The baseball playoff races are heating up, particularly in the American League, which I will take a look at here. The Athletics (88-67) have come up with two huge wins the last two nights in Texas against the Rangers (91-64), especially with the Angels (85-69) breathing down their necks. We're talking two big road wins with the season winding down against the two-time reigning American League Champions. The A's are just a half-game behind the Orioles (89-67) for the top Wild Card spot. I don't want to jinx things, but it looks like the A's have what it takes to get to the play-in game. And don't look now, but if they win tomorrow afternoon against Texas, they may have a chance to make things interesting in the AL West as well.
The Rays (85-70) have won seven straight to remain in the race. Their saving grace is that they have three games at home against the Orioles next week to close the season. The Yankees (90-65) aren't out of the woods yet, but the bet here is that they will win the American League East, leaving the A's and Orioles in the play-in game (hard to see Tampa Bay getting a sweep of Baltimore, which is what they may need). But, there sure are a lot of teams in the chase even at this late juncture.
Though it should still be interesting to see what happens, I still oppose the second Wild Card being added. I like that it should be harder to make the playoffs and that the regular season was still a reward. Although, on the plus side, I think baseball's regular season is still the least watered down in all of sports (though this doesn't make it okay in my book to water it down more).
The AL Central is going down to the wire as well. The White Sox (82-73) appear to be fading at the wrong time and now trail the Tigers (83-72) by one game after leading the division by a few games not that long ago. This thing is far from over, but the Sox need to turn it around now. I think the Tigers now have the momentum, not to mention a talent advantage and will win the division by a slight margin. Detroit would be a very dangerous team in the playoffs, with Justin Verlander at the top of the rotation and a middle of the lineup that features Miguel Cabrera (still a realistic chance to be the first player to win the Triple Crown since 1967) and Prince Fielder.
Showing posts with label Miguel Cabrera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miguel Cabrera. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
My MLB awards
And now it's the moment you've all been waiting for, it's time for my Major League Baseball season awards. Let's start with the National League:
MVP: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds first baseman. Votto was in the top 3 in the National League in the 3 major offensive categories, hitting .324 with 37 home runs and 113 RBIs. The real clincher for me is that although Albert Pujols of the Cardinals had more home runs and RBIs (42 and 118), they weren't substantially more and Votto was able to lead his team to the playoffs.
Cy Young: Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies. Halladay was 21-10 for the Phils with a 2.44 ERA and was everything they would have expected him to be as their staff ace when they brought him in before the season. He really did anchor the Phillies staff and though his ERA wasn't the top in the league (2.30 from Florida's Josh Johnson) it was close enough where it can still be argued that he was the most formidable pitcher.
Rookie of the Year: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants catcher. Posey hit .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs for the Giants this year. The argument against him and for the Braves' Jason Heyward is that Heyward played the whole season for the Braves whereas Posey played about 4 months for the Giants. My counterargument is that Posey managed to hit as many home runs as Heyward and had only 5 fewer RBIs while having a significantly higher batting average. Plus Posey played catcher for one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and by all accounts has done a great job. People don't always give catchers the credit they deserve for helping teams win. I watched the Giants all year and there is no way they would be in the playoffs without him. I get that Heyward had a big year and contributed to the Braves (I do really enjoy watching him play as well) but Posey had more of an impact on the Giants and a better year overall.
Manager of the Year: Dusty Baker, Cincinnati Reds. The Reds hadn't been to the playoffs since the late 90s and Baker led them there behind a surprising pitching staff as well as a potent offense. Nobody, myself included, expected much from the Reds this year, but Baker kept them going even after everybody had written them off after a three game sweep at home in August against the Cardinals. He did a good job and has proven time and again that he knows how to manage and get the most out of his ballclub.
And now for my American League awards:
MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers first baseman. Cabrera hit .328 with 38 home runs and led the league with 126 RBIs this year. He finished in the top 3 in the other two offensive categories. The two runner ups in my book are Josh Hamilton of the Rangers who hit .359 and had a great year and Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays who hit an incredible 54 home runs and had 124 RBIs himself. But Cabrera was near the top in all categories and his steady contributions are what gives him my vote.
