As the 2014 regular season comes to a close, here are Devan's season awards.
American League Most Valuable Player - Mike Trout Mike Trout is the best player in the American League. He was snubbed out of the past two MVP awards to Miguel Cabrera and Miguel Cabrera, respectively. This year, he hasn't been nearly as good, hitting "only" a slash line of .287/.377/.561 with 36 home runs and a league-leading 111 runs batted in. However, he has struck out 184 times, which is a red flag for Trout's future. But then again, there has been nobody better than Trout and his fWAR leads all of baseball. Nobody's been more valuable than Mike. Cy Young Award - Felix Hernandez Felix Hernandez absolutely dominated this year. Only someone by the same of Clayton Kershaw has been better than he has, as his 15-6 record with his 2.29 ERA is good enough to win the award itself. But for good measure, he has struck out 248 hitters as compared to only 46 walks over his 236 innings pitched. His 2.56 FIP and 2.51 xFIP both suggest that Hernandez has been helped by some good luck this year. Hernandez has a 5.9 WAR, which ranks fourth in the AL. But his dominance deserves the Cy Young award overall. He's been absolutely fantastic. Manager of the Year - Lloyd McClendon Lloyd McClendon took over a Mariners team that hasn't had a winning season since 2009 and almost took them to the postseason. A Mariners win and an Athletics loss would have done the trick, but Seattle fans were let down on the final day of the season when Oakland beat the Texas Ranger 6-0 to clinch the final American League playoff spot. But the Mariners have a young pitching staff, young lineup, and $200 million man Robinson Cano may be able to take them to October next year. Rookie of the Year - Jose Abreu Jose Abreu was fantastic at the beginning of the season, but cooled down greatly as the season went on. He hit 36 home runs, drove in 107, and posted a .317 batting average. If there has been any rookie better than Abreu, let me know. As for the Sabermetrics, Abreu has a 165 wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) and a 5.2 WAR, well ahead of any rookie in either league, let alone the American League. I would expect Abreu to finish in the top-10 in the MVP voting and wrap up the Rookie of the Year award easily, perhaps even unanimously. The future is bright for the young power hitter. Comeback Player of the Year - Wade Davis Just last season, Wade Davis was one of the worst players in the Royals pitching staff, going 8-11 with a 5.32 ERA and a 1.677 WHIP. He posted a 78 ERA+, meaning that his ERA was 22% worse than the average pitcher, including park factors. This season, Davis was converted to a back end of the bullpen relief pitcher, going 9-2 with a 1.00 ERA and a 0.847 WHIP. He has a 109 to 23 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 72 innings pitched. His ERA+? A whopping 399. That is basically saying that Davis' ERA is 299 percent better than the average pitcher. This comeback was astronomical. Defender of the Year - Alex Gordon You have to give some recognition to the best defenders. Alex Gordon has been lights-out in center for Kansas City. He has 27 defensive runs saved and has posted a 21.9 UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating), which measures the outfield arm runs above average, double play runs above average, range runs above average, and error runs above average and combines them. Gordon's range and arm has been fantastic this year and has made a lot of tough plays in the outfield, including a whopping 17.6% of "remote" plays (as determined by scouts) made, which generally is between 1-10%. National League Most Valuable Player - Clayton Kershaw Nobody in the National League has been better than Clayton Kershaw has this season. Let me repeat: nobody. Not Giancarlo Stanton, nor anyone else. Sure, some people may be against giving pitchers MVP awards, but Clayton Kershaw's 2014 season has been the best pitching season (in terms of ERA below 1.80) since Pedro Martinez's 2000 campaign. Kershaw's numbers are unbelievable; he's 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA, 1.81 FIP, and 2.07 xFIP in just 27 starts due to injury. He's struck out 239 and only walked 31. His season is better than Justin Verlander's 2011 MVP season. He's the best of the best in the NL. Cy Young Award - Clayton Kershaw If Kershaw is the MVP, there is absolutely no reason as to why he shouldn't be the Cy Young award winner. That's my logic. Manager of the Year - Bruce Bochy Bruce Bochy has had to battle injuries to his offense and pitching staff and the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, but has still been able to bring the San Francisco Giants back to the playoffs with a Wild Card birth. Bochy is a managerial wizard, and he definitely proved that this season. Even with all the woes, he led the team to an 12 win improvement last season and will be leading them to their third postseason under him. The result of the first two? World Series championships. Rookie of the Year - Jacob deGrom I recently wrote an article on why Jacob deGrom should win the National League Rookie of the Year over Billy Hamilton. Hamilton hasn't done anything to change my mind on that, so deGrom is still my pick to win the award. On the year, he is 9-6 with a 2.69 ERA, 2.67 FIP, and 3.03 xFIP on the season in 22 starts with the New York Mets. His 3.0 fWAR ranks fourth among rookie starters and tops in the National League. Hamilton's low OBP and high caught stealing rate really sealed the deal for deGrom. Comeback Player of the Year - Edinson Volquez Edinson Volquez signed a one-year, $5 million "prove it" deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates prior to this season and boy did he prove it. Volquez, fresh off a season where he posted a 5.71 ERA, has gone 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA, 4.15 FIP, and 4.20 xFIP in 192 2/3 innings pitched. He has struck out 140 and walked 71, as compared to a 142 to 77 ratio last year in 22 1/3 less innings. Now he is headed to the postseason, where he will start the National League Wild Card game. Defender of the Year - Jason Heyward Jason Heyward continually made outstanding catches and unbelievable throws in right field for the Atlanta Braves. His UZR is the highest in baseball with a 25.3 mark. His range runs above average is tops in the majors as well, 5.7 runs above better than the next highest defender (Chase Headley). In terms of Inside Edge Fielding, Heyward has made 62.5% of "unlikely" plays, which is generally in the 10-40% range. Heyward has been the best defender of anyone this season. --Devan F.
