Sunday, January 25, 2009

Year-End Awards

Breakdown of the major awards (vote total in parentheses)

National League

MVP
Matty Matos, Atlanta (17)
Osvaldo Johnson, San Juan (9)
Hal Brinkley, Atlanta (3)
John Baldwin, San Juan (2)
Lynn Abernathy, Atlanta (1)

Analysis: I had a hard time picking between Matos and Johnson- I went with Johnson but have absolutely no problem with Matos winning. They had very similar numbers in terms of HRs and RBIs- Johnson added the element of the stolen base while Matos's average was higher. Atlanta's division win probably helped Matos's case.

Cy Young

Sammy Pierce, Fargo (21)
Dave Dunwoody, Salem (4)
Dwight Salmon, Salem (3)
Jerome Oliver, Houston (2)
Matty Eusebio, Atlanta (2)

Analysis: Easy pick. 22-5, 2.02 ERA, WHIP under 1.0. Far and away the best pitcher in the NL this season. I went with Pierce as well.


American League

MVP

Gregg Black, Nashville (12)
King Winn, Nashville (12)
Nick Hernandez, Syracuse (5)
Ryan Snyder, Monterrey (2)
Burt Stevenson, Milwaukee (1)

Analysis: The question here was always between the two Sounds; does Black's defense, higher average and stolen bases make up for Winn's ridiculous power numbers? I took Winn and the power numbers, but I could just as easily put up a very good argument for Black. In the end, we had a split decision.

Cy Young
Vin Solano, Milwaukee (18)
Philip Allensworth, Monterrey (6)
Jason Sprague, New York (3)
Tom Beltran, Louisville (3)
Dave Stewart, Las Vegas (2)

Analysis: As in the National League, the race was for second place. The Venezuelan goes 19-2 with a 2.05 ERA to win his second Cy Young award in 3 seasons. Although it has no bearing on the Cy Young race, he was every bit as good in the playoffs, and finally gets the hardware he truly wanted.



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