In this post I will show how I would vote, if I was given the chance.

Given the definitions of value in my earlier post, I consider this one…

“relative worth, merit, or importance: the value of a college education; the value of a queen in chess.”

as my best way to evaluate talent and to assign value.

What this means is that I am not going to penalize a player for switching leagues midseason or for being on a poor team. Mark Teixeira, for example, showed more poise than weakness by adjusting from NL pitching to AL pitching and thriving.

Drop the “League”-necessary aspect of it. Anyone who switches leagues is thereby null and void in that case (Manny Ramirez? AL MVP hands down).

So, when I make my votes, I am going to take the last league in which they played and count the players entire year into the consideration. So, for example, C. C. Sabathia started in Cleveland, finished in Milwaukee, but I will treat his stats as if he spent the whole season in Milwaukee.

It’s not perfect, but it is light years better than the system our voters currently go by. Imagine a year where a Pujols 70 HR .500 OBP year gets shafted because of a deadline trade.

Here is the paste of my original 2008 award picks, posted originally on my fantasy baseball forum. In hindsight a few small changes could’ve been made but I stand by everything I wrote:
 

AL MVP:

  3B Alex Rodriguez (NYY):
   .302 AVG, .392 OBP, .573 SLG
   35 HR, 104 R, 103 RBI
   65 BB, 117 K
   18/21 SB/CS, .965 OPS

  Comments: Even with the missed time, the best (but not easy) choice. Playing 3rd base over 1st base gives a slight edge.

 [2nd choice]:
  
  1B Mark Teixeira (LAA):
   .308 AVG, .410 OBP, .552 SLG
   33 HR, 102 R, 121 RBI
   98 BB, 93 K
   2/0 SB/CS, .962 OPS

  Comments: One of the most underrated players (please GOD come to Toronto). Qualifies for AL despite playing mostly in ATL. Has more BB than SO.

 [3rd choice]:
  
  CF Josh Hamilton (TEX):
   .304 AVG, .371 OBP, .530 SLG
   32 HR, 98 R, 130 RBI
   64 BB, 126 K
   9/1 SB/CS, .901 OPS

  Comments: .901 OPS doesn’t cut it for first choice. The high RBI total reflects the team he plays on more than his ability.

  Ranks four through ten:

#4 OF Carlos Quentin (CWS)
#5 OF Jason Bay (BOS)
#6 1B Kevin Youkilis (BOS)
#7 1B Miguel Cabrera (DET)
#8 1B Justin Morneau (MIN)
#9 DH Milton Bradley (TEX)
#10 C Joe Mauer (MIN)

 

AL Cy Young:

   SP Roy Halladay (TOR):
    20-11 W/L, 246.0 IP, 2.78 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 206 K
    220 H, 39 BB, 9 CG
    5.28 K/BB, 7.54 K/9, 1.43 BB/9, .620 OOPS

  Comments: The best pitcher in the AL by a large margin. Not only a workhorse but extremely consistent. Leads AL in WHIP. Has his strikeouts back up to go along with an insane GB/FB ratio. More CG’s than anyone in AL by leaps and bounds. Possibly best pitcher in MLB all-around when including health.

  [2nd choice]:

   SP Cliff Lee (CLE):
    22-3 W/L, 223.1 IP, 2.54 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 170 K
    214 H, 34 BB, 4 CG
    5.00 K/BB, 6.85 K/9, 1.37 BB/9, .632 OOPS

  Comments: If there’s one pitcher I wouldn’t mind winning it over Halladay it’s Lee. A phenomenal year where it really came all together for a pitcher that isn’t this good. Plays for Cleveland. Will probably win the Cy unanimously.

  [3rd choice]:

    SP Justin Duchscherer (OAK):
     10-8 W/L, 141.2 IP, 2.54 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 95 K
     107H, 34 BB, 1 CG
     2.79 K/BB, 6.04 K/9, 2.16 BB/9, .589 OOPS

  Comments: A very distant third in a shallow Cy Young pool. A superb 141.2 IP - double the average closer. I’ll take 141 of Duchscherer over F-Rod and his 12350 saves on a 1.20 WHIP any day. Godly .589 OOPS. Unfortunate injury.

