BBA NL Goose Gossage Award Ballot 2011

Ah, the good old reliever of the year ballot. The BBA has to remind me every year this is NOT for best mustache. Oh, and saves are a stupid, stupid stat. Let's roll...

1. Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta
Not much to this one. Kimbrel led all relievers with a 3.2 fWAR (Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement) and was my choice for the BBA Willie Mays award for rookie of the year, which he won. Over 77.0 innnings, Kimbrel tossed a 2.10/1.52/1.94 (ERA/FIP/xFIP) pitching line with a staggering 14.84 K/9. And sure, he recorded 46 saves if you're the type of person who cares about that stuff. But if you like saves, you probably don't know how to text message and aren't reading this.

2. Jonny Venters, Atlanta
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez rode Venters into the ground in 2011. That's actually true of Kimbrel and Eric O'Flaherty too and contributed to the Braves collapse down the stretch. Venters appeared in 85 games and pitched 88.0 innings. He threw a 1.84/2.78/2.88 pitching line which was hurt when he ran out of gas. In 12.1 September innings, Venters gave up seven runs on 13 hits and 10 walks. It wasn't pretty. But he was so brilliant for the rest of the season, I have a hard time penalizing him for his manager's mismanagement.

3. John Axford, Milwaukee
His 1.95/2.41/2.85 pitching line and 10.51 K/9 and 46 saves are all pretty enough. And maybe I should have voted for him higher but not because of the numbers. It's because of this...



If the BBA would let me vote for mustaches for the Goose Gossage award like I wanted to, Axford would have run away with this thing.

John Axford Seems Cool

I'm pretty sure I should be friends with John Axford. Is he on Facebook? Twitter? What's not to like about the guy? Okay, he's Canadian but I can let that slide. This time. The "Ax Man" is a sweet nickname even if it's obvious, he has impressive facial hair and his middle name is Berton. Axford also played high school badminton (I was a prodigy) and used to be a bartender (I like to drink)...

"It was much better than the cellphone job," said Axford. "There, I didn't talk to anybody but customers and try and sell phones. But when people come in to your restaurant, they're already hungry, they're going to want to eat, they're going to want a drink. You don't really have to sell things too much unless you're trying to push a dessert on them or something or an extra beer."

It's a good thing throwing a 97 MPH fastball worked out for him because he sounds like a terrible server. Gotta sell that cheesecake, Ax Man.

Axford struggled in the Yankees minor leagues in 2007 and again with the Brewers as a starter at High-A in 2008. But in 2009, as a reliever, he pitched his way to Milwaukee and earned his first save. Last year, Axford threw a 2.48/2.13/2.79 (ERA/FIP/xFIP) pitching line and recorded 24 saves for the Brewers. He hasn't been as good this season with a 2.10/2.51/2.86 line and his strikeout rate is down (11.79 K/9 to 10.62) and his home run to fly ball rate nearly tripled (2.4% to 6.6%). But he has 42 saves so I guess that makes him an elite closer. I kid about the saves but he is the best option for the Brewers and a damn good reliever despite what Francisco Rodriguez has to say.

It's not that K-Rod is having a bad season, 2.86/2.91/3.20, but his recent outburst about not closing and history of questionable makeup might cost him money next season. I'll always be grateful for his masterful performance for the Angels during the championship run in 2002 but I bet he's a terrible badminton player. Choose your partner K-Rod. The Ax Man and I will crush you. Loser pays the bar tab.

Extra super bonus points to Axford for rocking this stache...