Mid-Season Baseball Awards and Headlines

Robinson Cano hugging his dad, who pitched for him, after putting on a show at the Homerun Derby last night.

On Tuesday, the sports world will pause and take time to enjoy, a true summer tradition, the Major League Baseball’s All Star game. Since the game marks the unofficial midway point of the major league season, I think that it is time to sit down and figure out which players are most deserving of some of baseball’s awards and some of my fictitious awards, so far in the season. I will also touch on some of the biggest recent headlines at end. Like many of the pennant races, some of the awards were close to call, while others are more obvious. Here they are:

AL MVP

3. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers The big Venezuelan has anchored the Tigers’ lineup all season long, and is among the top 10 in the AL in homeruns, RBI, batting average, OPS, and runs. He can hit for power, he can hit for average, he can just flat out hit.

2. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays Bautista hasn’t miss a beat after hitting a league-leading 54 homeruns last season, and continues his slugging hot streak, again sitting atop the league in homeruns with 31. It’s tough to argue that anyone has played better than Bautista in the last year. (I still can’t believe that is the same guy who played 3rd base for the Pirates and I’m not big on sabermetrics, but he is killing the rest of the league in the sabermetric stat, runs created (which sounds important), with 91.7 (second place was Adrian Gonzalez with 77.5).

1. Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox I don’t think Theio Espstein is regretting his decision to trade for this guy in the off-season. Gonzalez leads the AL in batting average by 20 percentage points, and has been the most consistent hitter in the Red Sox lineup all season long. He was instrumental in the Red Sox digging themselves out of a 2-10 hole early in the season. No other hitter in baseball has been as versatile and productive as Gonzalez this season.

AL Cy Young

3. Jared Weaver, Angels He will be the starter for the AL in the All Star Game, and deservedly so. He leads all of baseball in ERA, and is the biggest reason that the Angels remain only one game behind the Rangers for first.

2. Josh Beckett, Red Sox The ace for the best team, record wise, in the American League, has returned to form after a disappointing 2010 season. He leads the AL in opponent’s batting average, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the writers vote him as Cy Young if the Red Sox continue their ascendance up the standings, or if the Tigers struggle in the second half.

1. Justin Verlander, Tigers I broke down this race in my last baseball post. I know Weaver has the lower ERA and Beckett’s team is tops in the standings, but being a pitching ace, and more specifically, the AL Cy Young, is about mound presence, an intimidation factor, and the way you strike fear in hitters. Now this might sound frivolous and contrive, but when you hear players and scouts talk about elite pitchers, they are less concerned about BIPA, ERC, and any other obscure sabermetric statistic, and more concerned with what the guy is like at his best, and how he’s going to get you out. At it’s best, Verlander’s combination of a high 90’s fastball, curveball, cut-fastball and changeup is the most lethal and fear striking in baseball. Hitters know this and for the reason that, would rather face any other pitcher in baseball. That is what a Cy Young should be, the most feared pitcher. Not the pitcher with the best sabermetric resume.

AL LVP (Includes batters and pitchers)

3. Manny Ramirez, Rays/ Somewhere being Manny Maybe that was the way it was meant to be. The most baffling and comically erratic athlete in sports retired by magically disappearing after testing positive for PED’s a second time. So to recap, after the Rays gave him a one year, 2 million dollar retirement donation, and were under the impression that they had acquired a “big bat” to solidify the middle of their lineup, they received in return: 5 games played, 17 at-bats, 1 hit, 1 RBI, and 4 strikeouts.

2. Adam Dunn, White Sox Winner of the Will Ferrell look-a-like contest three years running. Besides that, Dunn isn’t doing much to live up to the 56 million/ 4 years contract that the White Sox gave him. After averaging 39 homeruns and 103 RBI the past 3 seasons, Dunn has compiled 9 homeruns and 34 RBI to this point, which goes along nicely with a .160 batting average.

Maybe a viewing of Old School or Step Brothers will cheer Adam Dunn up this season.

1. John Lackey, Red Sox I feel bad about piling on about Lackey because his wife is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer. He recently summed his hardships by saying, “Everything in my life sucks.” So I’ll just give you the basic numbers: 6.84 ERA, 6-8 record, .294 opponent batting average, and a 15.9 million dollar contract.

NL MVP

3. Matt Kemp, Dodgers Despite the numerous distractions that the Frank McCourt debacle has presented, Kemp becoming a cornerstone player for the franchise in shambles. He is in the top 3 in the National League in homeruns, stolen bases, RBI, 6^th in batting average, and to top it off in 1^st in runs created.

Matt Kemp has been one of the few things that Dodgers have had to cheer about.

2. Jose Reyes, Mets Before he tweaked his hamstring and sequentially went onto DL, Reyes was swinging the hottest bat in baseball, and, at times, was singe-handedly keeping the Mets’ pennant chances afloat. Only time will tell whether or not owner Fred Wilpon is willing to sign Reyes to a long-term deal.

1. Prince Fielder, Brewers It is a close race between Fielder and Reyes. The reason I side with Fielder, for now, is because his team has a more realistic chance of making the playoffs. Both players are in the final year of their contract and making their case for a big pay day. Fielder is on par with his usual slugging pace (22 homers), and ranks second in OPS and 1st in RBI in the NL.

NL Cy Young

3. Cole Hamels, Phillies Phillies fans were pleased to see Cole Hamels, the hero during the 2008 World Series run, return to dominance this season. It was a tough call between Hamels and his teammate, Clif Lee. Hamels gets the nod because he has a better ERA and has been more consistent throughout the first half. So that’s three legitimate top-5 Cy Young candidates (Lee, Hamels, Halladay) on the same pitching staff. Well, every other NL team, nice try and thanks for playing, but will not win in September because they have them, and you don’t. That is, if they are healthy and dialed in.

2. Jair Jurrjens, Braves Quick! Who is Dutch, was virtually unknown prior to this season, and is the NL leader in wins and ERA? That’s right, our boy, Jair Jurrjens. Jurrjens has been successful due to his ability to pitch to contact. He doesn’t strike a lot of hitters out guys out (tied for 52nd in NL), but is able to get hitters out by inducing groundballs and pop flys.

1. Roy Halladay, Phillies I explained earlier that a Cy Young should be, the most feared pitcher in baseball with the best stuff, and not the pitcher with the best sabermetric statistics. Almost all the statistics point towards Jurrjens as Cy Young. But, having been most dominant pitcher of the last decade, Halladay still has the respect of players and scouts around the league. He is and has always been work horse (1st in NL in complete games), and all of his pitches rank among the best in baseball. If Jurrjens keeps his ERA as low as it is, and keeps piling up wins, then he will be the Cy Younger winner. But for now, Halladay is still the alpha dog.

NL LVP (Includes pitchers and batters)

3. Dan Uggla, Braves Atlanta fans thought that trading for Uggla would solidify their lineup and would help them keep up with the Phillies’ after they had signed Cliff Lee. Although Uggla is on his usual pace with homeruns (15 in the first half), he is batting an abysmal .185 and ranks 2nd amongst second basemen in errors.

2. Ryan Franklin, Cardinals The (now former) Cardinals closer, who amassed 38 saves and a 1.92 ERA just two years ago, has allowed opposing batters to hit .367 off of him and was 1 for 5 on save chances for the 27.2 innings he pitched this season.

1. Hanley Ramirez, Marlins Ramirez isn’t getting this award because a lack of talent, but rather because his production hasn’t reached the expectations that his talent suggest. Considered one of the best young talents in baseball coming into the season, Ramirez has severely disappointed both the Marlins and many fantasy baseball fans with a .242 batting average, 8 homeruns, 37 RBI, and an inexpiable .952 fielding percentage, which is worst among baseball’s shortstops. (Averaged .314, 26 HR, 83 RBI the previous three season.)

