Quick thoughts: 2010 MVP Awards

I didn't post any quick thoughts on the NL MVP vote yesterday because the only thought I had was: Perfect. Nothing jumped out at me at the way it turned out. To me, Joey Votto should have won, and he should have won easily. He did both.

If pressed to find something, I suppose I would question putting Albert Pujols second over Carlos Gonzalez. It's the most valuable player award, not the most prolific player award or the most outstanding player award or the best hitter award. Pujols would be hard to beat in any of those. But the way I would look at an MVP vote if I had one would be which player's absence from his team would have had the biggest effect on that club's season. Clearly, without the season Votto had, the Reds are not NL Central champs.

Of course, without Pujols, the Cardinals do not sniff a pennant race, either. But Pujols had a very similar season to the one he had in his 2009 MVP campaign, yet the Cardinals missed the playoffs in 2010. In other words, I guess I look at it as whether or not they had Pujols, the Cards weren't winning the division this year. (Also, I find it interesting how Pujols has had three seasons -- including the last two -- of exactly 700 plate appearances but has never had any more than that.)

Rk	Player	OPS	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	GDP	SB	BA	OBP	SLG
1	Joey Votto	1.024	150	648	547	106	177	36	2	37	113	91	125	11	16	.324	.424	.600
2	Albert Pujols	1.011	159	700	587	115	183	39	1	42	118	103	76	23	14	.312	.414	.596
3	Carlos Gonzalez	.974	145	636	587	111	197	34	9	34	117	40	135	9	26	.336	.376	.598

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/23/2010.

As for the American League, again I have trouble coming up with an argument in support of anyone else. Had Josh Hamilton played more than 89 games in 2009, the Rangers might have overcome the Angels, or pushed them deeper into September instead of finishing 10 games back (in second place). This wasn't a full season for Hamilton, either, but in 133 games and 571 plate appearances, he had better numbers (except for 30 fewer RBIs) or negligible deficits in many key categories compared to his 2008 breakout All-Star season. The true difference in the Rangers winning the division and previous years may be their pitching, or simply just their pitching philosophy, but for a single most valuable piece of Texas' AL West title, you have to look at Hamilton.

Miguel Cabrera probably deserved more second-place support for another spectacular season. If he hasn't already, he's close to taking the torch from Alex Rodriguez as the American League's best and most reliable player, the guy you can pencil in for 150 games, a .300 average, 30 homers and 100 RBIs at the start of the season and then wait to see when he reaches those numbers and how far past them he goes.

As for Robinson Cano, kudos on a breakout year for the Trenton Thunder alum. If there's anyone on the Yankees who should be getting a six-year, $100 million contract this winter, it's him, and not Derek Jeter (same goes for three years, $45 million). But absent a 50-homer, 140-RBI season or a Triple Crown-contending campaign, it remains hard for a Yankee to garner enough support for the MVP award because the team is loaded, year in and year out. I have no problem with that, because on a team full of All-Stars, how do you determine which one is the most valuable? Take any one of them away for a significant portion of the season, and the Yankees will hardly miss a beat.

I'm trying to say that the MVP Award has to go to a player on a playoff team or contending club every year, but so long as there are singular performers on such teams, it's going to take video-game like numbers from anyone else to garner support. In a year without Hamilton, Cabrera or Cano, Jose Bautista might've been the favorite, or a top-two contender. Maybe a few more than 109 runs or 124 RBIs would've lent more weight to his 54 home runs. Or maybe his .260 batting average pulled him down in voters' eyes (indicating that BA still has more influence than wins do for pitchers in the eyes of those who judge these performances). Or perhaps the cloud of doubt in this post-BALCO age eliminated Bautista in June.

Rk	Player	BA	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Josh Hamilton	.359	133	571	518	95	186	40	3	32	100	43	95	8	1	.411	.633	1.044
2	Miguel Cabrera	.328	150	648	548	111	180	45	1	38	126	89	95	3	3	.420	.622	1.042
5	Robinson Cano	.319	160	696	626	103	200	41	3	29	109	57	77	3	2	.381	.534	.914
42	Jose Bautista	.260	161	683	569	109	148	35	3	54	124	100	116	9	2	.378	.617	.995

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/23/2010.

With the announcement of the final major award for the season, I like to consider this day the final one of the 2010 campaign. We also saw the last managerial opening officially filled today with the Mets' introduction of Terry Collins. (I may get into my thoughts on that later.) Today is the arbitration deadline, which will put a final stamp on the makeup of this winter's free-agent crop, and Thanksgiving is upon us. On the other side of the holiday is December and the Winter Meetings, so soon we'll be looking forward to 2011 in earnest.

Time to turn that Hot Stove up to 11.

The Giants' Jersey roots

Something occurred to me on Monday night as I watched the Giants celebrate their first World Series championship since moving to San Francisco. I looked over at my blue Jersey City Giants cap, the white "JC" outlined in red, and thought about the two minor league affiliates that used to play in Trenton and Jersey City. (The photo at right shows Hall of Famer Gabby Hartnett and his son in 1944. Hartnett managed the Jersey City Giants from 1943-45.) I then realized that the last five World Series winners all have or had minor-league ties to the Garden State:

• The Yankees' double-A affiliate is currently the Trenton Thunder.
• The Phillies' low-Class A affiliate is currently the Lakewood BlueClaws.
• The Red Sox' double-A affiliate used to be the Trenton Thunder.
• The Cardinals' short-season affiliate used to be the New Jersey Cardinals.

The Giants' connection isn't solely from the '40s, however, because their starting second baseman, Freddy Sanchez, played for the Thunder back when he was a shortstop in Boston's system. In fact, each of these past five champions have had significant contributions from someone who spent a season in New Jersey on his way to a World Series ring: Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano (2003-04 with Trenton); Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz (2001 with Lakewood), first baseman Ryan Howard (2002 with Lakewood) and World Series MVP Cole Hamels (2003 with Lakewood); Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis (44 games with Trenton in 2002) and Cardinals shortstop and World Series MVP David Eckstein (1999 with Trenton).

But the Giants may have the earliest New Jersey connection of any World Series champion (aside from the fact that the entire game itself was born in Hoboken): they held spring training in Lakewood back in 1897. I had known that they trained on John D. Rockefeller's Lakewood estate from 1943-45, when teams were restricted in their travel during World War II. But in searching for some articles on that, I came across a few in the New York Times archive describing the club's 1897 preseason preparations. I've included one here as an example.

New Jersey may not have a Major League team of its own, but it continues to make significant contributions to the game 164 years after its birth on the bluffs overlooking the Hudson.

All the right moves for the Yanks ... for once

The thing that strikes me about the Yankees' signing of Johnny Damon is that they needed him. Not for leadoff, necessarily, because I think the Yanks are just fine with Derek Jeter batting first and Alex Rodriguez or Hideki Matsui or, if he could develop into a decent contact and doubles hitter, Robinson Cano batting second. But they needed a centerfielder and at this point they weren't going to find much in free agency if they didn't get Damon. Based on their policy this offseason of hanging onto Cano, Chien-Ming Wang and prospects like Eric Duncan and Philip Hughes, the Yankees weren't going to get a centerfielder through a trade. In that scenario, Juan Pierre was probably the most likely, but when he went to the Cubs, he was out. I suppose they could've explored a deal for Texas' David Dellucci, Seattle's Jeremy Reed (and the rumors of him heading to Boston will only intensify until the Red Sox get someone to fill Damon's spot) or the Cubs' Corey Patterson.

But the most important acquisition this offseason for the Yankees was not Damon or any one player. It was all the players because they filled the needs in center and the bullpen. You can see the difference this winter: Brian Cashman was spearheading the signings this time, not anyone in the Tampa braintrust. These moves fill holes and help the Yankees first and foremost. In recent years, the moves have been more for the wow factor, to make a splash, to grab the headlines. If the Yankees were going to deal a catching prospect and a good young pitcher in Javier Vazquez for a left-handed pitcher, they might've been better off going after a younger, healthier guy like Barry Zito or Mark Mulder (who was available last winter) instead of Randy Johnson.

Instead, the Yanks went after need:

Damon. As has been pointed out in so many places, this deal not only helps the Yankees, it hurts the Red Sox. More than one pundit has moved the Blue Jays up as the second-best team in the AL East and slid Boston down. That may change if the Sox fill Damon's hole with Ken Griffey Jr. or Andruw Jones (HA! Kidding.) and find a shortstop in Miguel Tejada. But for now, Toronto may be closer to wild-card contention than we had a right to expect a few days ago.

Now, I don't know if Damon is a better leadoff hitter than Jeter (and the numbers favor Jeter), but he's one of the best in the game today and it certainly doesn't hurt to move everyone down a spot to accommodate Damon. You think Damon will get some good pitches to hit with Jeter and Rodriguez coming up after him? There's no way pitchers want to walk Damon and risk leaving a hole on the right side for Jeter to slap that ball through, or to create a situation where A-Rod is batting with two men on base. It'll be sad to see the hair go, however. Yankee fans will want to hope that his powers aren't tied to his long locks.

Mike Myers. Another signing that takes from the Red Sox to give to the Yankees (robbing from the super-rich to give to the mega-uber-rich). The left-handed specialist will come in handy in the late innings against some big (or at least capable) bats both in and out of the division: David Ortiz, Aubrey Huff, Lyle Overbay, Carlos Delgado, Jim Thome, Mark Teixeira and Travis Hafner to name a few. Myers is often a one-out guy, but he's one of the best.

Kyle Farnsworth. Fantasy owners keep wanting Farnsworth to be a closer, but it appears that Farnsworth keeps wanting to get out of it. Without going back to look at reports, I don't know why the Cubs traded him to the Tigers last year, but Chicago struggled to find a closer in 2005 until they moved starter Ryan Dempster there and they could've used him. Then the Braves acquired him from Detroit last year and used him as a closer, a job he seemingly would've kept had he re-signed with Atlanta. Instead, he took a setup role, more money and a perceived better chance at a championship ring to be a Yankee. But when you look at Tom Gordon's age and the uninspiring careers of New York's other potential right-handed setup guys, Farnsworth stands out as perhaps the best option.

Octavio Dotel. After major arm surgery last season, it's not clear when Dotel will be available. But just as they did with Jon Lieber when he was coming off Tommy John surgery (and a 20-win season), the Yankees made an investment for the future, knowing that if Dotel can be healthy by July, it will be like acquiring a setup man in a trade before the deadline. The Mets were trying to sign Dotel for the same reason, a move that would've been just as important for them as it is for the Yanks.

So rather than going out and bringing in Brian Giles to move him to centerfield (a move that would've been more for the wow factor than need), the Yankees didn't look for the splashiest move this winter. They seemed to consider more options and evaluate more players and then make the move that was the best fit for them. (I left the re-signing of Hideki Matsui out because it's a slightly different situation when you're talking about a capable, All-Star you already have. Besides, the "need" in left field would have only been there if Matsui signed elsewhere.)

And I'm sure George Steinbrenner didn't have to be convinced too much to steal the Red Sox centerfielder.