Baseball Awards have been Handed Out

The awards for baseball are out, and surprisingly, the brain dead voters didn’t make too many mistakes here, but I have a few things to say.

Except for MLB Network staff and the people who actually win it, the Manager of the Year is completely irrelevant. The good managers have good teams, the bad managers have bad teams and don’t stay long and the irrelevant managers have good or bad teams. Rarely are there bad teams who stick it out and get into the playoffs, except in Major League, the movie. So, managers don’t have a role unless they shift their team a little higher. Except for Kevin Cash, who actually won the award, he took a bunch of underpaid guys and sent them to a World Series, they lost, but hey.

Devin Williams made history, being a reliever to get the Rookie of the Year? The chances of that are like being eaten by a shark while being struck by lightning while looking at the blue moon, and then you win the lottery. One word: slim. He posted a microscopic ERA, 0.33, and 53% of the batters faced were sent back when he was on the mound. Great pitcher, a great career ahead of him.

Kyle Lewis, future star, a future hitter that pitchers will cower in fear from. He’s so scary, a five-tool player, and he can really do everything. Speed is something he can work on but you can’t teach speed, but, with 1.23 million prospects ready to go, the Mariners have a lot of brightness ahead of them. Future MVP by the way, check back to this blog.

Shane Bieber won the AL Cy Young, Gerrit Cole didn’t impress, and no one else really stood out, prompting a unanimous decision by the voters. He had a 41.1% strikeout rate (what is it with these pitchers nowadays? Like Doc Gooden couldn’t do that…) and a 1.63 ERA, remember, this is a truncated season, so the batter’s stats are atrocious while the pitchers are flourishing. If the Indians somehow pick up Trevor Bauer in the offseason (who I hope the Mets will get), then the other team should just forfeit a week in advance.

Shifting gears to Trevor Bauer, I completely disagree with his selection to be the Cy Young Winner, totally not because I’m a Mets fan and think that Jacob DeGrom should’ve won. DeGrom should’ve gotten it because, well, because, it would’ve made him get it three years in a row, now Trevor Bauer, who probably smells like rotten milk mixed with gouda cheese (no offense, please come to New York, Mr. Bauer), broke Jake’s streak. Bauer led the NL in ERA, lowest hits per 9 IP; but Jacob Degrom has four reasons: Most strikeouts in NL, lower HR per 9 IP than Bauer, feeling sorry for the Mets, because we’re the Mets and because he just should’ve won. MOVING ON!

Freddie Freeman won NL MVP, finally, well deserved; Buzz from Home Alone won an MVP after just barely losing it in years past. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItUECpFi9_s

He was commanding in every game he played, 51 runs and 23 doubles (both leading the NL) and had 13 homers, just to put that into perspective: that would lead many teams, like the Mariners, and he placed 14^th in the NL. I really have no idea why he would win, like, why now? His averages were plain amazing, .341/.462/.640, that’s amazing, on paper, he’s the best in the NL, and that’s what this is about right? But there are players that deserved the award with stats that aren’t on paper, Manny Machado, is one with incredible swag on and off the field, he also has the stats to prove it. Mookie Betts as well, one of the happiest players in baseball, also one of the most respectable. He put them through the playoffs as well as a World Series win, helped by the rest of the offense on the Dodgers, but Betts was the main catalyst.

Another first-time winner that wasn’t a runaway, Jose Abreu in the AL. He had even more paper than Freeman, leading the AL in RBIs, second in homers, and fourth in average. I would be looking forever for a team that didn’t want him because he’s amazing, imagine if the moons and the planets and the orbiting baseballs hit by Barry Bonds and Giancarlo Stanton aligned and Abreu paired up with a team that would actually use him. The Sox stepped into the playoffs for the first time in 12 years, led by Abreu, but he should see a chiropractor after how much he carried their offense. He also led all of baseball in hits and total bases. DJ LeMahieu didn’t deserve it, one of the main columns of the Yankees, but just not MVP stuff. Jose Ramirez, one of the most unseen players in baseball, falls under the radar yet again, MVP stuff, 100%, he should’ve gotten the award, he is a five tool player at third base, ever seen one of those? Me neither.

Congrats to Kim Ng, the first female MLB GM. It’s really great to see the MLB be so progressive, hiring her, and she paved the way for many more female GMs. First challenge: Rebuilding that pigsty. 

Finally, get well soon, Tommy Lasorda!