Tuesday, October 11, 2011

BBA AL Willie Mays Award Ballot 2011

After a full year of writing nonsense, the Baseball Blogger Alliance has yet to kick us out and still encourages us to vote on stuff. And not just things we know like "how drunk was I last night." Which, of course, the answer is always "very." Up next is the Willie Mays award for rookie of the year.

1. Michael Pineda, Seattle
Pineda looked every bit like 1A to Felix Hernandez's 1 in the Mariners rotation this season. In 171 innings, Pineda threw a 3.74/3.42/3.53 (ERA/FIP/xFIP) pitching line. Pineda also struck out a very impressive 9.11 hitters for every nine innings. If only the Mariners would have kept Doug Fister in that rotation. Is a sentence I never thought I'd write.

2. Dustin Ackley, Seattle
The second Mariner on this ballot was their best hitter. Ackley led the M's with a 2.7 fWAR (Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement) which was good for over half of their total 5.1 fWAR for position players. Oh, I see why they were so terrible now.

3. Eric Hosmer, Kansas City
Hosmer took a hit on his 1.6 fWAR because UZR didn't like his defense at first base. I have no problem throwing that right out the window. He hit 16 home runs and a .293/.334/.465 line. In roughly the same amount of plate appearances, Mark Trumbo hit 29 home runs and will surely get some votes. Even as an Angels fan, I can't vote for his .291 OBP.

Also Rans...

Brett Lawrie, Toronto
Lawrie is the AL rookie of the year. He posted an identical 2.7 fWAR as Ackley in 205 fewer plate appearances. That friends, is insane. If he'd carried a .293/.373/.580 line of a full season instead of just 43 games, Lawrie would be getting MVP votes.

Desmond Jennings, Tampa Bay
Jennings suffered the same fate as Lawrie in time it took to get called up. Jennings did acquire 287 PA's and just hit 10 home runs and a .259/.356/.449 line to go with 20 stolen bases.

Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay
Hellickson could easily win this thing with a 13-10 record and a 2.94 ERA. But his 4.44 FIP (fielding independent pitching) and .223 BABIP (batting average on balls in play) suggest Hellickson's ERA was a product of Tampa's great defense.

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