Baseball Bloggers Alliance Award Winners

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance has chosen annual award winners in both leagues.  Unsurprisingly this group of well-informed baseball devotee's picks mirrored mine very closely.

Here are their winners in the order they were posted with links to their announcements:

Connie Mack Award (Manager of the Year)
AL: John Farrell
NL: Clint Hurdle

I had the same picks, although I had Francona in 3rd place while in the BBA they were a very close 1-2. Much as I love Tito I feel like he had more to work with than Kansas City's Ned Yost.

Willie Mays Award (Top Rookie)
AL: Wil Myers
NL: Jose Fernandez

Again, we matched, although I'm a little surprised at how much of a landslide the BBA gave to Wil Myers, and very pleasantly surprised that Fernandez easily bested Puig.

Goose Gossage Award (Top Reliever)
AL: Koji Uehara
NL: Craig Kimbrel

Again, two perfect picks. Kimbrel received 90% of the votes and I really didn't hesitate at all in putting his name on my ballot, so I can see why.  Koji edged Greg Holland 52% to 36% and I also had them 1-2.  In 3rd place I infamously picked the Twins' Joe Nathan, and as I've been told numerous times now, he spent the season in Arlington. But I'm not going back to edit that post now.  I deserve all the mocking cast my way.

Walter Johnson Award (Top Pitcher)
AL: Max Scherzer
NL: Clayton Kershaw

No surprises there. I am curious as to who received the vote(s) that didn't go to Kershaw, as he only ended up with 98% of the votes.  Then again, I was the village idiot who didn't cast his vote for Scherzer so there's always some in the crowd, I guess.

Stan Musial Award (Top Player)
AL: Mike Trout
NL: Andrew McCutchen

Again, both RSN Alberta and the  BBA picked Trout over Cabrera. In my mind, however, this year Miggy has a better case.  As I outlined in my voting post, he had a better season than in 2012, and Trout's year wasn't quite as good as his rookie campaign.  But Trout was still better and rightfully received this award.   McCutchen was also a deserving recipient in the NL.

All in all, a great job by the guys and gals of the BBA.  Unlike the BBWAA, I don't think we've ever made grossly negligent picks.  I'm waiting to hear what the more established group picks for its awards.  I won't be as upset this year if they pick Miggy over Trout, last year was inexcusable, this year I can see it.  But I will be fuming when they pick Puig over the much more deserving Fernandez for NL Rookie.  Let's wait and see, maybe they'll prove me wrong and make the right picks this year.

Enjoy the offseason! It will be a good one for all us Red Sox fans!!  I'm going to be watching the below over and over again :)

2013 Stan Musial Award - AL Player of the Year

My final award in the Baseball Bloggers Alliance year end voting, is the Stan Musial Award for the player of the year. Last year in a slightly controversial vote I ignored Miguel Cabrera's triple crown, and cast my ballot for Mike Trout instead.  Well, this year, with a lot less media hype Cabrera had an even better season!  His batting average went up from .330 to .348. He hit the same number of home runs and only 2 less RBI in 67 fewer at-bats.  His walk ratio increased from below 10 to 14%.  He led the league in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging, to obviously lead in OPS / OPS+ as well. He led in OPS last season as well with .999, but this year he was at 1.078, the highest mark in the American League since 2006. Maybe I can make it up to Tigers fans by voting for him this year, when he'll need more of a push as he didn't get the glitzy (but meaningless) triple crown.

2013 Goose Gossage Award - AL Reliever of the Year

In my series of Baseball Bloggers Alliance award winners, today I am revealing my vote for the Goose Gossage Award for reliever of the year.  On a side note, there is an Alberta connection here as Mr. Gossage was in Calgary earlier this year.

This award always seems to stay in the East. In 2011, in a vote that was controversial with many of my readers, I selected the Yankees David Robertson over our own Jonathan Papelbon.  Last year, despite Baltimore's Jim Johnson leading the world in saves, I voted for the Tampa's Francisco Rodney.  This year is no different. In early August I might have needed to pore over stats carefully to determine who was most deserving, but after the way Koji Uehara finished the season, this one is a no-brainer.  

First some raw numbers: