Major Awards

As the lone Houston Astros representative of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, and as bloggers don’t have a voice in voting on the major end-of-season awards, the BBA is holding their own voting. Below is my ballot for the major awards. Complain if you like.

National League Rookie of the Year
Chris Coghlan, Florida
Batting in the leadoff spot in 446 of his 504 ABs, Coghlan posted a line of .336/.397/.473 and a season total of .321/.390/.460 with 46 total extra-base hits. His .850 OPS was 22nd in the National League.

2. J.A. Happ, Philadelphia
3. Tommy Hanson, Atlanta

American League Rookie of the Year
Andrew Bailey, Oakland
The 25-year old Bailey was thrust into the closer role following the Huston Street/Matt Holliday trade, and he proceeded to put up 26 saves with a 1.84 ERA/0.88 WHIP. Striking out 91 batters in 83.1IP, Bailey only blew four saves all year, and allowed 2+ER in a game only three times, and only gave up two earned runs from July 31 until the end of the season (both earned coming in the same game, on September 5).

2. Rick Porcello, Detroit
3. Elvis Andrus, Texas

National League Manager of the Year
Jim Tracy, Colorado
It’s a song we’ve all heard before, and TBS won’t let us forget. How Tracy took a team that was 18-28 end up 92-70, win the Wild Card, and make a serious run at the Dodgers for the NL West title.

2. Fredi Gonzalez, Florida
3. Tony LaRussa, St. Louis

American League Manager of the Year
Ron Gardenhire, Minnesota
Yes, Mike Scioscia’s Angels had to overcome a whole lot of adversity at the beginning of the year, and I’m happy they’re in the playoffs. Yes, Joe Girardi won 103 games. But with a payroll of $8.4 billion (approximately), they should have done that well. Ron Gardenhire took a team that was without Justin Morneau for the final few weeks of the season, made up seven games from September 6 to take the AL Central from the Tigers, which looked to be a vastly superior team. The Twins might get it handed to them by the Yankees, but Gardenhire deserves this award.

2. Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
3. Ron Washington, Texas Rangers of Texas

National League Cy Young Award
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco
No, it’s not because I’m an Astros fan and won’t give it to a Cardinal. Tim Lincecum finished in the Top Five in Wins (4th), Strikeouts (1st), WHIP (4th), Complete Games (1st), Innings Pitched (3rd), ERA (2nd), and Win% (5th). Three of his losses came in quality starts, and in seven of his quality starts he received a No Decision.

2. Chris Carpenter, St. Louis
3. Adam Wainwright, St. Louis

American League Cy Young Award
Zack Greinke, Kansas City
Child, please. Greinke had the best ERA and WHIP in the American League, and won 16 of his team’s 65 games. Righties only hit .211 off of him. He got a no decision in eight quality starts, and in four of those starts he allowed 0 or 1 run. If the Royals can score two runs for him in those games, he finishes 20-8.

2. Felix Hernandez, Seattle
3. C.C. Sabathia, New York

National League MVP
Albert Pujols, St. Louis
This is a no-brainer. Prince Albert had the NL-Best in homers, SLG (exactly 50% of his 186 hits were for extra-bases), OBP, OPS, and runs. His Triple Crown run came up short, but he did finish in the Top 3 in BA and RBI, as well. Pujols also only struck out 64 times all season. He’ll be the 2nd $300 million man, but will actually be the first to deserve it.

2. Hanley Ramirez, Florida
3. Chase Utley, Philadelphia
4. Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego
5. Prince Fielder, Milwaukee
6. Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco
7. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado
8. Ryan Howard, Philadelphia
9. Ryan Zimmerman, Washington
10. Andre Ethier, Los Angeles

American League MVP
Joe Mauer, Minnesota
I wanted to go against everyone else and give it to Jeter, but I just couldn’t ignore that Mauer hit .365 over 138 games and had the top BA, OBP, SLG (and, obviously, OPS) in the American League. Like Pujols, Mauer had an upside-down K:BB ratio (63K:76BB), and hit .376 in August and September.

2. Derek Jeter, New York
3. Kendry Morales, Los Angeles
4. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit
5. Mark Teixeira, New York
6. Kevin Youkilis, Boston
7. Adam Lind, Toronto
8. Chone Figgins, Los Angeles
9. Jason Bay, Boston
10. Zack Greinke, Kansas City

Visit Astros County and follow us on Twitter