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The Atlanta Braves are on their way to their first losing season since 2008. The team has looked tired, inactive, and unenergized all season, and today, they were officially mathematically eliminated from the playoffs today. Is it time for Atlanta to move on from general manager Frank Wren? Wren hasn't done too much to make last year's Atlanta team (they lost in the NLDS) better this year. He signed starting pitcher Ervin Santana to a one-year deal in March, after finding out that Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen were both done for the year with elbow surgeries. Santana hasn't been too bad for Atlanta as he is 14-9 with a 3.74 ERA in 29 starts this season. On July 31, the non-waiver trade deadline, and Atlanta sitting just 1.5 games back of the National League East leading Washington Nationals, Wren had a decision to make. He could have bought at the deadline to add to the club for a postseason run or he could have decided to sell players who will be free agents at the end of the year, like Santana. The issue with that is that the Braves have locked up most of their veteran players. Of the players that were on their roster on July 30, just Santana, Ryan Doumit, Gavin Floyd, Gerald Laird, and Aaron Harang would be free agents at the end of this season. Santana was the only trade piece that could have perhaps netted a decent return for the Braves. If Wren really wanted to sell, he could have traded some of the 2015 free agents. Those would have netted him a very good return. Justin Upton, Jason Heyward, Kris Medlen, and Jonny Venters are all free agents at the end of next season. Again, Atlanta had a 58-51 record, and sat just 1.5 games back, so trading any of those players would have made absolutely no sense. The one subtle move that Wren did make for the Braves was an interesting one. He traded Victor Caratini, a minor league catcher/third baseman, to the Cubs, for Emilio Bonifacio and James Russell. Bonifacio is a free agent at the end of the season, so his time in Atlanta appears to be short-lived, but the Braves acquired a very interesting bullpen piece in Russell. The 28-year-old is 0-2 with a 3.33 ERA in 51.1 innings this year with the Cubs and the Braves. The Braves rank 12th in the major leagues in payroll with around $112 million. The record that they are sporting doesn't reflect the one that is paying their players $112 million. But when you have the Phillies and Red Sox, who rank sixth and seventh in payroll, sitting at the bottom of their respective decisions, a second place finish in the National League East isn't that bad. Frank Wren should still be the Braves general manager come 2015. I would probably make every decision he made last offseason and this trade deadline. He didn't know that Beachy and Medlen would go down with injuries in the beginning of the year. So then he went out and got Ervin Santana. He didn't deal any of his 2015 free agents to still make a run next season. He didn't deal any of his 2014 free agents, well, because none of them were desirable at all. Wren is doing his job, at least I think, pretty darn well. Perhaps it is time to move on from manager Fredi Gonzalez. The Braves have looked sluggish over these past couple of weeks. It may be possible he's lost support in the clubhouse. But I know that one thing is for sure. And that is that Frank Wren should still be the Braves' general manager in 2015. **Payroll data supplied by Spotrac** Boy, has this season gone by fast. It feels like just yesterday the Boston Red Sox were hoisting the 2013 World Series trophy, and everyone else was waiting for the season to start again. It feels like just yesterday that Opening Day was here and that the teams were back on the field to start a new season with a clean slate. But this first half of the season has gone by fast. Really fast. Now we are at the All-Star break, and it is time to give out some "first-half awards," talk about some surprise teams, and just recap what went on during this fantastic first half of the 2014 season.
