Time for Awards

Yeah, I know, they won't be announced until after the Series. But the voters have to submit their ballots before postseason play. So I will too.

Note that this blog is called On The Field of Play. Awards aren't on the field of play. So this is going to be short. I'm going to list who I think should get each award and who I think will receive it. Then let's move on, OK? It's the postseason.

Disclaimer: I don't feel a team's won-lost record is relevant. I don't think awards should be limited to players whose teams play in the postseason. That's my opinion. You might not agree. Many voters don't. That's cool. Just want you to know where I'm coming from.

AL MVP
Who should get it: Man, this is tough. I think this is a four-man race between Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Robinson Cano, and Josh Donaldson. Let's compare them:

	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Miguel Cabrera	555	103	193	26	1	44	137	90	19	94	19	3	0	.348	.442	.636	1.078
Robinson Cano	605	81	190	41	0	27	107	65	16	85	18	7	1	.314	.383	.516	.899
Josh Donaldson	579	89	174	37	3	24	93	76	2	110	15	5	2	.301	.384	.499	.883
Mike Trout	589	109	190	39	9	27	97	110	10	136	8	33	7	.323	.432	.557	.988

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/1/2013.

Obviously, Cabrera's the best hitter of the bunch. He led in the triple crown statistics, as well as on-base percentage and slugging. But he's a below-average baserunner and fielder, and I'm being kind of generous. The other guys are excellent fielders and, as baserunners, they're either decent (Donaldson, Cano) or outstanding (Trout).

I'd vote for Trout. He led the league in runs and he got almost 100 RBI despite batting first or second 107 times. He's a great baserunner and an outstanding outfielder.

Who will get it: Cabrera, and it won't be close.

NL MVP
Who should get it: There are five contenders, as I see it: Andrew McCutchen, Yadier Molina, Matt Carpenter, Joey Votto, and Paul Goldschmidt.

	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Matt Carpenter	626	126	199	55	7	11	78	72	1	98	4	3	3	.318	.392	.481	.873
Paul Goldschmidt	602	103	182	36	3	36	125	99	19	145	25	15	7	.302	.401	.551	.952
Andrew McCutchen	583	97	185	38	5	21	84	78	12	101	13	27	10	.317	.404	.508	.911
Yadier Molina	505	68	161	44	0	12	80	30	4	55	14	3	2	.319	.359	.477	.836
Joey Votto	581	101	177	30	3	24	73	135	19	138	15	6	3	.305	.435	.491	.926

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/1/2013.

I honestly didn't realize Carpenter had been as good as he's been. Of these, Molina's the standout fielder, McCutchen the standout baserunner. If I had a ballot it'd be McCutchen first, Goldschmidt second.

Who will get it: McCutchen. He stayed hot (.318 BA, .453 OBP, .541 SLG in September) as the Pirates clinched their first playoff appearance since George H.W. Bush was in the White House.

AL Cy Young
Who should get it: I think there are five contenders: Max Scherzer, Yu Darvish, Anibal Sanchez, Chris Sale, and Hisashi Iwakuma.

	GS	CG	W	L	W-L%	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	HR	BA	OBP	SLG
Yu Darvish	32	0	13	9	.591	209.2	145	68	66	80	277	2.83	26	.194	.277	.334
Hisashi Iwakuma	33	0	14	6	.700	219.2	179	69	65	42	185	2.66	25	.220	.258	.371
Chris Sale	30	4	11	14	.440	214.1	184	81	73	46	226	3.07	23	.230	.282	.354
Anibal Sanchez	29	1	14	8	.636	182.0	156	56	52	54	202	2.57	9	.229	.286	.330
Max Scherzer	32	0	21	3	.875	214.1	152	73	69	56	240	2.90	18	.198	.254	.329

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/1/2013.

You can make an argument for Felix Hernandez over Iwakuma, but it'd be pretty stats-heavy. I think it's pretty close between Scherzer and Darvish. As I've written, I think Scherzer has been kind of lucky. But it works. I'd vote for him.

Who will get it: 21-3 gets it done.

NL Cy Young
Who should get it: There is not a race. Clayton Kershaw led the league in ERA, strikeouts, and baserunners per inning, and is third in wins.

Who will get it: The only question is whether it'll be unanimous.

AL Rookie of the Year
Who should get it: Man. Can we just skip to the NL? This is a really weak pool. No rookie position player qualified for the batting title or rookie pitcher for the ERA title, and the best reliever, Seattle's Danny Farquhar, had 16 saves but a 4.20 ERA. I'd give the nod to Wil Myers, who led all AL rookies in doubles, homers, runs, RBI, and slugging.

Who will get it: Jose Iglesias batted .303, which I think is a fluke, and played fantastic shortstop, which I think isn't.

NL Rookie of the Year
Who should get it: Jose Fernandez had one of the best season for a young pitcher in baseball history.

Who will get it: It'll be close between Fernandez and Yasiel Puig, whom some people credit for jump-starting the Dodgers' season. Given that Puig kind of ran out of gas in September (.214 batting, .333 on-base, .452 slugging), I think Fernandez is money good.

AL Manager of the Year
Who should get it: Joe Girardi. No, really. Look at the hand he was dealt: No Texeira. Effectively no Jeter. Only 61 games from Granderson, 44 from Rodriguez. Sabathia pretty much sucked. Outscored by 21 runs. Yet they won 85 games. 

Who will get it: I'd vote for John Farrell and Bob Melvin after Girardi. They managed teams with a lot of question marks to the two best records in the AL. But I'll bet it goes to Terry Francona, who took a perennial loser in Cleveland to the postseason.

NL Manager of the Year
Who should get it: I don't see any standouts among Fredi Gonzalez, Clint Hurdle, and Mike Matheny. I'm not buying Don Mattingly: He was dealt a ridiculously strong hand in Los Angeles. I suppose Hurdle, since he led a team that was only decent on paper to a better-than-decent 94-68 record.

Who will get it: Hurdle, of course, for leading the Pirates to the postseason for the first time since 1992.