Ah, November — when election results rule the land. No, I’m not referring to some inconsequential “presidential election.” I’m talking about MLB’s annual recognition of outstanding achievements in the field of excellence.  

Granted, I’m not a BBWWA member, and it’s too late to sway any votes. But is this not the Internet? And is not the Internet the domain of the disenfranchised and/or disproportionately self-important? With that in mind, here are my picks for this year’s awards*:

MONDAY

AL Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria, Rays. Believe it or not, Royals shortstop Mike Aviles out-VORPed Longoria 35 to 34.8 for the AL rookie lead. Of course, a replacement SS has lower expectations than a replacement 3B. Longoria racked up a 14-point advantage in EqA (.302 to .288) and three more Win Shares** (20 to 17) than Aviles. I wouldn’t be appalled if Aviles took the honors, especially when you factor in his defense. Given Longoria’s participation in the Rays’ dream season, though, he’s a lock.

NL Rookie of the Year: Geovany Soto, Cubs. It’s hard to imagine the BBWWA jobbing a catcher who hit .285-23-86 for the best team in the league. Good thing, too: He led all rookies in VORP and Win Shares while compiling a .288 EqA. Joey Votto and Jair Jurrjens should get nice rounds of applause, but this is Soto’s party.  

TUESDAY

NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, Giants. I can see giving this to Johan Santana. He edged Timmay in VORP despite facing slightly tougher competition (737 opponent OPS vs. 730), led the league in innings, and, lest we forget, played for a contender. But his edge in VORP is less than one, and the other two factors are largely out of Lincecum’s control: It’s unlikely that he gave himself the hook in each of his starts (he trailed Santana by 7.3 IP), and his teammates were pretty bad at baseball. Despite a weak supporting cast, Lincecum compiled a .783 winning percentage. His 28 Win Shares led all pitchers, as did his 265 K’s. 

WEDNESDAY

AL Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon, Rays. Leave it to MLB to throw in a couple awards that I don’t care about to break up the excitement. Anyway, if you’re familiar with the 2008 season at all, you know that Maddon took a heretofore cruddy team and coached them to the AL East crown. Plus, he confused baseball fans worldwide with his 9=8 nonsense.

NL Manager of the Year: Pass? The first name that comes to mind is Tony LaRussa, who took a team predicted to finish fourth in the NL Central all the way to … oh yeah, fourth. But I had them pegged for 75 wins, and they ended up with 86. My guess is that Joe Torre walks away with the prize. Can we just give it to Lou Brown?

THURSDAY

AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee, Indians. On another website in March, I referred to Lee as a “proven mediocrity.” For that reason alone, I guarantee you that he’ll win the Cy Young. It doesn’t hurt that he led the league in wins, ERA (adjusted and otherwise), winning percentage, pitching Win Shares, and VORP. To have me refer to you as a “proven mediocrity,” simply e-mail me five dollars.

FRIDAY, SATURDAY, AND SUNDAY

Crickets. Tumbleweeds. Some football.

NEXT MONDAY

NL MVP: Albert Pujols, Cardinals. It’s been well established that I appreciate Albert, but this isn’t playing favorites. Albert simply wrecked stuff this year. Let’s do the list: first in adjusted OPS (190), VORP (96.8), EqA (.372), and runs created (160). And when I say “first,” I mean first in the majors. Lance Berkman tallied more Win Shares (38 to 35), but Albert is your NL MVP. That’s why it’ll be really annoying when it goes to Ryan Howard or C.C. Sabathia.

NEXT TUESDAY

AL MVP: Give me a minute ... This one is the real wild card, with no clear choice. The metrics are conflicted: Grady Sizemore led in VORP and Runs Created (62.7, 131), Win Shares liked Joe Mauer (31), and Milton Bradley took home the gold in +OPS and EqA (163, .341). As a scrappy middle infielder who contended for the batting crown on a playoff team, Dustin Pedroia has a lot of what baseball writers like. He’s the most likely candidate, but I would give it to Mauer. A catcher who gets on base 41% of the time deserves some love.  

*After making my picks, I went and looked at the Internet Baseball Awards results. Other than Pedroia as AL MVP and Lou Piniella as NL Manager of the Year, my picks match. On one hand, I’m disheartened in that I’m probably just preaching to the choir here. On the other hand, this is what happens when you base your decisions on what actually happened on the field rather than intangibles, clubhouse presence, clutch performance, etc.