  Ranks four through ten:

#4. SP Ervin Santana (LAA)
#5. RP Mariano Rivera (NYY)
#6. RP Joe Nathan (MIN)
#7. RP Joakim Soria (KCR)
#8. SP A.J. Burnett (TOR)
#9. SP Josh Beckett (BOS)
#10. SP Jon Lester (BOS)

 

NL MVP:

   1B Albert Pujols (STL):
    .357 AVG, .462 OBP, .653 SLG
    37 HR, 100 R, 116 RBI
    104 BB, 54 K
    7/3 SB/CS, 1.114 OPS

  Comments: The best player of this generation might’ve just had the best year of his career. Yet, people talk like there is an NL MVP race. This might be the biggest blowout I’ve ever seen in any MVP race ever (sans Bonds). 104 walks on 54 strikeouts. 1.114 OPS. Plays on a team that is garbage. God only knows what he could do with protection. May be the best player to ever pick up a baseball bat.

  [2nd choice]:
   SS Hanley Ramirez (FLA):
    .301 AVG, .400 OBP, .540 SLG
    33 HR, 125 R, 67 RBI
    92 BB, 122 K
    35/12 SB/CS, .940 OPS

  Comments: A .940 OPS at shortstop is about as valuable as you get to any team. Idiotically misplaced in the FLA lineup. Speed, eye, contact and power all at toughest position in the game to find hitting.

  [3rd choice]:
   OF Manny Ramirez (LAD):
    .332 AVG, .430 OBP. .601 SLG
    37 HR, 102 R, 121 RBI
    87 BB, 124 K
    3/0 SB/CS, 1.031 OPS

Comments: It has always amazed me how quietly Manny Ramirez can put up simply monstrous seasons. Just a giant of a year from a player that looked like he might’ve been over that hill. His 1.232 OPS in his 187 LAD AB’s didn’t hurt their playoff chances either.

  Ranks four through ten:

#4. OF Lance Berkman (HOU)
#5. 3B David Wright (NYM)
#6. OF Matt Holliday (COL)
#7. 2B Chase Utley (PHI)
#8. SS Jose Reyes (NYM)
#9. OF Carlos Beltran (NYM)
#10. 3B Chipper Jones (ATL)

 

NL Cy Young:

   SP Tim Lincecum (SFG):
    18-5 W/L, 227.0 IP, 2.62 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 265 K
    182 H, 84 BB, 2 CG
    3.15 K/BB, 10.51 K/9, 3.33 BB/9, .609 OOPS

  Comments: His 1.17 WHIP is overshadowed by his dominant power and low OOPS. 10.51 K/9 as a starter is just sick and if he can get those walks down over the next few years I expect him to win many Cy’s. I suspect the actual voters will pick Webb (or possibly but doubtfully Sabathia) this year, mind you. Oh, and I still have horrible nightmares about that week or so when it looked like Lincecum for Rios was going to go through.

  [2nd choice]:
   
   SP C.C. Sabathia (MIL):
    17-10 W/L, 253.0 IP, 2.70 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 251 K
    223 H, 59 BB, 10 CG
    4.25 K/BB, 8.93 K/9, 2.12 BB/9, .622 OOPS

  Comments: The only true workhorse left in the league along with Halladay. Without his dreadful start probably would be the lock. Has an almost unheard of .550 OOPS in his 17 MIL starts. To put it in perspective Mariano Rivera’s career OOPS is .555 and he just faces 3 batters at a time. Sabathia’s close to Lincecum, but I think Lincecum deserves it a bit more because of the more important ratios. Certainly a very close second, almost close enough for me to reconsider. But not close enough.

  [3rd choice]:

   SP Johan Santana (NYM):
    16-7 W/L, 234.1 IP, 2.53 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 206 K
    206 H, 63 BB, 3 CG
    3.27 K/BB, 7.91 K/9, 2.42 BB/9, .645 OOPS

  Comments: Going into the year, the fact that the best pitcher in the game was going to the NL made it seem like Santana was not only going to win the Cy Young, but win it unanimously with a sub-2 ERA. There are a few things about Santana that have been bothering me. One - his WHIP has increased every year since 2004. Two - his OOPS last year was .678 and this year .645 which is great, but not elite, and certainly not deservedly of best-in-game status. Not only has Santana fallen from first in my best pitcher today list, he’s not even in the top five. Regardless, he had another great year - 2.53 ERA with over 200 K’s. Can’t hate on that. Interestingly though, Halladay, who had become known as someone who gets ground balls and doesn’t K people any more, had 206 K’s this year too. In a year where pitchers seem to be re-finding stuff they had, Santana is regressing. I was tempted to put Harden third despite the fact he’s only pitched 148 innings. But given two lines going into a season, I’d take Johan’s.