National League Awards: MVP: Jonathan Lucroy, C, Milwaukee Brewers Jonathan Lucroy has been the best player in the National League this season. He's more valuable to the Brewers than Troy Tulowitzki is to the Rockies. It is not only his offense that is near the top of the National League, but his handling of the Brewers pitching staff is arguably just as good as Yadier Molina's handling of the Cardinals pitching staff. While Lucroy's 3.7 WAR is tied for fifth in the National League and his OPS ranks 9th. So far on the season, Lucroy is batting .315/.385/.494 with nine homers and 44 runs batted in. Those are MVP worthy numbers on any level. Honorable Mentions: Troy Tulowitzki, Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Gomez, and Giancarlo Stanton Rookie of the Year: Billy Hamilton, OF, Cincinnati Reds Only two rookies, Hamilton and Chris Owings, have WARs above one. While Owings has had a good season, Hamilton has been more impressive. He's hitting a slash line of .285/.319/.423 with 38 stolen bases, which ranks second in the National League to only Dee Gordon, who has an astounding 43 stolen bases. Hamilton's 4.7 percent walk rate is not great, but he is getting on-base on a fine rate. One other plus to Hamilton's game is his defense; he boasts a 9 defensive runs saved this season and a 23 UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) prorated to 150 games. Hamilton's case is better than anyone else's. Honorable Mentions: Chris Owings and Tommy La Stella Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw, LHP, Los Angeles Dodgers A no-hitter, a 40+ innings scoreless streak, and a sub-2 ERA. That's enough to be not only a Cy Young award winner, but also MVP. On the season, Clayton Kershaw is 11-2 with a 1.78 ERA and a 1.60 FIP in 96.1 innings pitched. Kershaw leads all National League pitchers with a 3.7 WAR, 1.72 xFIP, and ranks third in the National League in left-on-base percentage with an 83.6 mark. Kershaw also has a 126 to 13 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In terms of FIP, Kershaw is having the greatest seasons of his career. The Dodgers are fantastic in his starts, as they are 11-3 when Kershaw is on the hill. Honorable Mentions: Adam Wainwright and Stephen Strasburg Manager of the Year: Ron Roenicke, MGR, Milwaukee Brewers Ron Roenicke has dealt with the issues surrounding Jean Segura quite well. Not to mention, he took the Brewers, a team that was supposed to be around the bottom of the National League Central, into contention, with one of the hottest starts of the season. While they have cooled off greatly, they still are playing very good baseball, which has to come back to the managerial experience of Roenicke. Not to mention, Roenicke has challenged 14 calls this season, and nine were overturned, for an astounding 64.2% success rate. His work for the Brewers has taken them far and could take them further. Honorable Mentions: Matt Williams and Bryan Price It's been a tough year for Atlanta Braves pitching. It started with Kris Medlen. Arguably the best Braves pitcher in 2013, Medlen took the hill in a Spring Training game against the New York Mets. During his start, Medlen ran off the hill in pain. He didn't return. He has not returned since. He will not return until 2015. Medlen was the third major league pitcher to have Tommy John surgery in 2014, but wasn't the only Atlanta Brave to do so. Brandon Beachy, Medlen's teammate, also felt elbow pain. He was removed for "precautionary reasons." After seeing Dr. James Andrews, Beachy, like Medlen, would be scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery. Opening Day hadn't come, and the Braves were already down two pitchers thought to be in the starting rotation. In spite of the news, the Braves signed pitcher Ervin Santana to a contract, in hopes to patch up some issues with their rotation. Santana started off the season hot, but has cooled off quite a bit lately, settling in with a 4.12 ERA. And so the Braves trudged on. However, that wasn't the end of their starting pitching woes. Just on Thursday, Atlanta starter Gavin Floyd was dealing. He had pitched six innings, allowing just two hits, striking out six Washington Nationals, while just walking one. However, Floyd had to leave the game, because, you guessed it, elbow problems. While Floyd did not have any ligament issues in his elbow, he fractured the bone. So, he'll be out for some time as well. What am I getting at by sharing all the Braves pitching woes? July 31 isn't too far away. That is the MLB trade deadline. The Braves, with all their starting pitching issues, might want to make a move. They are in the thick of the pennant race on the summer solecist. Heck, they're in first place! The Braves, at 38-35, lead the Nationals by a half of a game, the Marlins by one, Phillies by three and a half, and the Mets by five and a half. The two best pitchers on the trade market, David Price and Jeff Samardzija, might just be on Atlanta's radar in the coming weeks. As the Washington Nationals start to get healthy and give them a run for their money, the Braves might want to pursue either Price or Samardzija to solidify their chances of not only going into the postseason, but deep into it. While salary cap and prospects are always issues for teams at the trade deadline, the Braves acquiring Samardzija or Price could save their season. If their entire rotation was healthy, I honestly could see the Braves in first place by five or six games. While their offense isn't great, there have been plenty of games that, with a little more pitching, the Braves could have pulled away from their division rivals. Samardzija might be the more realistic of the two pitchers. I was talking to Robert Murray of Sports Injury Alert (he's a great follow on