**Rather than use any one metric as the “decider,” I tried to get a variety of statistical opinions to inform my decisions. I look forward to the creation of baseball’s Theory of Everything, which will make thinking darned near unnecessary.

I am one of those guys who believe there are two seasons; baseball season and the off-season.  Sometimes I think I like the off-season better.  One of my interests is scouting and player development, especially how organizations get players to the major leagues.

This is the time that Pro scouts earn their money.  The decisions that General Managers make in the off-season are often dependent on scouting reports from their Pro scouts.  By Pro scouts I mean those who scout professional leagues, not college or high school players.

The legendary baseball man Branch Rickey said it was better to trade a player a year early than a year late.  Scouts can see a player’s skills slipping before it shows up in their stats.  Maybe they have slowed down a step, just missing a ball in the outfield that they used to catch.  Where they used to beat the throw to first on a close play they are more frequently being called out. 

Maybe their bat speed is slowing and they are cheating to catch up to the fastball.  Pitchers might lose 2-3 miles per hour off their fastball and become easier to hit.  Thus the G.M. might decide to trade the player when he can get the maximum return.  The scouting reports can influence a decision to re-sign a player or release them.

There are also players available in other minor league organizations through the Rule 5 draft.  Teams will gather information from their scouts about a possible pick.  These are usually “tools” players who have not had significant success in the minors but a club will take a chance that their plus tool will grow into a skill useful in the major leagues.

Joakim Soria was a 2006 Rule 5 draft who panned out.  Soria had very little success in the minors, due to arm problems.  Royals scouts saw him pitch in Mexico that fall, saw that he was healthy and had the stuff to succeed in the major leagues and drafted him away from the Padres.

There are hundreds of minor league free agents available in the off-season as well.  Generally an organization’s scouts will have turned in a report on just about every player who played professional baseball.  General Managers and Player Development Directors will use these reports to try to find a player who might earn a bench spot on the major league club.  They will also look to sign minor league free agents to fill in holes in their own system.

Off-season trades often have Pro scouts fingerprints all over them as well.  One often sees quotes from organizations saying they want to hold onto their prospects.  That is because clubs are doing an ever better job of scouting minor players.  When you hear fans exclaim, “how did we get that guy” you know a anonymous pro scout has scored again.

If you’re like me, you spend a lot of your free time — when you should be doing something productive — playing video games, ignoring family, friends, and other obligations. There’s nothing quite like losing your mind in the futuristic battles of Halo 3, or the jam sessions with Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello in Guitar Hero. It’s almost as good as immersing yourself completely into the baseball season.

With Xbox 360 games, the further you progress in the game, the more items you get, or the more otherwise noteworthy things you do, you will unlock achievements. A message will pop up, notifying you that you got one (oftentimes with a witty caption, like “Buy a Guitar Already” if you beat Guitar Hero 3’s career mode on Hard or Expert with a standard controller), and points are added to your gamerscore. You can also get achievements (but usually not Gamerscore points) for failure, like turning down a boss battle in Guitar Hero 3.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, click here for an example.

One of the memes floating around the Internet is attempting to make a funny by taking a picture and slapping an “Achievement unlocked” picture on it with a sarcastic comment. I’ve reviewed the 2008 baseball season and attempted to make some funnies using this meme.

Scott Boras

Super-agent Scott Boras had his bluff called when the Yankees let Alex Rodriguez opt out of the last three years of the ten-year, $252 million contract given to him by the Texas Rangers before the 2001 season. The intent was to drive up the price for A-Rod, but the Yankees eventually signed Rodriguez to another contract with about the same annual average, but it was another ten-year deal, this time worth $275 million.
Barry Bonds

As John Brattain has noted here, here, here, and here, the flimsy excuses used by 30 different Major League teams in passing on one of the best hitters in baseball history points to obvious collusion against Barry Bonds. How do you pass on a guy who put up an OPS+ of 156 and 170 in his age 41 and 42 years? You don’t.

Japan

The Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics kicked off the regular season in late-March with two games at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The Sox and A’s split the two games, but the Sox swept the A’s when the other two games of the four-game series were resumed in Oakland. The real winners were the Japanese, who got to see two of their talents in Major League uniforms: Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima.

Box Scores: [1], [2] | Video Highlights

Nationals Park

In an otherwise forgettable season, the Washington Nationals opened their new stadium on March 30 with a game against the Atlanta Braves. You couldn’t have scripted the ending any better: the Nationals blow a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth, only to have their star player Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk-off home run to center field in the bottom half.

