Another Top of the Line (?) ESPN List

Well, being ESPN they’ve put out another one of their lists. This promises to tell us the current top 100 players in Major League Baseball. As usual, it’s a combination of the sublime and the ridiculous. I’m certainly not going to give you the entire list here, but I’ll do my standard job on it. I’ll give you the top player at each position (his spot in the list 1-100 will be the number in parenthesis) plus five pitchers (one of which has to be a lefty and one has to be a right-hander), a reliever, and the first player whose position is already taken will be the DH. Got all that? Good. So here we go.

1b Paul Goldschmidt (4)

2b Jose Altuve (10)

ss Carlos Correa (9)

3b Kris Bryant (6)

rf Bryce Harper (3)

cf Mike Trout (1)

lf Michael Conforto (42)

c Buster Posey (19)

P Clayton Kershaw (2), Chris Sale (5), Max Scherzer (7), Stephen Strasberg (20), Dallas Keuchel (22)

reliever Andrew Miller (36)

DH Nolan Arenado (8 and the second third baseman listed)

Francisco Lindor at number 11 is the highest rated player not to make the team. There are a lot of right and center fielders ahead of Conforto, but I wanted one guy in each position. The list also has a lot more infielders than outfielders high on the chart.

The list is on ESPN where you can check it out. If you don’t like it, take it up with ESPN.

 

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Random Thoughts on the 2016 Season Ending Awards

The postseason baseball awards are finished, or at least most of them are. There seems to be a ton of new stuff now. It’s almost as if the “participation trophy” syndrome has made it to MLB. But the ones I care most about are now revealed and here’s some thoughts on them.

First, here’s the list of winners in case you missed it (National League listed first):

Rookie of the Year: Corey Seager (Dodgers), Michael Fulmer (Tigers)

Manager of the Year: Dave Roberts (Dodgers), Terry Francona (Indians)

Cy Young Award: Max Scherzer (Nationals), Rick Porcello (Red Sox)

MVP: Kris Bryant (Cubs), Mike Trout (Angels)

All in all it’s not a bad list. I might have done it differently, but the BBWAA did a good job for a change. I’ve been critical of the writers on more than one occasion, but this year their list looks very much like mine (as if they care what mine looks like). In the NL Seager was an obvious choice, as was Bryant. Scherzer was not at all a bad choice either. I was a little surprised that Roberts beat out Joe Maddon for Manager of the Year. I thought the Cubs success would put him over the top for the second year in a row. What Roberts did with a team that looked like a surgery ward in a hospital made him my choice and its nice when the writers agree. To be blunt about it, your team loses the best pitcher in baseball (Clayton Kershaw) and they get better? The manager must be doing something right.

The American League was a little more interesting. Francona was, to me, an obvious choice. As with Roberts, he did wonderfully with a team of walking wounded. Hopefully, his strategy of using his best relievers when the game is in crisis rather than in the ninth inning will catch on. It was done in the 1950s and 1960s and there’s no reason not to return to that model. Frankly I thought Gary Sanchez of New York would win, but I’m gratified Fulmer took the award. Neither would have been a bad choice.

I presume that Trout and Porcello will be, as time goes along, the most controversial choices. Trout’s team didn’t win and Porcello didn’t get the most first place votes. It’s not like either is a bad choice and I got one right (Porcello) and one wrong (Trout) in my own betting on who would win. I expected Mookie Betts to win but I personally would have chosen Trout, who I feel had a better year. I would have chosen Justin Verlander over Porcello, but I thought he’d lose. What I didn’t expect he’d be left off two ballots (And did you see Kate Upton, his fiancée’s twitter post?). It’s one they’ll talk about for a while (actually I mean both the vote and Upton’s reply).

So congratulations to all the winners. It was a heck of a season and each of them made it a better year. Now on to the Hall of Fame votes.

 

2016 Awards Nominees Announced

It is now time for MLB to complete the 2016 season by naming the winners of its yearly awards. The new policy of announcing finalists (actually the 3 guys with the most votes) is still in effect. Apparently it’s the new normal.

