My 2012 MLB Awards

The 2012 regular season concluded on Wednesday and the “official” playoffs begins today. So, I’m going to give out my 2012 MLB awards.

AL MVP: Detroit Tigers 3B Miguel Cabrera – To me, this is an easy decision. When you win the Triple Crown, the MVP has to be yours for the taking. Especially when no one has won the Triple Crown since 1967. Yes, there is a guy name Mike Trout, but I do truly think Cabrera out-played him. There is more than just avg, hr, rbi – like defense and base-running. However, if you put all the stats together, it will show Cabrera was the better player this season by far.

NL MVP: Pittsburgh Pirates Andrew McCutchen – The voting for NL MVP should be a lot closer than AL MVP. As San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey made a great case. However, I do think McCutchen had a better season than Posey. McCutchen was the MVP 85% through the season, until the Pirates went into their slump and his stats went down. So, that’s why I do give it to McCutchen.. He’s a gold glove CF and a great baserunner. The one thing that may hurt him at the end is the Prates slump – not making the playoffs, while Posey’s’ Giants won their division.

AL CY: Tampa Bay Rays SP David Price – I do expect Price to win the CY easily as he was the best pitcher in the AL by far. Justin Verlander, once again, had great stats but he did struggle at times this year. Verlander was the 2nd best pitcher in the AL this year. Price was the only pitcher in the AL with 20 wins and had the best earn run average (2.56). He also clip the 200 strikeout mark (205) and only walked 59.

NL CY: New York Mets SP R.A. Dickey – Just like Price … it’s another easy decision for the voters. Also, Dickey was the only NL pitcher with 20 wins. When your fastball averages 84 mph and your most used pitch is a knuckleball and win 20 wins, that’s a given for the award. Especially when you play for the New York Mets. Dickey also had the 2nd best earn run average in the NL (2.78).

AL ROY: Los Angeles Angels OF Mike Trout – Well, if people have him winning the MVP, then this is a given. Trout is only 21-years old and had one hell of a season. He’s looking at a bright career. For a young kid, he has a lot of power and speed. He’s also a great contact hitter, base-runner and a defender while roaming centerfield. Since he may not win MVP this year … I do expect one in the near future.

NL ROY: Washingtion Nationals OF Bryce Harper – Let me first say, I do not want Harper to win. But there’s just no competition. There was Arizona Diamondbacks’ SP Wade Miley, but his stats don’t stand out and are pretty close to average. There’s also Cincinnati Reds’ utility man Todd Frazier but he had a terrible September, has no position as he lost his position when Scott Rolen and Joey Votto returned. So, with cross elimination … Harper wins. Too me, he’s way too cocky and his stats really didn’t stand out. I know he’s only 19 and still needs more time to matture, but I still believe the Nationals called him up too early.

AL MOY: Baltimore Orioles Buck Showalter – About a month ago, I could have swore Showalter is a guarantee to win the award. Now it is much closer with Oakland Athletics Doug Melvin. The main reason is for taking the division from the Texas Rangers (of whom are happily out of the playoffs already). But I thought the Orioles were a better team this year over the Athletics. The Orioles are in a tougher division (AL West) and no one thought the Orioles would made a run at the Yankees for their money. The Yankees had a 10 game lead and when you looked at the standings again, the teams were tied. Also, don’t forget … the Orioles lost one of their best players OF Nike Markasis and still kept winning. They continue to show fight no matter what comes along their way. That comes from a great manager and your AL MOY!

NL MOY: Washington Nationals Davey Johnson – I do think this is a given as the Nationals are another great story. Yes, there are 3 great stories in baseball. Who said baseball is predictable? No one because that is fairly impossible. The Nationals did go into the off-season with a win-now mindset, but you can’t take out that on the manager. The Nationals were close to last place last year and won their divison this year. They were also the first team to clinch a spot in the playoffs. Their starting pitching is great and their offense is okay, nothing too special though. I hope they go to the World Series!

AL EOY: Oakland Athletics Billy Beane – He is one of the most underrated executives in the game that we do no hear of. He goes about his business and gets the job done. Just look at the Athletics roster and look and where they’re now. He knows how the shed payroll when needed and build a roster with a limited payroll. Beane traded his best pitcher (Gio Gonzalez) in the off-season and the starting pitching still survived. He built from down in the minors and developed. That’s the main reason of his success. Even when the team was playing great, he traded his starting catcher to the Nationals mid-season. He’s probably one of the smartest baseball guys in the whole MLB.

AL EOY: Washington Nationals Mike Rizzo – Yes, the Nationals duo will win both awards. The Nationals are just a great story in the National League. Rizzo made a great trade by acquiring SP Gio Gonzalez. He had a great season and could have been up for debate in the CY category. Rizzo signed Jayson Werth 2 off-seasons ago and he actually have a fairly good season. Making up for the horrible season when he signed that big contract. Also, Adam LaRoche was a great minor signing that has help them win. He was a Cub killa’, which I hated to see. So, Rizzo has done good things to the Nationals.

NL CPOY: Chicago White Sox DH Adam Dunn – I hate to have a White Sox player on here since I’m a big Chicago Cubs fan. But you have to give a player his props when it’s most deserved. From the 2011 season to the 2012 season, Dunn was a complete different player … he had 30 more home runs, 54 more rbi’s, 30 more walks, and 44 more hits. With Dunn’s struggles in 2011, he lost playing time, so Dunn had 124 more at-bats in 2012. Dunn did have 222 strikeouts in 2012, but that’s always going to be a problem for Dunn and your just going to have to get use to that.

AL CPOY: San Francisco Giants C Buster Posey – Instead of putting him as the NL MVP, I decided to have him as the comeback player of the year. Posey missed most of the 2011 season with a broken leg. Posey came back strong this year and put up remarkable stats. Posey is still young and will be a great player for years to come. The Giants will make that happen by moving him from catcher to 1B to prevent injury. He has power, he’s a contact hitter and can run the bases well. His only down fall will be his defense, but his offense will make everybody forget about his defense.

Well there’s my 2012 MLB awards, what are yours?

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