Despite TV writers being on strike, I imagine I can muster up some creativity and, as promised, hand out my 2007 baseball awards.
When selecting the winners, I take into account several factors.
The first is how a player performs with respect to his position. For the record, I am not going to pick a player who performed at a high level at a brutal position but wasn't even in the top five or 10 in "Win" stats.
The second criteria is "Win" stats. The Hardball Times owns a stat for this, as does Baseball Prospectus—called Win Shares Above Bench (WSAB) and Value over Replacement Player (VORP), respectively.
I will reference these stats throughout my writings, and for the most part, utilize both.
Next, I will look at exceptional play—a streak, a record, or something a player did on an individual level to lift his team to a higher level.
That is not to say a player from a losing team cannot win an award, although admittedly, those players are at a slight disadvantage.
Lastly, I do take into account salary and the performances of other players—something you will notice with my AL Cy Young award.
MVP - Alex Rodriguez
It's not difficult to win the MVP on my ballot. I will simply pick the best player in baseball.
Certainly I could pick through the numbers and tell you things that you already know, such as the fact that A-Rod hit for a slugging percentage 18 points higher then the next player in the American League, but what you may not know is that Rodriguez's slugging percentage was nearly 150 points higher then the closest AL third baseman.
Also in Rodriguez's favor was a stat I like, called Equivalent Average (EQA). EQA takes into account all facets of hitting, including park factors and running. Obviously Rodriguez was the leader in EQA, as he was in so many categories this season, but what really sticks out, is the margin to which he demolished his competition here.
A-Rod put up a .340 EQA, and while David Ortiz was only two points behind him, the closest AL third basemen was Chone Figgins at .289.
WSAB - 26 (1st in the AL)
VORP - 96.6 (1st in the AL)
(Runner Up: M. Ordonez)
Rookie - Jeremy Guthrie
There is debate as to whether or not Guthrie was a rookie this year.
We're going to send you the most entertaining MLB articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
0 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete