AL MVP
Joe Mauer (MIN)- In the second half of the season he was the best player in baseball, and in the second half the Minnesota Twins were the best team in baseball. Do the math. My biggest apology to Josh Hamilton of course, who also made a strong case.
NL MVP
Joey Votto (CIN)- Had that breakout season everybody was waiting for, and the breakout season of .324-37-113 took him out of the shadows of Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, and he established himself as the premier 1B in the NL central, and propelled the Reds to their first division crown since 1995.
AL CY Young
Felix Hernandez (SEA)- One of the high points of an atrocious 2010 Seattle Mariners Campaign, he had his best season yet, setting career highs in ERA (2.27), Complete Games (6), Innings Pitched (249.2), Strikeouts (232), and WHIP (1.057). All this after an impressive '09 season, where I also felt he was the Cy Young winner.
NL Cy Young
Roy Halladay (PHI)- Had an amazing 1st year in the NL, living up to all the hype, pitching his way to a 21-10 record, a 2.44 ERA, 250 IP and 219 strikeouts, one of those 21 wins being a complete game.
AL Rookie of the Year
Neftali Feliz (TEX)- Played a big role in the improved Texas bullpen, emerging as a lights out closer, saving 40 games and finishing 59, which lead the majors.
NL Rookie of the Year
Buster Posey (SF)- From the time he was called up in late May, he was the big bat in the SF lineup, and they probably don't win the World Series without him. Possibly the clone of Joe Mauer.
AL Manager of the Year
Terry Francona (BOS)- If anyone said the Sox would win 89 games with two starting outfielders, the whole right side of the infield, both catchers, and two starting pitchers missing considerable time with injury, they would have been called crazy.
NL Manager of the Year
Bud Black (SD)- Took a team with very little talent in San Diego and somehow got them to win 90 games.
AL First Team
C- Joe Mauer (MIN)
1B- Miguel Cabrera (DET)
2B- Robinson Cano (NYY)
3B- Adrian Beltre (BOS)
SS- Derek Jeter (NYY)
LF- Carl Crawford (TB)
CF- Josh Hamilton (TEX)
RF- Ichiro Suzuki (SEA)
DH- David Ortiz (BOS)
LHP- David Price (TB)
RHP- Felix Hernandez (SEA)
RP- Rafael Soriano (TB)
NL First Team
C- Brian McCann (ATL)
1B- Joey Votto (CIN)
2B- Martin Prado (ATL)
3B- Ryan Zimmerman (WAS)
SS- Troy Tulowitzki (COL)
LF- Carlos Gonzalez (COL)
CF- Marlon Byrd (CHC)
RF- Corey Hart (MIL)
LHP- Clayton Kershaw (LAD)
RHP- Roy Halladay (PHI)
RP- Brian Wilson (SF)
Biggest Suprise Team
San Diego Padres- Not a great lineup outside A-Gon, but the pitching staff was the NL's best, with no real big names. Got to give credit to Bud Black, who I feel did a marvelous managing job, despite losing first place in the NL West during the last week of the season.
Biggest Disappointment
Seattle Mariners- After acquiring Chone Figgins and Cliff Lee in the off season, this team looked like a possible contender. Their pitching was not bad, but their lineup was maybe one of the worst in major league history, and its hard to win games when you can't score runs, no matter how good your staff is.
Breakthrough Player
Jose Bautista (TOR)- Went to Toronto, a swing-away savvy club, and had a 50-homer campaign. He just ended up going to a place that would allow him to reach his full potential, with the Jay's style catering to his type of talent, a raw power type of guy. It probably also helped that he was playing for a team other than the Pirates.
Biggest Disappointing Player
Curtis Granderson (NYY)- To his credit, he did miss time with injury and still hit 24 home runs. But .247, 67 RBI, 76 runs, slugging .468 and a .792 OPS sums up a very disappointing first season in the Bronx for Grandy. I really thought he would be a guy who could hit 40 homers, drive in 100 with the lineup he was in.
Best Trade
Cliff Lee to Texas- The trade looked like a near disaster going into the playoffs, but this team does not make it to the fall classic without this guy at the top. Texas need an ace, and they sure got him. Now can they resign him?
2011 Predictions
- The Pittsburgh Pirates will once again be terrible
- Mike Quade will have one of the worst jobs in sports as the manager of the Cubs
- The Houston Astros and Baltimore Orioles will be baseball's two surprise teams
- Cliff Lee will be in pinstripes, Joba Chamberlain will not
- The LA Angels will take the AL West division crown back to Anaheim
- Neither Texas nor San Francisco will return to the playoffs
- Jacoby Ellsbury will not play more than 18 games next season as the Red Sox left fielder, but will play 150 in center. Carl Crawford will be the guy in left.
- The AL East will once again be the class of MLB
- The ASG will be in Phoenix, and ESPN will stuff the politics behind the Arizona immigration law down our throats, as if that actually has something to do with baseball
- Spring Training will be overshadowed by March Madness and Barack Obama's perfect bracket- its good to know theres at least one situation where the guy actually has a clue about what he's talking about
- A-Rod will do something stupid and make the whole country forget about the antics of Brett Favre and LeBron James.
- Ratings in September and October will be the highest its been in a while. Selig can thank Roger Goddell for that one.
No comments:
Post a Comment