A Word on Some Recent Storylines

• First and foremost, I have to address the sustained success of my hometown Pittsburgh Pirates. (I’ll have more on them in a later post, this is just a sample size.) Most of you outsiders might not think that a 47-43 record should cause such excitement amongst fans. To be frank, that is fine, because we don’t care. Pirates-Palooza reached a climax last week when all most all the ESPN talk shows discussed the Pirates revival. The anchors for the team all season have been their starting pitching, led by All Star Kevin Correia, and their bullpen lead by the best player in baseball whom you don’t know, closer Joel Hanrahan. These two, along with another player who you should get familiar with, Andrew McCutchen, will be on display at the All Star game. For those of you keeping score at home, that is 3 All Stars for the Pittsburgh Pirates and 3 All Stars for the Miami Heat. Oh and, Clint Hurdle will win manager of the year, which Erick Spoelstra will not be receiving any time soon.

• The Captain, Derek Jeter, gets 3000 hits. Not much to say here that hasn’t already been said. As a part of a generation of steroid fueled sluggers, Jeter has accomplished everything with integrity and consistency, and has played the game in a way that even a Red Sox fan can appreciate. Historically speaking, the milestone puts him anywhere from 5th to 8th on list of All Time Yankees, and makes it hard to argue anyone else as the third greatest shortstop of all time. He has been a model of consistency on the field, a model citizen off the field, and forgive me, but you can’t ignore this guy’s dating resume: Mariah Carey, Vanessa Minnillo, Jessica Alba, Vida Guerra, Jessica Biel, Minka Kelly, oh, and Miss Universes, Lara Dutta and Adriana Lima (refer to Google Images). That is the “babeball” equivalent of 4,000 hits. In the interest of a family-friendly column, I will leave it at that.
  Babeball Hall of Famer

• The Mid-Summer Classic, which over the years has been the most enjoyable baseball game for me, has turned into the Mid-Summer Pro Bowl 2.0. Too many All Stars like Mark Texeria and CC Sabathia have decided that an extra two days of rest are more important than playing a game that thousands of fans took the time to vote them into. Players like A-Rod, who is having surgery on his knee, and Justin Verlander and David Price, who are prohibited from pitching because they started on Sunday, are exonerated from criticism, but too many of their fellow All Stars are forgoing their responsibility to the fans by not playing in the game. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about baseball’s recent problem with overall interest in their sport, and recognized some of their problems and sensible solutions for them. I guess I should have included: “Players shouldn’t alienate their fans by not playing in a game that 50,000 plus of them have voted them into”. I compared it to the Pro Bowl earlier, which may make you think, well if NFL players make up injuries forgo the Pro Bowl, why do the same with the All Star Game. Because the MLB isn’t the NFL. We can forgive football players for not playing in the Pro Bowl (and the game being awful in general) because the 16 game regular season and 4 rounds of playoffs compensate for it. (Just like we will forgive them when this lockout ends.) Baseball, on the other hand, can’t make up for it, and can’t afford some of their most marketable players not playing in their All Star Game, which is a huge part of their game’s history, especially during mid-July, one of the few periods when baseball has the sports stage to itself. Even for those of you with no sympathy for the fans and their wishes, lets not forgot that the result of this game determines which league has home-field advantage in the World Series. So how do we prevent players from passing on the All Star Game? Well, we could go with the John Kruk solution: “Tell the players to get their butt to the game!” Or, we could go with a incentive-based solution. Make it so that any player without a legitimate excuse for skipping the game doesn’t receive any bonuses in their contract that are activated by an All Star appearance. Also, baseball should penalize both the player and their team by suspending the player for one game after the break. That might seem harsh and unreasonable, but like I said before, with it’s struggle to win fans over, baseball cannot let players tarnish their most sacred event and alienate fans by skipping the game.