OK, I guess, but I liked the old system better. I got to anticipate the winner in a different way than now. I got to wonder “who’s going to win?” and “who’s gonna finish fifth but shoulda won?” You don’t get to do that anymore and that’s kind of a shame. Now I know who’s been shafted before I even know who won.

Well, anyway, in case you haven’t seen the lists, here they are for your information and commentary if you want:

NL MVP: Kris Bryant, Daniel Murphy, Corey Seager (winner announced 17 November)

AL MVP: Jose Altuve, Mookie Betts, Mike Trout (also announced 17 November)

NL Cy Young: Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester, Max Scherzer (announced 16 November)

AL Cy Young: Corey Kluber, Rick Porcello, Justin Verlander (also 16 November)

NL Rookie: Kenta Maeda, Corey Seager, Trea Turner (announced 14 November)

AL Rookie: Michael Fulmer, Gary Sanchez, Tyler Naquin (also 14 November)

NL Manager: Joe Maddon, Dusty Baker, Dave Roberts (announced 15 November)

AL Manager: Jeff Bannister, Terry Francona, Buck Showalter (also 15 November

That’s the list. One thing I noted is how good the Tigers starting staff was just a few years ago: Verlander, Porcello, Scherzer. All three are nominees this season.

Good luck to all.

A Series of Firsts

Cubs win

Let me start by congratulating the Cubs on finally winning a World Series in my lifetime (can’t say the same for the Indians). So now they are officially 1-108. Also congrats to Ben Zobrist, one of my favorites, on winning the Series MVP Award. Like most World Series’ there were a number of firsts in this one. In honor of a nine inning game, here’s nine for the Cubs:

1. One of the most important firsts involves Dexter Fowler. The last time the Cubs participated in a World Series was 1945. Jackie Robinson didn’t arrive in Brooklyn until 1947, so Fowler becomes the first black man to play in a World Series for the Cubs. It also means that now every franchise that has been to a World Series, (all but the Nationals and Seattle) has carried a black player on its roster during the World Series. It may be the most important first. And sticking with Fowler we get two more firsts. He is the first Cub to strike out in a World Series since 1945 and he is the first Cubs player to hit a home run since Phil Cavarretta did it in game one of 1945.

2. Jake Arrieta became the first Chicago Cubs pitcher to win a World Series game since integration when he won game two. The last Cubs pitcher to win a Series game? Hank Borowy won game 6 of 1945 (3 October 1945).

3. Ben Zobrist has a number of firsts. He became the first Cub to get a hit since 1945 and the first to get an extra base hit (a double) since 1945. As the MVP he becomes the first Cub to win the World Series MVP award (there was no Series award in 1945–it began in 1955).

4. Kyle Schwarber became the first player ever to get his first hit of the season in the World Series. Never been done before. He also got the first Cubs walk since 1945.

5. Kris Bryant scored the first Cubs run since game 7 of 1945.

6. Jon Lester became the first Cubs pitcher to lose a game (game 1) since Hank Borowy lost game seven in 1945. Yes, Borowy both won game six and lost game seven in 1945. He relieved in six and started seven.

7. Addison Russell hit the first grand slam in Chicago Cubs World Series history.

8. In 1945 the Cubs won game six at home. Their game five win in 2016 is their first home victory since. And it continues a Cubs tradition. Chicago played its first World Series game in Wrigley Field in 1929 (the 1906-08 and 1910 World Series were played in a different park and the 1918 Series was in Comiskey Park). Between 1929 and 2016 the Cubs are, in World Series play, 7-9 (.438 winning percentage) on the road. They are 3-14 (.176 winning percentage) in Wrigley (wins coming in 1935, 1945, and 2016).

9. In 1935 Frank Demaree hit two home runs against Detroit. In 2016 he was joined by both Bryant and Fowler, making them the first Cubs to hit two home runs in a Series since 1935 and the first time two Cubs did it in the same Series..

10. And in honor of the game going 10 innings last evening, here’s one for the Indians. In 1920 Stan Coveleski started three games on the mound for Cleveland. Corey Kluber is the first Indians pitcher to start three games in the Series since Coveleski. Kluber went 2-0, Coveleski 3-0.