Box Score | Video Highlight: Zimmerman’s HR

Edwin Encarnacion

It’s the second game of the season and the Reds are down 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth. The Reds started a rally with consecutive singles by Brandon Phillips and Adam Dunn to bring up Edwin Encarnacion. Initially, manager Dusty Baker wanted the runners bunted over to second and third. Cue Jeff Brantley:

Thom: “See, that’s the problem when you ask a guy who’s never bunted…”

Jeff: “Take him out of the game! Take him out of the game.”

Thom: “Ok, but…”

Jeff: “If he can’t bunt take him out of the game. Put somebody else in there.”

Thom: “Ok, but if you believe in the bunt in this situation…”

Jeff: “You’re at home. You have to tie the game.”

Thom: “But that’s a by-the-book kind of thing. I don’t know if there’s anybody on that bench…that you’re going to bring in…”

Jeff: “This guy is NOT a clutch hitter.”

Thom: “But his numbers are contrary to that…”

Jeff: “He’s not. He’s not…not…not a clutch hitter.”

Edwin proceeded to hit a walk-off three-run home run, putting Brantley’s foot squarely in his esophagus.

Box Score

Cleveland Indians

On May 12 in the second game of a double-header against the Toronto Blue Jays, second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera became just the 14th player in Major League Baseball history to turn an unassisted triple play. It was one of about three noteworthy moments for the Cleveland Indians in 2008. The other two: Cliff Lee’s amazing season, and the C.C. Sabathia trade.

Box Score | Video Highlight: Cabrera’s triple play

Jon Lester

It became official once Jon Lester recorded the 27th out of his no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals on May 19: he was the new ace of the Boston Red Sox starting rotation. The only mars on his line score: two walks. The no-hitter had a Game Score of 94, not too far off of Kerry Wood’s record of 105.

Box Score | Video Highlight: Lester gets the 27th out | List of MLB no-hitters

Ken Griffey, Jr.

It was a long time coming for Ken Griffey, Jr. Destined to break Hank Aaron’s record of 755, Griffey was hampered by injury after injury. Finally, on June 9, 2008, he joined the 600 Club whose only members include Barry Bonds, Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Sammy Sosa.

Box Score | Video Highlight: Griffey Hits #600 | Career HR Leaders

Adam Dunn

If you weren’t following baseball in mid-June, and you heard that a certain GM in baseball hates Adam Dunn, you’d be stupefied as to why. Dunn has never had a reputation as someone who would rub anyone the wrong way — for such a productive player, he’s very reserved. But a radio microphone was placed under Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi’s chin, and here’s what came out:

“Do you know the guy doesn’t really like baseball that much?” Ricciardi said to the caller. “Do you know the guy doesn’t have a passion to play the game that much? How much do you know about the player?

“There’s a reason why you’re attracted to some players and there’s a reason why you’re not attracted to some players. I don’t think you’d be very happy if we brought Adam Dunn here …

“We’ve done our homework on guys like Adam Dunn and there’s a reason why we don’t want Adam Dunn. I don’t want to get into specifics.”

…“He’s a lifetime .230, .240 hitter that strikes out a ton and hits home runs,” Ricciardi said.

“Yes, he hits home runs, which none of the Toronto Blue Jays are doing,” the caller replied.

That retort triggered Ricciardi’s shot at Dunn as a player who “doesn’t really like baseball that much.”

The Arizona Diamondbacks ended up acquiring Dunn from the Reds on August 11. Check out what Ricciardi missed out on:

OPS + with Reds in 2008: 130

OPS + with D-Backs in 2008: 127

Total HR and RBI in 2008: 40, 100

Blue Jays Offense in 2008: Avg. 4.41 runs per game, 11th out of 14 AL teams.

Andruw Jones

The Los Angeles Dodgers gave Andruw Jones (a client of Scott Boras, mentioned above) a two-year, $36.2 million contract in the off-season. Even worse, they gave him a full no-trade clause.

Jones’ season was abysmal. The Dodgers eventually owned up to their mistake and used him less and less as the season went on. His AB from April to September went: 88, 45, 63, 9, 4, and the Dodgers did not use him in the playoffs. Overall, he finished with an OPS+ of 34. 100 is the league-average. In other words, if you had two Andruw Joneses and combined them, you would get about a Juan Pierre-caliber player.

Considering his salary, it was probably the most expensive failure in baseball history. At least Carl Pavano didn’t hurt the Yankees when he was injured.

