Postseason Awards discussion thread

[Dojji]

We're going to probably want one of these eventually, and I have a question that I think is related more to this than any of the current established topics.

 

We know that Pedroia is probably going to swell his collection of gold gloves, and if Betts doesn't come home with a Silver Slugger, I'd be astonished. Porcello is in the running for the Cy but I think he's going to fall just a little short to Sale, but there's plenty of time for things to change on that front.

 

My question for the moment is based on something I saw on the broadcast that kind of is worth talking about, do you see Sandy Leon bringing home Rookie of the Year? He just missed losing his eligibility last year, and I don't see any reason why he isn't a candidate, and since he plays catcher and has hit like a monster this year, he has to be one of the top candidates.

[greenwell]

We're going to probably want one of these eventually, and I have a question that I think is related more to this than any of the current established topics.

 

We know that Pedroia is probably going to swell his collection of gold gloves, and if Betts doesn't come home with a Silver Slugger, I'd be astonished. Porcello is in the running for the Cy but I think he's going to fall just a little short to Sale, but there's plenty of time for things to change on that front.

 

My question for the moment is based on something I saw on the broadcast that kind of is worth talking about, do you see Sandy Leon bringing home Rookie of the Year? He just missed losing his eligibility last year, and I don't see any reason why he isn't a candidate, and since he plays catcher and has hit like a monster this year, he has to be one of the top candidates.

 

He's not a rookie.

[illinoisredsox]

Per Baseball Reference, Leon is not a rookie. He was on the 2015 rookie list, but is not on the 2016 one.

 

The limit is 130 ABs or 45 days on the active roster (except for DL time) so he lost his rookie status last season; got to remember he had nearly 100 ABs with the Nationals before being traded to the Red Sox. Add that to the 128 he had with Boston last year and he was well over 200 ABs before the 2016 season started.

[Dojji]

Ahh I missed that. Sorry.

[Slasher9]

if he keeps thinking he is ty cobb forget ROY, he may end up MVP....

[Dojji]

Alright then well at least this thread is here when we need it in a couple months.

 

I feel silly.

[sk7326]

Gold Gloves are entirely useless - though I am happy Pedroia has won them before.

 

Cy Young - I think there is a decent chance Britton wins the Cy Young. There is not an obvious dominant starter out there, and voters have historically gone to dominant relievers in seasons like this. Now it is utterly bonkers that Britton should be a viable candidate - but there you go.

 

AL MVP - It's a three or four man race, and is going to stay that way the final 40 games of the season and it's close enough that the rest of the season really has to play out to create any meaningful separation.

 

Trout is probably the dark horse. While he is still the league's best player - MVPs on godawful teams are rare. Yes, the voters are fundamentally voting on the competence of his teammates in this worldview - but we know it happens.

 

So that leaves Donaldson, Altuve or Betts in some order. I think Altuve is probably the favorite - the Astros might not make the playoffs, but they are good. Altuve has been an emerging force for a while and has leapt into true superstardom this season. It is a good story. Betts has obviously gone crazy since the break, and could very easily wrest this away Josh Hamilton style in September. Voters love that stuff. The latter applies to Donaldson as well - but being the defending MVP, voting for him is not as fun as voting for someone new.

 

David Ortiz stands as an even darker dark horse - but a viable one - for obvious reasons.

[Kimmi]

While Gold Gloves are still not up to par, I would like to point out that they have gotten much better since the addition of the sabermetric component. Go statheads!

 

I would also like to point out that the Cy Young voters have gotten better with their knowledge of advanced stats over the traditional 'Wins'. Go statheads!

[Bellhorn04]

My guess is that the voters do look at WAR for position players now, but they probably ignore WAR for pitchers. Based on fWAR for example, Price is ahead of Porcello.

[Kimmi]

My guess is that the voters do look at WAR for position players now, but they probably ignore WAR for pitchers. Based on fWAR for example, Price is ahead of Porcello.

 

That sounds about right. My guess would be that the 'traditional' voters look at bWAR if they look at any WAR at all. I have no basis for that opinion other than my impression. I think that for pitchers, they're looking at things like Ks, IP, and WHIP. The main thing is that they're not focusing on Wins.