simple world anyway, Arrieta should draw some easier matchups on paper with Nola being the “ace” of the staff, but really this is just a gut feeling I am having. Go with your gut, win a prestigious award, and look like a wizard in the making. 

Hello… Predictions!

Good morning Yankees family and welcome back to the blog. This morning and all weekend long I wanted to take a look back at some of the predictions that I made before the season to see just how well I did. Spoiler alert, without looking I am sure I did terrible. I usually do, but I am okay with that, so enjoy the predictions and the fun at my expense, and definitely enjoy your weekend. Much love to you all.

And much more love to you, my Kari Ann. You are my world and everything that is good in it, and I love you more today than I did yesterday… and I will love you more tomorrow than I do today until there are no more days left on this planet. I love you!

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

This Day In New York Yankees History 7/12: Denny Neagle

The New York Yankees had an absolutely loaded pitching staff in the late 90's and early 2000's but it was the off the radar type deals that really put New York over the edge and into the World Series in 2000 against the New York Mets. Deals like the Yankees made on this day in 2000 where Denny Neagle (8-2, 3.52 ERA) and outfielder Mike Frank were to sent to the Yankees and Drew Henson, Jackson Melian, Brian Reith, and Ed Yarnall (basically nobody) was sent to Cincinnati in return.

Also on this day in 1989 Major League Baseball lost another great arm as Louisiana Lightning Ron Guidry called it a career. Guidry finishes with a 170-91 record and a 3.29 ERA during his 14 year career, all with the Yankees. Guidry won the 1978 American League Cy Young Award unanimously after posting a 25-3 record with a 1.74 ERA. Incredible.

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

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.

Article Revisit: Who is Going to Say “No” to CC Beyond 2017?

We discussed this earlier in the season but we also discussed it almost one year ago today as well, should the New York Yankees bring back CC Sabathia for the 2018 season? You know what my opinion is now, a couple weeks back I opined that the Yankees should bring back the veteran left-hander on a one-year deal with a reasonable base salary, but what did I think back in 2016? Find out in this article revisit from the 2016 season. Enjoy and leave your comments below on CC and whether the Yankees should retain him for next season below in the comments section. Thanks!

 Saturday, October 1, 2016

Who Is Going to Say No to CC Beyond 2017?

The New York Yankees were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Thursday night despite completing a sweep of the Boston Red Sox in a three-game set. Too little too late for the Bombers this season but it may not be too little too late for the man who was on the mound in that start, CC Sabathia. Once thought to be “done” and “washed up” after losing velocity on his fastball and after dealing with a degenerative knee condition the Yankees veteran left-handed has learned how to finally “pitch” rather than just throw the ball by everyone in the league and the results have been spectacular. After a relatively healthy season in 2016 and a solid season by all accounts Sabathia has his eye not only on 2017 but beyond that as well once his current contract expires with New York. Right now, who is going to tell him no that he can’t come back to the Bronx in 2017? Not me.

Sabathia was a machine from 2009 to 2012 with the Yankees posting a 74-29 record but his health and velocity dropped off suddenly leaving CC unsure of what to do. CC was used to rearing back and finding 95+ MPH to get him out of any situation, not Sabathia was left with an 88 – 92 MPH fastball that he had to pinpoint every single time to be successful. After working with pitching coach Larry Rothschild and a former Yankees ace that went through a similar transformation in Andy Pettitte the big man seems to have finally figured it out in 2016. We saw Sabathia make steps towards putting it all together in recent years but when he got into trouble he could still be seen trying to simply blow hitters away, now CC isn’t afraid to walk a guy or pitch around a guy to maximize efficiency and outs making him a perfect and durable candidate to anchor a young and upcoming Yankees rotation from the 5th starter spot.

CC will never be the 2009 version again by any stretch of the imagination but CC has somehow found a way to be dominant nonetheless while also leading the team in starts made and innings pitched. Overall Sabathia finished the year with 29 starts, a 4.02 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP but I can remember at the beginning of the season when CC held a sub-3.00 ERA and a 3.17 ERA into the month of July before getting hit around a bit. I can’t think of a team that wouldn’t take a veteran arm who’s been there on a reasonable contract at the back end of their bullpen, especially if he brings the health and stability he brought to the Yankees this season. Why not make that team the Yankees?

I know a lot can happen between now and this time in 2017 but if you’re asking me right now, this instant, I’m signing him up if he’s healthy. You can have all the young guns and rising stars in the rotation you want but they are going to need the old, savvy veteran to show them how it’s done. That’s CC.

Quick Hit: Revealing My IBWAA Awards Ballot for 2017

My MLB Midseason Awards

The Home Run Derby is over and the All-Star Game is in the books so what in the world do we talk about here on the blog until Friday when play resumes? Well how about we take advantage of the lull and bring you my midseason awards for all the major awards around Major League Baseball.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

MVP: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

Cy Young Award: Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox

Manager of the Year Award: Paul Molitor, Minnesota Twins

Rookie of the Year Award: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

All rise for the Judge. You may be seated. Really these picks are no-brainers in my opinion. Aaron Judge is dominating the world right now in every offensive category it feels like making him not only the obvious choice for the Rookie of the Year but for the MVP as well. Also, who is going to argue against Chris Sale for the AL Cy Young right now? That guy has been fantastic for Boston as much as I hate to admit and acknowledge that outloud. Then you have the Minnesota Twins who no one expected to compete in 2017 hanging around the top of the American League Central Division race and that is due in large part to the Hall of Famer, Paul Molitor. I wanted to go with AJ Hinch in this spot but he has much more talent and many more established players than Minnesota giving Molitor the slight edge in my book.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

MVP: Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals

Cy Young Award: Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals

Manager of the Year Award: Torey Lovullo, Arizona Diamondbacks

Rookie of the Year Award: Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers

Trust me guys, I wanted to go with Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League MVP Award. I did. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Harper has comparable or better stats in my opinion and is on a better team. It’s really a 1 and 1A type situation at this point for me and it was a hard decision. I also wanted to go with Craig Counsell of the Milwaukee Brewers for manager of the year but I doubted whether his team was that good or if his team just benefited from down seasons and slow starts from the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates. That’s why I gave the nod to Lovullo.