Remembering My 2018 Predictions: Rookies of the Year Award

Here is a quick look back at my 2018 predictions for the American League and National League Rookies of the Year Award winners!

Remember earlier in the week when I said that predicting the Comeback Player of the Year Award was one of the hardest to predict out of all the awards around the game? Well if that is one of the hardest to predict the AL and NL Rookie of the Year Award has to be the hardest one to predict year in and year out. Who is to say what prospects will get the call up, what players will stay healthy, and who will get enough at-bats or opportunities to even prove themselves on a yearly basis? The Yankees had a Rookie of the Year Award winner in Aaron Judge in 2017, could they do it again in 2018?

Honestly, no. I don’t think the Yankees will have a Rookie of the Year once again here in 2018. Why? It isn’t because I don’t like or don’t believe in the lot of Miguel Andujar, Tyler Wade, Gleyber Torres and others, but I do believe that with the acquisitions of both Neil Walker and Brandon Drury that there just won’t be enough every day opportunities to be had for those three like there was for Judge last season. Those three players could be great, but they won’t get to play in the 155 games and take the 542 at-bats this season that Judge did in 2017. With that in mind I am going to stay within the American League East Division and showcase one of the Tampa Bay Rays top prospects that will NOT miss time this season due to Tommy John surgery, Willy Adames. Adames is a shortstop for the Rays and one that is knocking on the door to the Major Leagues after making the All-Star Game in three straight Minor League seasons. Adames is starting to add power to his repertoire with double-digit home run campaigns and 30 or more doubles in two straight seasons, but more importantly there should be plenty of opportunities and time to grow for Adames on a rebuilding Tampa Bay squad.

The National League seems like kind of an easy one in my opinion with the top prospect in all of baseball ready to take over on a team that will presumably have little to play for in 2018. I am talking about the Atlanta Braves and their top prospect, Ronald Acuna. It is important that a Rookie of the Year sometimes play on a team that does not intend or expect to compete that coming season, that means the player will have a longer leash and less expectations dropped on his shoulders in the upcoming season. Acuna is a special talent and while he may not start the season with the Braves after being demoted to a Minor League camp, it doesn’t mean he will stay there long. Not when the Braves can delay his free agency by a season by keeping him in Triple-A for three weeks or a month before unleashing him on the rest of the league. Baseball is a business after all, first and foremost.

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

SPECULATION: Why the New York Yankees Will NOT Acquire Cole Hamels Before the July 31st Trade Deadline

The New York Yankees fans have been clamoring for a month now for the team to acquire another starting pitcher for the stretch run. As silly as that sounds here at the end of May it is simply what we as Yankees fans have come to expect, and not only expect but demand as well. Yankees fans demand not only excellence, but borderline dominance and perfection as well which was never more evident than on Tuesday night when potential trade target Cole Hamels shut the powerful Yankees offense down in a victory for the Rangers. The discussions regarding Hamels and his potential acquisition by the Yankees were running rampant before the start, and since the discussions have only become more aggressive from the fan base. Unfortunately, I may have some bad news for everyone reading this as I do not believe it will be the New York Yankees who acquire the 34-year old veteran left-hander’s services before the July 31^st trade deadline.

The New York Yankees have some wiggle room in terms of payroll flexibility while still maintaining a payroll that stays below the luxury tax threshold, but not as much as say a team like the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are a young and exciting team that are drawing comparisons to the 2017 version of the Baby Bombers. Young and hungry can only take a team so far, though, and the team has obvious holes and needs in their pitching staff. The Yankees and the Braves may be preparing to go head-to-head in a bidding war for Cole’s services, and that is a bidding war that Brian Cashman may not want to get into.

The Braves have a lot more money to spend this season and next than the New York Yankees do, and they have a better farm system as well. The Braves have arguably the best farm system in all of Major League Baseball, but they have something else that may put them ahead of the Yankees in the potential Hamels sweepstakes. The Braves have a GM who is not afraid to pull the trigger on a big deal, top prospects being involved or not. Cashman, and I personally love him for it, has shown a huge reluctance to deal top prospects and the type of prospects that the Rangers would likely demand if a bidding war were to ensue.