Cy Young: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners. I know, I know he was only 13-12. But he was on a horrible team and still put up outstanding numbers in other categories. He led the American League in ERA by a long shot with a mark of 2.27 and had 232 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.06. He clearly was the best pitcher not just in the American League but in all of baseball this year and that's why he deserves this award. I know there is a lot of momentum going for CC Sabathia of the Yankees who had 21 wins but he is nowhere close to Hernandez's ERA and isn't in the top 5 in the AL in that category. My runner up in fact would be David Price of the Rays who was 19-6 and third in the league in ERA at 2.72 while leading the Rays to the AL East title.
Rookie of the Year: Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers closer. Feliz had 40 saves in 43 chances while recording 71 strikeouts in 69.1 innings pitched and a WHIP of 0.88. He put up great numbers in a role that isn't always easy to fill and had some nasty stuff. He was a big reason the Rangers were able to win the American League West.
Manager of the Year: Ron Washington, Texas Rangers. He guided a team with little expectations to the playoffs and really got something out of a pitching staff that wasn't expected to do much.
Well, there you have it. Those are my picks. We'll see how the writers feel when the results come out next month following the playoffs.
MVP: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds first baseman. Votto was in the top 3 in the National League in the 3 major offensive categories, hitting .324 with 37 home runs and 113 RBIs. The real clincher for me is that although Albert Pujols of the Cardinals had more home runs and RBIs (42 and 118), they weren't substantially more and Votto was able to lead his team to the playoffs.
Cy Young: Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies. Halladay was 21-10 for the Phils with a 2.44 ERA and was everything they would have expected him to be as their staff ace when they brought him in before the season. He really did anchor the Phillies staff and though his ERA wasn't the top in the league (2.30 from Florida's Josh Johnson) it was close enough where it can still be argued that he was the most formidable pitcher.
Rookie of the Year: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants catcher. Posey hit .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs for the Giants this year. The argument against him and for the Braves' Jason Heyward is that Heyward played the whole season for the Braves whereas Posey played about 4 months for the Giants. My counterargument is that Posey managed to hit as many home runs as Heyward and had only 5 fewer RBIs while having a significantly higher batting average. Plus Posey played catcher for one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and by all accounts has done a great job. People don't always give catchers the credit they deserve for helping teams win. I watched the Giants all year and there is no way they would be in the playoffs without him. I get that Heyward had a big year and contributed to the Braves (I do really enjoy watching him play as well) but Posey had more of an impact on the Giants and a better year overall.
Manager of the Year: Dusty Baker, Cincinnati Reds. The Reds hadn't been to the playoffs since the late 90s and Baker led them there behind a surprising pitching staff as well as a potent offense. Nobody, myself included, expected much from the Reds this year, but Baker kept them going even after everybody had written them off after a three game sweep at home in August against the Cardinals. He did a good job and has proven time and again that he knows how to manage and get the most out of his ballclub.
And now for my American League awards:
MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers first baseman. Cabrera hit .328 with 38 home runs and led the league with 126 RBIs this year. He finished in the top 3 in the other two offensive categories. The two runner ups in my book are Josh Hamilton of the Rangers who hit .359 and had a great year and Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays who hit an incredible 54 home runs and had 124 RBIs himself. But Cabrera was near the top in all categories and his steady contributions are what gives him my vote.
Cy Young: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners. I know, I know he was only 13-12. But he was on a horrible team and still put up outstanding numbers in other categories. He led the American League in ERA by a long shot with a mark of 2.27 and had 232 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.06. He clearly was the best pitcher not just in the American League but in all of baseball this year and that's why he deserves this award. I know there is a lot of momentum going for CC Sabathia of the Yankees who had 21 wins but he is nowhere close to Hernandez's ERA and isn't in the top 5 in the AL in that category. My runner up in fact would be David Price of the Rays who was 19-6 and third in the league in ERA at 2.72 while leading the Rays to the AL East title.
Rookie of the Year: Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers closer. Feliz had 40 saves in 43 chances while recording 71 strikeouts in 69.1 innings pitched and a WHIP of 0.88. He put up great numbers in a role that isn't always easy to fill and had some nasty stuff. He was a big reason the Rangers were able to win the American League West.
Manager of the Year: Ron Washington, Texas Rangers. He guided a team with little expectations to the playoffs and really got something out of a pitching staff that wasn't expected to do much.
Well, there you have it. Those are my picks. We'll see how the writers feel when the results come out next month following the playoffs.
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