One Voter's Ballot

In a previous post, our commish gave a rundown of the end of the year awards. Here's what my ballot looked like and why:

NATIONAL LEAGUE

MVP

Winner: Calvin Chang, Fargo, 3B
My pick: Chang

Close vote- I thought he and Vic James had similar numbers. James stole 14 bases, while Chang is not fast at all. But Chang's OBP (.465) and his assault on the walk record are just too hard to ignore.

Cy Young

Winner: Javier Henriquez, Fargo
My pick: Henriquez

Sammy Pierce's 22 wins made him a serious contender, and Austin's Dan Bernard almost the same double that Carter Leonard did last season (winning ROY and Cy Young in the same season), but Henriquez led the league in ERA, WHIP, and strikeouts. So according to the stats that are the most independent of the team's performance, Javy is the best pitcher.

Rookie of the Year

Winner: Dan Bernard, Austin, SP
My pick: Bernard

Going 19-8 with a 2.07 ERA is a good way to earn rookie of the year honors. Fairly easy call in my opinion.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

MVP

Winner: A.J. Leonard, Buffalo, LF
My pick: Leonard

Another easy call, as Leonard got 26 of the 32 first-place votes. This season launches him into the discussion of best player in the game.

Cy Young

Winner: Fausto Almanza, Jackson
My pick: Almanza

And here's where the controversy was. Las Vegas closer Coco Hines had maybe the best season for a reliever in the history of the league, saving 59 of 61 games with a 1.70 ERA. He and Almanza combined for 31 of the 32 votes (Almanza got 20, Hines 11). So the question became this: should a closer win the Cy Young Award? Opinions came out on both sides: some people would never vote for a closer under any circumstances, and some people would vote for one (at least 11 in this league alone). My take is this: I would vote for a closer if I felt that there were no starters who had seasons that were comparable to the closer's season. The closer would have to definitively be the best pitcher in the league that season. On the surface, I felt it was a close call between Almanza and Hines. So in that case, I'm going to go with the guy who pitched 200 innings over the guy who pitched 60.

Rookie of the Year

Winner: Mitch Sobkowiak, Montgomery, 3B
My pick: Sobkowiak

Wow- 6 for 6! Actually, I touted Sobkowiak for ROY before he was even eligible for the award. If you look at my fantasy draft posts, you'll see what I think of the guy. Although I think at age 22, .299-43-113 pretty much speaks for itself.