Twitter, by the way) not too long ago about where Samardzija might land. We both agreed that the Braves could make a serious run at the pitcher if they wanted to. The only issue for the Braves is their lack of prospects. Their most major league ready prospect is catcher Christian Betancourt, currently posting a .667 OPS at Triple-A Gwinnett. However, the Chicago Cubs have catchers in their organization, especially after drafting Kyle Schwarber in the first round of this season's draft. The Braves might not be able to fill the Cubs wants, or even offer something close to what other teams might. It looks like it could be an uphill battle for Atlanta. Then, there is always the issue of salary. The Braves have an estimated (according to BaseballReference.com) $108.7 million committed to their current roster. While taking on Jeff Samardzija's $5.35 million won't hurt them towards the salary cap by any means (Samardzija is due for arbitration again at the end of the year), the question becomes, do the Braves want to become a bigger-market team and spend more money? If the answer is yes, Samardzija could be headed to Atlanta. The lack of starting pitching is definitely there for the Atlanta Braves. How they want to fix it is their problem, but do not be surprised if Jeff Samardzija or even David Price are on their radar with the upcoming trade deadline quickly approaching. It might be the only antidote to the Braves version of the "Tommy John epidemic." 30. Chicago Cubs (16-27)*
Pitcher Jeff Samardzija is second in the National League in ERA, but has yet to earn a win, going 0-4 in his nine starts. Since 1914, only Whitey Ford and he have gone nine starts, each allowing three or less runs, without getting a win. That goes to show how hard it is for the Cubs to score some runs and win ballgames consistently. 29. Houston Astros (17-29)* Offseason acquisition Dexter Fowler has been the main cog in the offensive attack for the Astros, leading the team in OPS+, on base percentage, and runs scored. Overall, the Astros rank second-to-last in the American League in batting average, last in runs scored, and fourth-to-last in OPS. It's been a tough season all the way around for Houston. 28. Pittsburgh Pirates (18-26)* The Pittsburgh Pirates cannot find that same spark that took them all the way to the postseason last year. Part of the reason could be the play from outfielder Starling Marte, who's OPS+ took a big hit, from 121 to 108. There is reason for hope in Pittsburgh. Their team batting average has gone up 22 points since the beginning of May, but their pitching staff has brought it's ERA up too. Losing five of their last seven does not help, either. 27. Philadelphia Phillies (20-22)* The Phillies are seeing on-and-off play from third baseman Cody Asche so far this season. He has 16 hits and a .333 batting average in the month of May, but seven of those 16 hits have come in the last three games. Without those at bats and hits, Asche would be batting just .250. The Phillies offense has been just like Asche, inconsistent. The Phillies have been shut out five times in May, but have averaged 3.8 runs a game, higher than their April mark of 3.7. 26. Tampa Bay Rays (19-27)* I am not really sure what has gone wrong with the Rays to begin this season. They have scored an adequate amount of runs, have an average American League ERA of 4.20, but are sitting at the bottom of the American League East at 19-26. Injuries seem to be the main issue. Matt Moore is going to miss the entire season, Ben Zobrist has a dislocated thumb, and Jeremy Hellickson recently had right elbow surgery. It does not get much worse than that. 25. Chicago White Sox (23-24)* Jose Abreu is now on the disabled list. He leads the American League in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage, and total bases. He has been the heart and sole of the White Sox. Without him, it looks like they could be falling down this list, and fast. But for now, they are holding their own at number 25, despite losing six of their last eight games. 24. San Diego Padres (21-25)* I expected more from the San Diego Padres going into this season. They really have not been meeting expectations, and injuries have slowed them more than ever. Like the Rays, many of their stars are currently hurt and on the disabled list, including Andrew Cashner and Josh Johnson. In order for the Padres to make a move, their offense has to pick up the pace. They rank second-to-last in the National League in runs scored, but rank second in ERA. 23. Arizona Diamondbacks (18-29)* The Arizona Diamondbacks made a fantastic hire in Tony LaRussa to lead their baseball operations. They have been able to string some wins together in May, going 9-6 thus far, scoring 0.6 more runs per game this month than they have all season. The light is finally starting to be seen at the end of this long dark tunnel. Their pitching is starting to figure it out as well, posting a 3.81 ERA in the month. 22. Cleveland Indians (21-25)* Lonnie Chisenhall has been the Indians best producer this season, posting a .912 OPS, 162 OPS+, and a .364 batting average, all leading the team. Chisenhall has played in only three games against a left-handed pitcher, compared to 31 against righties, causing much uproar across the web. Over his career, Chisenhall has just a .205 batting average against lefties. 21. Texas Rangers (21-24)* Prince Fielder has a herniated disk in his neck, which is just even more great news for Rangers fans. They have 13 players on the disabled list to begin the season, and even Fielder, who had played in 547 straight games, is now going to be on the sidelines, adding yet another player to the lengthy list of names of Rangers that are injured (although Fielder will not be going on the disabled list). |