Derek Jeter

Yankees fans, women, and most sportswriters hate to hear it, but Derek Jeter just ain’t that good at defense. The Fielding Bible called him the “least effective defensive player.” More from the New York Post:

In a Penn University study this February, Jeter, who has won three Gold Gloves, was voted to be the worst shortstop in baseball.

“Maybe it was a computer glitch,” Jeter told The Post. “Every [shortstop] doesn’t stay in the same spot, everyone doesn’t have the same pitching. Everyone doesn’t have the same hitters running, it’s impossible to do that.”

Maybe you just suck at defense, D.J.

Buzz Bissinger

Ah, how can you forget the feud on Costas Now between celebrated writer Buzz Bissinger and Deadspin’s Will Leitch? Bissinger made it no secret that he hates blogs, and used Leitch as the punching bag for his cathartic rant. Bissinger did himself (and other like-minded people) a disservice, and did blogs and bloggers a favor by making a fool of himself on HBO.

And let’s not forget that Bob Costas made some ignorant comments back in March.

Josh Hamilton

It’s not often that superhuman feats are accomplished in the Home Run Derby. There were the ridiculously long ones hit at Turner Field in 2000, and Bobby Abreu’s 24 homers in the first round in 2005 at Comerica Park. Aside from that, there wasn’t anything too noteworthy.

Josh Hamilton shattered Abreu’s record by hitting 28 homers in the first round and he did it with relative ease. It looked as if he’d never stop hitting them. It was such a compelling story not just because of the 450-ft+ shots, but because of Hamilton’s battle with drug addiction.

Unfortunately, Hamilton ran out of gas and lost to Justin Morneau.

Video Highlight: Hamilton’s record-setting first round

Justin Morneau

He didn’t shock anyone like Josh Hamilton, but he quietly hit enough home runs in each round to advance to the finals. Hamilton ran out of gas, and Morneau took the final round, 5 to 3, and earned the right to lift the Derby trophy above his head at the end. It was a shame because his win was completely overshadowed, understandably, by Hamilton.

Video Highlight: Morneau’s 22 homers.

Clint Hurdle

Clint Hurdle better be thanking the Philadelphia Phillies because he single-handedly cost them home-field advantage in the World Series, and unnecessarily used their star closer by warming up Brad Lidge six times in the late innings of the All-Star Game.

“Put it this way,” Lidge said. “Before the All-Star Game, it was feeling a little maybe like I had a tiny bit of tendinitis in there, not bad. If I would have just thrown regular at the All-Star Game . . . it probably would have gone away because I had the other three days off over the break. But that didn’t allow it to recover.”

Cliff Lee

Cliff Lee had one of the most surprising seasons we’ve seen in a long time. His success seemingly came out of nowhere. Prior to 2008, the highest ERA+ he’d logged in a season with more than 75 IP was 111. In 2008, his ERA+ was 175 and he had a meager WHIP of 1.11. For most of the season, his only competition for the Cy Young award was Roy Halladay. Not that it matters, but he also finished with an impressive 22-3 record.

C.C. Sabathia

When the Milwaukee Brewers acquired C.C. Sabathia for prospect Matt LaPorta and three others, they had an idea of what they were getting, but they couldn’t have imagined the success C.C. had in the second half. As a Brewer, Sabathia threw about 131 innings, threw 7 complete games (3 shut-outs), struck out 128, and had a WHIP just over 1 at 1.003. He won his first nine decisions as a Brewer and single-handedly pushed them into the playoffs.

Unfortunately, starter Dave Bush was the only Brewer who showed up for the NLDS, as the Phillies easily disposed of them in four games. Sabathia gave up a key grand slam to Shane Victorino in Game 2.
Video Highlight: Shane Victorino’s Grand Slam off of Sabathia

Manny Ramirez

Just like C.C. Sabathia, Manny Ramirez did a lot more than his new employer ever would have expected. After intentionally “dogging it” in Boston on the advice of his agent Scott Boras (his third mention already), Ramirez was traded to Los Angeles where he put on a hitting clinic. In 187 at-bats as a Dodger, Ramirez had an OPS+ of 219 including 17 HR and 53 RBI.

Unlike Sabathia, Ramirez was good in the playoffs. He had a 1.173 OPS in the NLDS against the Chicago Cubs and a 1.749 OPS in the NLCS against the Phillies. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the team couldn’t get anything started and the Dodgers suffered the same fate as the Brewers in the playoffs against the Phightins.

Carlos Zambrano

With the Cubs close to clinching a division title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, Carlos Zambrano did his best to make sure they got it. On September 14, in an Astros home game that was moved to Miller Park because of Hurricane Ike, Zambrano mowed down Astro after Astro until 27 of them were retired.