  Ranks four through ten:

#4. SP Rich Harden (CHC) (SICK .556 OOPS in 148 IP. Pedro’s 2.07 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 23 win year had a .535 OOPS)
#5. SP Dan Haren (ARI)
#6. SP Cole Hamels (PHI)
#7. SP Jake Peavy (SDP)
#8. SP Ben Sheets (MIL)
#9. SP Brandon Webb (ARI)
#10. SP Edinson Volquez (CIN)

 

The three most underrated seasons from each league:

 

AL:

   1B Kevin Youkilis (BOS):
    .312 AVG, .390 OBP, .569 SLG
    29 HR, 91 R, 115 RBI
    62 BB, 108 K
    3/5 SB/CS, .958 OPS

  Comments: Despite playing in Boston he had an incredibly quiet (a la old Moises Alou) .958 OPS season. That is a damn good OPS for an afterthought on that team. Deserves the MVP more than the much-ballyhooed Pedroia. Playing 2B doesn’t give THAT much more value.

  [2nd choice]:

   SP Shaun Marcum (TOR):
    9-7 W/L, 151.1 IP, 3.39 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 123 K
    126 H, 50 BB, 0 CG
    2.46 K/BB, 7.31 K/9, 2.98 BB/9, .682 OOPS

  Comments: It is really too bad that Marcum got injured. Basically his only three bad starts of the season were when he came back from the injury, and they inflated his numbers significantly. But still, he pitched 3/4 of a 200 inning year with a 3.39 ERA and a WHIP better than Lincecum’s. Nobody outside of Toronto and hardcore baseball fans could even name him. Now he’s really screwed his arm and won’t even be pitching next year.

  [3rd choice]:

   1B Aubrey Huff (TBD):
    .304 AVG, .360 OBP, .552 SLG
    32 HR, 96 R, 108 RBI
    53 BB, 89 K
    4/0 SB/CS, .912 OPS

  Comments: Huff has always been a jerk and one of my least favorite players. He had that one good year in TB and then decided he wanted to suck for six years and suddenly be good again. He has to have the quietest .900+ OPS this year.

Honorable Mention:
DH Milton Bradley (TEX)
OF Carlos Quentin (CWS)
1B Mark Teixeira (LAA)

 

NL:

   1B Adrian Gonzalez (SDP):
    .279 AVG, .361 OBP, .510 SLG
    36 HR, 103 R, 119 RBI
    74 BB, 142 K
    0/0 SB/CS, .871 OPS

  Comments: The perennially underrated Adrian does it again. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a newscaster talk about him and yet he manages some pretty damn hardcore production on the beyond woeful Padres. Keep in mind he’s only 26, plays in PETCO, and plays on a team that couldn’t hit their way out of a wet paper bag.

  [2nd choice]:
   
    OF Adam Dunn (CIN):
     .236 AVG, .386 OBP, .513 SLG
     40 HR, 79 R, 110 RBI
     122 BB, 164 K
     2/1 SB/CS, .899 OPS

  Comments: Any time I hear people talk about Dunn, they talk about his average. They talk about him as an average player who could be great with a higher average. I’m so sick of hearing it. This guy is a top-notch player. Not elite, but great. He has an almost .400 OBP, hits 40 homers, walks 125 times and most impressively of all does it consistently on a yearly basis. But you still hear about his average. People don’t realize the production Dunn brings to the table - they don’t come close to realizing it. I would kill to have Dunn on the Jays. This is one of a set of at least five consecutive years now where Dunn is one of the most underrated players out there. Possibly the most underrated player of this entire decade.

  [3rd choice]:

   OF Ryan Ludwick (STL):
    .299 AVG, .371 OBP, .591 SLG
    37 HR, 104 R, 117 RBI
    62 BB, 146 K
    4/4 SB/CS, .966 OPS

  Comments: A year like this can’t go by without at least quite a bit of talk about it. But it has received nowhere near the talk it deserves. A .966 OPS from a perennial loser like this is the definition of a flukeyass (and therefore almost always underrated) year. Who the hell is Ryan Ludwick?

Honorable Mention:
1B Albert Pujols (STL)
1B Carlos Delgado (NYM)
UT Mark DeRosa (CHC)

 

The two most overrated years (one from each league):

 

AL:

   2B Dustin Pedroia (BOS):
    .326 AVG, .376 OBP, .493 OPS
    17 HR, 118 R, 83 RBI
    50 BB, 52 K
    20/1 SB/CS, .869 OPS

  Comments: It’s a good year. I’m not going to question that. He also plays 2B where it is hard to find production. BUT THIS IS NOT AN MVP YEAR. It’s not CLOSE TO AN MVP YEAR. I can not turn on a TV without hearing how Pedroia should win the MVP. It’s a complete laugh. Pedroia is not even the MVP of his own team. Let’s put some things in perspective here, media.

Honorable Mention:
SS Derek Jeter (NYY) (the perennial candidate)
SP Daisuke Matsuzaka (BOS)
RP Francisco Rodriguez (LAA)

 

NL:

   SS Jose Reyes (NYM):
    .297 AVG, .358 OBP, .475 SLG
    16 HR, 113 R, 68 RBI
    66 BB, 82 K
    56/15 SB/CS, .833 OPS

  Comments: The guy can steal bases so he’s an uber-elite ball player. That’s according to most media I listen to. He had a .833 OPS ffs (coming off a .775 OPS), a .358 OBP and did get caught 15 times. He’s a quality SS, but he’s overrated to no end.

Honorable Mention:
1B Ryan Howard (PHI)
1B Prince Fielder (MIL)
OF Alfonso Soriano (CHC)

 

The two biggest “WTF years” (one for each league, WTF can be good or bad):

 

AL:

   DH Milton Bradley (TEX):
    .321 AVG, .436 OBP, .563 SLG
    22 HR, 78 R, 77 RBI
    80 BB, 112 K
    5/3 SB/CS, .999 OPS

  Comments: Seemingly out of nowhere Bradley became an on-base machine breaking the .450 mark, if only through 414 ab’s. Throw in a .550+ SLG and you have yourself a 1.0 OPS player. And it’s Milton Bradley. Milton Bradley - ranked worse than 240 coming into the year and a supposed clubhouse cancer. The only reason he wasn’t also the most underrated is because at least from what I saw it got a lot of coverage at first.

Honorable Mention:
1B Aubrey Huff (TBD)
OF Carlos Quentin (CWS)
OF Carl Crawford (TBD)

 

NL:

   OF Ryan Ludwick (STL):
    .299 AVG, .371 OBP, .591 OPS
    37 HR, 104 R, 117 RBI
    62 BB, 146 K
    4/4 SB/CS, .966 OPS

  Comments: It will be interesting to see where Ludwick drafts next year.

Honorable Mention:
OF Nate McLouth (PIT)
3B Chipper Jones (ATL)
SP Aaron Harang (CIN)

 

The two biggest busts:

 

AL:

   1B David Ortiz (BOS):
    .264 AVG, .369 OBP, .507 SLG
    23 HR, 74 R, 89 RBI
    70 BB, 74 K
    1/0 SB/CS, .877 OPS

  Comments: I don’t care how injured he was. Ortiz’s OPS in his previous 5 years: .961, .983, 1.001, 1.049, 1.066.
   

Honorable Mention:
SP Fausto Carmona (CLE)
OF Carl Crawford (TBD)
SP Erik Bedard (SEA)
Superspecial mention for DH Travis Hafner (CLE)
NL:

   1B Todd Helton (COL):
    .264 AVG, .391 OBP, .388 SLG
    7 HR, 39 R, 29 RBI
    61 BB, 50 K
    0/0 SB/CS, .779 OPS

  Comments: For years Helton has been a .300 AVG, .400 OBP lock. It all fell off this year and how. Who ever would’ve thought that Helton’s SLG would be lower than his OBP? It seems like all he can do now that is like his old self is walk.

Honorable Mention:
C Russell Martin (LAD)
SS Jimmy Rollins (PHI)
SS Miguel Tejada (HOU)
Superspecial mention for OF Andruw Jones (LAD)

2008 Awards