Another questionable year for Cy Young winners and MVP's. A mix of good picks and duds. C'mon voters, if you're going to base your votes on stupid, arbitrary criteria, at least pick stupid, arbitrary criteria which are also awesome. Criteria like "having a name that I find hilarious". Pujols...check. Colon...check. A-Rod...check. But Carpenter? Come on. The Rocket would've been a much better choice.
Well, 3 out of 4 isn't bad, I guess.
I think there will always be debates about the award winners. this year actually I think they did a good job.
ReplyDeleteIn fact the writers tend to do better than the players (who pick gold gloves) or the fans (in the ASG). Sure there are ones that jump out as questionable - like Pudge in 99, Vaughn over Belle in 95, hell even Torre finishing way ahead of Francona this year.
But on the whole if you look at the major awards the last five years, is there anyone that jumps out and you say, no freakin way?
As far as Carpenter is concerned, that one does not bother me that much. In fact, I think the real other viable choice was Dontrelle. Sure Clemens had a microscopic ERA, but the periphials were not SO much better. Plus two other things stick in my mind:
1. Clemens got hurt down the stretch. He missed at least one (maybe two) starts.
2. Last year he got the nod because he won 18 games and the Unit was only 16-14 - despite much stronger underlying stats. so at least they were consistent.
But on the whole if you look at the major awards the last five years, is there anyone that jumps out and you say, no freakin way?
ReplyDeleteColon comes close.
Otherwise, I like the other 3. It's only Carpenter's lame name I object to. Maybe he should get a cool nickname, like "Mr. Butt".
Yeah, Colon is a bit questionable, but it really reflects what the award has come to represent. Pitcher with a lot of wins for a playoff (contending) team.
ReplyDeleteSure his ERA was something like the 3rd or 4th highest for someone to win the award, but who really jumps out as having a better season? Rivera? He didn't even lead the league in saves. Which I know is a silly stat, but the voters love counting stats. Santana? He suffers from the win total. Buerhle? Same. Garland's ERA was even higher than Colon (granted in a pitchers park).
It is kind of nice that we had a Colon and Poo-holes win in the same year. And the other award went to an A-Rod. So yeah, Carpenter is a weak pick because of his name.
It is kind of nice that we had a Colon and Poo-holes win in the same year. And the other award went to an A-Rod. So yeah, Carpenter is a weak pick because of his name.
ReplyDeleteDid you even read my original post?!?
Anyway, Colon was 8th in ERA, and around there in most other categories. It was wins and wins only that got him that award. Pitching the same way for the Cleveland Indians, he would've gotten under 10 wins. (Wickman led the league in ERA but had a losing record.)
Did you even read my original post?!?
ReplyDeleteThat was why I wrote it as "so, yeah Carpenter was a bad pick b/c of his name. So am I correct to assume that you would have voted for Santana in the AL?
Yeah, Santana. Or Rivera for a "lifetime achievement award". But whatever. Choosing Colon was a bad choice, but not an outrage like the examples you gave above (Pudge '99...ugh). So yeah, all in all not a bad year.
ReplyDelete