Lester’s no-hitter, mentioned earlier, earned a Game Score of 94; Zambrano’s had a 96 — he had one more strikeout and one less walk.

Box Score | Video Highlight: Zambrano Strikes Out #27

Curse of the Billy Goat

It was just too good to be true, wasn’t it? The Cubs had their best shot at winning it all since 2003 (Steve Bartman!), and they were in their 100th year without a World Series trophy. They breezed through the regular season, winning 97 games and leading the National League in run differential.

Perhaps the most telling event of the Cubs’ short-lived playoff stint in 2008 was Game 2 of the NLDS against the Dodgers. All four Cubs infielders committed an error in their 10-3 loss.

Game 2 Box Score

L.A. Angels

The Angels were the only team to reach triple-digit wins this season — exactly 100 — but were easily defeated by the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS. Considered the best team in baseball nearly all season, it just goes to show that it doesn’t matter how you got there, just that you got there. The 2008 Angels aren’t as big a bust as the Cubs, but it’s up there.

New York Mets

It’s déjà vu all over again. Up 3.5 games after a win against the Washington Nationals on September 10, the Mets managed to go 7-10 over their last 17 games to blow let another large division lead late in September. After a September 10 loss to the Florida Marlins, the Phillies went 13-3 over their final 16 to take the division, and eventually the World Series.

Tampa Bay Rays

What do you call a team that had never won more than 70 games in a season in the history of their franchise? AL East champions.

The Tampa Bay Rays, indeed, never won more than 70 games in a season and won as few as 66 and 61 in their previous two seasons. The Joe Maddon-led squad ignored history and went on to win 97 games, the AL East division title, and advanced all the way to the World Series, stopped short of their ultimate goal by the Phillies.

Brett Myers

Brett Myers was something like a post-season legend. In his two starts in the NLDS and NLCS, he did more with his bat than with his pitching arm. At Crashburn Alley, I wrote about it:

• NLDS: A Legendary At-Bat

Unfazed by Sabathia’s 1.65 ERA as a Brewer, Myers was buried early in the count 0-2, but worked it back to 3-2, fouled off a tough pitch, and eventually worked the walk.

. . .

Shane drove [a C.C. Sabathia] slider over the left field seats for a grand slam [scoring Myers], and the Phillies went up 5-1.

. . .

Myers worked another full count, but this time flew out to center fielder Mike Cameron on the tenth pitch. Myers’ plate approach is immaculate. All by himself, he’s seen 19 pitches in two at-bats.

• NLCS: Brett Myers is a Post-season Legend

Remember Myers’ two at-bats against C.C. Sabathia in Game 2 of the NLDS? How could he possibly one-up that performance?

Oh, I don’t know… how about hitting two singles in two at-bats and driving in three runs against Los Angeles Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley?

He swung at the first pitch in both at-bats. The first hit came on an inside slider to put the Phillies up 2-1. Myers kept his hands inside the baseball and drove it into shallow right-center. The second hit came on an outside fastball to increase the Phillies’ lead to 6-2. Myers scorched it down the right field line past first baseman James Loney.

Box Scores: [Game 2 NLDS] [Game 2 NLCS]

Video Highlights: [Myers’ NLDS at-bats] [Myers’ NLCS hits]

Bud Selig

In a tenure marred by bad decisions, Bud Selig apparently felt the need to raise the bar. With the World Series hanging in the balance — the Phillies one win away from a championship — Selig decided to start Game 5 with impending storms. Even when it started raining, Selig and his cronies kept the game alive.

Click the video highlight below to observe how awful the field conditions were when B.J. Upton reached on an infield single with two outs in the sixth, and when Carlos Pena drove him in shortly thereafter.

Video Highlights: [Upton’s infield single] [Pena’s RBI single]

Brad Lidge

Brad Lidge literally had a perfect season. He was 41-for-41 in save opportunities in the regular season and 7-for-7 in the post-season, adding a low 1.95 ERA (225 ERA+) and 1.226 WHIP.

The trade, orchestrated by GMs Pat Gillick and Ed Wade, that sent Lidge and utility player Eric Bruntlett to the Phillies for reliever Geoff Geary, outfielder Michael Bourn, and third base prospect Mike Costanzo may turn out to be the greatest trade ever made in the 126-year history of the Phillies.

Brad Lidge’s game logs | Video highlight: Lidge saves Game 5