It wouldn’t take Gleyber Torres or Justus Sheffield to acquire Hamels, presumably a true rental for the Yankees unless they fancy picking up his huge option for the 2019 season, but it would likely require Clint Frazier, Chance Adams, Estevan Florial, Domingo Acevedo or an equivalent prospect or two in order to bring the lefty to the Bronx. Would Cashman be willing to part with any of them? That’s a tricky question and a question that history would say “no” to, but we know that the Braves would pull the trigger in a heartbeat including any of their top prospects not named Albies or Acuna.

Also, you have to keep in mind that Hamels is 34-years old, soon to be 35. Hamels has one-year left on his deal past the 2018 season, a team option that can be bough out for $6 million. All signs and speculation point to, assuming he was acquired by New York, the Yankees buying out his deal for the 2019 season and giving him his $6 million along with his walking papers next season. The Braves, on the other hand, would likely keep Hamels next season with the hopes of either competing, or with the hopes of getting some prospects back in another July 31^st trade if the team cannot replicate their early success from this season to next season. Hamels has a no-trade clause, albeit limited, and will likely weigh all options when being asked to waive it. You have to think at his age his security and future are far more important than chasing a title, especially when he already has a World Series ring under his belt.

Many believe it is a foregone conclusion that Cole Hamels will be the 2018 version of Sonny Gray who was acquired by the Yankees at the 2017 deadline, but I am not so sure. Obviously, the Yankees could pick up Hamels option for the 2019 season and allow him to replace CC Sabathia in the rotation, but that is a huge “if” for Hamels who controls his destiny. The allure of pitching in the Bronx may be a big factor for the left-hander, but the possibility of entering a pitching free agent market beside potential free agents like Clayton Kershaw and Dallas Keuchel at age 35 may trump that. Pitching for Atlanta, a National League team with much fewer eyes on the veteran lefty, may make more sense not only for the Braves, but for the future of Hamels as well.

There is a lot that can happen between July 31^st and now, and truth be told this is all speculation anyway, but right now I wouldn’t be surprised if the Braves came in and swooped up Hamels before the Yankees could make a deal. A more laid-back atmosphere, “easier” lineups to face, security for the 2019 season, and a young and hungry team with an aggressive GM may be too much for even Brian Cashman to compete with, but then again, they don’t call him the “Ninja” for nothing.

Stay tuned.

TGP 2018 Predictions: Rookies of the Year

Remember earlier in the week when I said that predicting the Comeback Player of the Year Award was one of the hardest to predict out of all the awards around the game? Well if that is one of the hardest to predict the AL and NL Rookie of the Year Award has to be the hardest one to predict year in and year out. Who is to say what prospects will get the call up, what players will stay healthy, and who will get enough at-bats or opportunities to even prove themselves on a yearly basis? The Yankees had a Rookie of the Year Award winner in Aaron Judge in 2017, could they do it again in 2018?

Honestly, no. I don’t think the Yankees will have a Rookie of the Year once again here in 2018. Why? It isn’t because I don’t like or don’t believe in the lot of Miguel Andujar, Tyler Wade, Gleyber Torres and others, but I do believe that with the acquisitions of both Neil Walker and Brandon Drury that there just won’t be enough every day opportunities to be had for those three like there was for Judge last season. Those three players could be great, but they won’t get to play in the 155 games and take the 542 at-bats this season that Judge did in 2017. With that in mind I am going to stay within the American League East Division and showcase one of the Tampa Bay Rays top prospects that will NOT miss time this season due to Tommy John surgery, Willy Adames. Adames is a shortstop for the Rays and one that is knocking on the door to the Major Leagues after making the All-Star Game in three straight Minor League seasons. Adames is starting to add power to his repertoire with double-digit home run campaigns and 30 or more doubles in two straight seasons, but more importantly there should be plenty of opportunities and time to grow for Adames on a rebuilding Tampa Bay squad.

The National League seems like kind of an easy one in my opinion with the top prospect in all of baseball ready to take over on a team that will presumably have little to play for in 2018. I am talking about the Atlanta Braves and their top prospect, Ronald Acuna. It is important that a Rookie of the Year sometimes play on a team that does not intend or expect to compete that coming season, that means the player will have a longer leash and less expectations dropped on his shoulders in the upcoming season. Acuna is a special talent and while he may not start the season with the Braves after being demoted to a Minor League camp, it doesn’t mean he will stay there long. Not when the Braves can delay his free agency by a season by keeping him in Triple-A for three weeks or a month before unleashing him on the rest of the league. Baseball is a business after all, first and foremost.