When fragile china doll, Giancarlo Stanton, went down with a groin strain, you have no idea how much I wanted the Marlins to go after Alex Rodriguez. If nothing else, just to keep the Yankees’ drama going. But since that’s not going to happen, this week has mostly been a discussion of who’s in position for postseason awards. Good timing. The season is about exactly 3/4ths done. And since I haven’t done this for a while, let’s get back in to it.
AL MVP
Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
Listen, Trout is not going to win this thing. The Angels are 21 games back of the Rangers, losing 11 in a row at one point this past week. But the fact that a player of Trout’s caliber has only won one MVP award is almost criminal. Here’s how I retroactively would have voted the previous four years.
2012 WAR wOBA
1. Mike Trout 10.3 .409
2. Miguel Cabrera 6.4 .417
3. Robinson Cano 7.6 .394
4. Adrian Beltre 6.5 .388
5. Prince Fielder 4.8 .398
Trout finished second to Cabrera because of the Triple Crown. That’s right, only four years ago, we still cared about RBIs. We were wrong.
2013 WAR wOBA
1. Mike Trout 10.5 .423
2. Miguel Cabrera 7.5 .455
3. Chris Davis 7.0 .421
4. Josh Donaldson 7.6 .384
5. Robinson Cano 5.8 .384
Trout finished second to Cabrera again. At this point everybody was saying, “Well, Trout’s a better player. But Cabrera’s a better hitter.” And I was all, “But not by much though. And also, WHAT???”
2014 WAR wOBA
1. Mike Trout 8.0 .402
2. Jose Bautista 6.4 .402
3. Michael Brantley 6.1 .389
4. Jose Abreu 5.3 .411
5. Adrian Beltre 5.7 .380
Trout’s ‘worst’ season is also his only MVP season. Also, this would be an excellent time to remind you that Adrian Beltre is the 5th greatest 3rd baseman of all time.
2015 WAR wOBA
1. Mike Trout 9.0 .415
2. Josh Donaldson 8.7 .398
3. Chris Davis 5.6 .390
4. Manny Machado 6.8 .370
5. Nelson Cruz 4.8 .396
Trout finished second to Donaldson, who he was clearly better than. But Donaldson won because the Blue Jays were clearly better than the Angels. Unless there is also a stat for ‘most annoying hillbilly voice of all time’, in which case Donaldson would clean up.
So…
This year it looks like this.
2016 WAR wOBA
1. Mike Trout 6.9 .412
2. Jose Altuve 6.3 .420
3. Josh Donaldson 6.2 .402
4. Mookie Betts 6.1 .390
5. Manny Machado 5.4 .377
So my guess is Altuve. No matter how bad ESPN wants to hand it to Betts. He’s also good at bowling!!!!!!!!! Unless there is also a stat for most annoying hillbilly voice of all time, in which case… Donaldson.
AL Cy Young
Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians
I’d give the Klubot a slight edge over Aaron Sanchez, Jose Quintana, Danny Duffy and Steven Wright. But I don’t understand why this so so hard for people. Zach Britton has only pitched 50 innings this year and has a 1.8 WAR. So can we stop pretending closers should even be in the conversation? Thanks. Also, the Indians’ overall staff is a tad bit overrated. Their team has scored 600 runs this season. That’s actually a bigger part of why they win. The best staff in the AL belongs to Toronto. You heard me correctly.
AL Rookie of the Year
Michael Fulmer, Detroit Tigers
I’d go so far as to say he’s 7th or 8th in the AL Cy Young conversation. And that’s ahead of Justin Verlander, who apparently decided he was still Justin Verlander.
NL MVP
Daniel Murphy, Washington Nationals
I WANT it to be one of the MVP Brothers (Bryzzo). But it’s still the fluke homophobe in our nation’s capital. But since we’re talking about the MVP Brothers (I coined something!), did all of you see Anthony Rizzo’s balance beam catch in foul territory this week? Or the fact that the Cubs have a +209 run differential and haven’t had a +200 since 1945? They’re actually under-performing, folks. I blame the bullpen. And yes, I’m horrified of the Cardinals/Pirates winning the Wild Card and doing to the Cubs what the Cubs did to the Cardinals (and Pirates) last year.
NL Cy Young
I’ll let you decide. Because it’s probably still Kershaw. Like, you can say whatever you want. It’s still Kershaw.
2016 WAR FIP ERA
Clayton Kershaw 5.5 1.66 1.79
Noah Syndergaard 5.0 2.22 2.76
Jose Fernandez 4.8 2.21 2.81
Madison Bumgarner 3.9 3.14 2.11
Jacob deGrom 3.5 3.00 2.30
Kershaw is gonna fall off eventually. But that means the Mets have two of the four best pitchers in the league and still can’t win (maybe since one of them doesn’t capitalize his last name like an American person). Also, Clayton Kershaw has a 5.5 WAR and he hasn’t even pitched since June 26. I’m just saying. And the Dodgers have the second-best record (to my beloved Cubs) in the National League since then for some reason. The Giants have the second-worst in all of baseball since then. It must really suck to be the Giants right now. Even year, baby!
NL Rookie of the Year
Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers
Just so we’re clear, the Giants have a 9-21 record since the All-Star break. I mean, holy fucking shit. Both are odd numbers.
Okay! That’s it for this week. Next week, I’ll be in New York City, in a place that has no outfields. If you need more baseball from me you can check me out on “Comedians Talking Sports” with Joe Kilgallon on the podcast stuff. Until then, the Cubs’ Magic Number is 30. Which is an even number. That’s an important thing!
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