2013 Regular Season Awards

[Bunselpower32]

Well, it has to be done. The time is near, I may as well get this going.

State who you think should be MVP, and why.

Obviously a little biased, but Matt Carpenter. He has done at least everything that Andrew McCutchen has done offensively less the stolen bases. He leads the NL in runs by 16, in doubles by 11, and overall hits by 11. He even has two more triples than McCutchen does. As a leadoff man, he has driven in 4 less than McCutchen has batting number three, and he is only batting 3 points less. And did I mention his 119 runs as of September 17th? The man is destroying the NL. I get it, McCutchen is vital to that Pirates team because they score less runs. But the Cardinals lost their leadoff man late last year, and were in desperate need. They had no one else that could do it, and Carpenter stepped up big time. Given past performance by their players in the leadoff spot, Carpenter has added probably 40+ runs over anyone else who would have led off.

WAR is a joke. It almost took the MVP away from a TRIPLE CROWN winner last year. Until the effect defense has on WAR (and Carpenter has made some dandy defensive plays, just not in CF) is scaled down, I will not regard it as a true measure of a player's value.

You want proof? Allen Craig, who was batting almost .500 with RISP and had 97 RBI before going down with injury has a worse WAR rating than Nick Punto, who has played in about half the games Craig has.

More you say? Wellington Castillo is 21st on the list. I don't see the Brewers trading Juan Segura or the Dodgers trading Adrian Gonzalez for Wellilngton Castillo, both of whom are lower on the WAR list.

But come on, 119 runs?! Are you kidding me?

[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bunselpower32

Are you kidding me?

My thoughts exactly.

[55]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bunselpower32

WAR is a joke.

Nobody is laughing.

[24]

For the AL MVP my vote goes to Mike Trout. You look at his overall production and the numbers are just insane. He's 22 Years old, isn't anywhere close to his prime and is churning out numbers that have only been posted by some of the greatest players to ever live. Despite You not liking the WAR Statstic Trout Joined A group that consists Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Willie Mays, Carl Yastrzemski and Ken Griffey Jr. by posting back to back seasons with a WAR of 9 of Higher. Each player is either in the Hall of Fame or Will be In the Hall eventually. Trout does not have a flaw in his game. He's the definition of a 5 tool talent.

The MVP award stands for Most Valuable Player. It's not the greatest hitter award. If it was I would have no issue giving Miggy the MVP. However Cabrera is a complete liability on Defense, and cannot run the base paths at all. The fact that the Tigers have a better record cannot be solely contributed to Miguel Cabrera because Baseball is a Team sport. A player could go 4-4 with four home runs and his team could still loose the ball game. It's not Mike Trout's fault that his team has played Like Garbage.

Cabrera Will Win the MVP because the majority of old timers who do the voting will give him the Nod. His Team is in the playoffs and He's either first or Second in each of the Triple Crown Categories. But he doesn't deserve it.

[snepp]

Murray Chase called, you owe him royalties for using all of his antiquated arguments.

[DamnYanks2]

I'm not voting for either Cabrera or Trout. Because I don't vote for aliens. So my vote goes to Crush Davis.

[Chip Douglass]

I guess this thread will encompass all awards discussion.

The AL MVP, AL Cy Young, and NL Cy Young races are over. Cabrera, Scherzer, and Kershaw will win those respective awards easily. Scherzer and Kershaw should win, so no problem there. Trout vs. Cabrera has been debated a million times and that poor horse has been beaten into submission.

The NL MVP race is interesting. The traditional stats candidate (Goldschmidt) plays on a non-playoff contender and thus won't win it. McCutchen is the sabermetric candidate in that he accumulates his value in non-sexy, sabermetrically-inclined ways and has underwhelming triple crown stats for an MVP candidate. The same thing applies to Molina and Carpenter. The lack of a strong candidate among position players leaves space for Kershaw and his sub-2.00 ERA. His run prevention has been incredible, but he's won only 14 games. Verlander won 24 games 2 years ago, was perceived by the writers to have had a GOAT pitching season, and still barely won over Ellsbury.

IMO, McCutchen will win because he has the narrative behind him (franchise player who brought the Pirates back from a two decade long oblivion) and the writers won't give the award to a pitcher with only 14 wins.

[BunnyHardaway]

If the Orioles make the playoffs, I'd have a hard time voting for anyone other than Crush.

Shocking, right?