Mauer wins AL MVP in a landslide

http://bbwaa.com/

27 of 28 first place votes....Miguel Cabrera got the lone other first place vote...very surprising. I was expecting Jeter and/or Teixeira to pick up some 1st place votes...but ... Cabrera? Weird. My money's on it being the same writer that voted Justin Verlander first in the Cy Young balloting.

Ben Zobrist placed 8th, nice to see him get some level of recognition. Zack Greinke was only listed on 4 ballots, all in the bottom half, but was the highest-ranking starting pitcher (Mariano Rivera placed higher). I think Evan Longoria got left off too many ballots, only being on 3.

But, really, can't complain. The right guy won and it wasn't close. Glad to see the BBWAA go 4 for 4 this year in the MVP/Cy Young awards :) (I'm assuming Pujols wins the NL tomorrow, but I think that's a given.).

Comment on Baseball Think Factory:

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Originally Posted by The District Attorney

Cue the "they make the right choice and you're bіtching about one dumb vote" complaints, but I really have to say it. A guy -- who, by the way, doesn't even have the best offensive stats in the league, plus he's slow and an indifferent fielder at the easiest position on the field -- shows up drunk off his ass for the most crucial series of the year... and he is supposed to be the Most Valuable Player???

Do I get three guesses as to what city the writer was from?

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Mauer definetly the right choice here!

Can't wait to hear the Justin Verlander voting douchebag's justification for Miguel Cabrera, assuming of course that it's him. What possible justification could there be for voting for a guy who left his team holding the bag, when they needed him most? Wow! Just wow.

Ken Davidoff on Twitter" "Keizo Konishi of Kyodo News, based in Seattle, voted Miguel Cabrera first."

Oooook...

I'll focus on the positive - the right guy won, overwhelmingly.

And the Yankees didn't get any misplaced favorite votes. Woohoo, go media!

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index...miguel-cabrera

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eriously, there is no argument for a first place vote for Miguel Cabrera. Mauer's team made the playoffs, beating out Cabrera's team for the last spot. Mauer hit better. Mauer fielded better. Mauer played a more important position.

None of those facts are disputable. A vote for Cabrera being more valuable in 2009 is like a vote for the sum of two and two being five. It's not an opinion - it's a lack of understanding.

So, writers who criticized Law for his vote and pointed to it as evidence that he's screwing up the process, you are hereby required to do the same thing to the Cabrera voter. At least Keith had a reasonable explanation for his vote. There is no reasonable explanation for a Miguel Cabrera first place MVP vote. It's just stupidity on display.

To the other 27 voters - congratulations on continuing the trend of this awards season and giving the player the award he deserves. The BBWAA has done itself proud this year.

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Why do I get the feeling that Jon Heyman and the like won't bash this Konishi guy like they hammered Law?

Trying to find an article by him to explain his stupidity, I found one he wrote in 2005.

The title?

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Reporter aims to get it right

By Keizo Konishi

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http://www.poormojo.org/pmjadaily/ar...k-Facepalm.gif

What did they hammer Law for?

Leaving Carpenter off his ballot for NL Cy Young.

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Originally Posted by free2131

Leaving Carpenter off his ballot for NL Cy Young.

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What the hell?

Why did he leave the best pitcher in the NL off of his NL Cy Young ballot? Epic fail.

Not enough innings probably.

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Originally Posted by metsguy234

What the hell?

Why did he leave the best pitcher in the NL off of his NL Cy Young ballot? Epic fail.

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Because he didn't believe that Carpenter was the best pitcher in the NL. He had Tim Lincecum as the clear front-runner and then Carpenter, Wainwright and Javier Vazquez as an incredibly close 2-3-4. He ordered them Vazquez-Wainwright-Carpenter. 7 writers had Carpenter 3rd. Why is it so insane and ridiculous that someone had him an incredibly close 4th?

He thought that Carpenter's numbers relied too much on the Cardinals's defense if I remember correctly, and because his IP was significantly lower than the others.

His ballot was:

Lincecum, Vazquez, Wainwright

Law's explanation:

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My NL Cy Young ballot was

1. Tim Lincecum

2. Javier Vazquez

3. Adam Wainwright

...I understand that many voters are uncomfortable with these advanced stats, but Lincecum also finished second in the NL in (unadjusted) ERA, but threw 36 more innings than the guy in front of him, Chris Carpenter.

Carpenter’s innings total was the main reason he ended up off my ballot. He pitched extremely well when on the mound, but not well enough to close the value gap between him and the three pitchers I listed, each of whom threw at least 27 innings more than Carpenter. Both Carpenter and Wainwright received significant help from their defense, while neither Lincecum nor Vazquez could say the same.

As for Vazquez, he ranked ahead of Wainwright in the advanced metrics anyway, but I also gave him extra credit for pitching in the most difficult division in the NL, one in which he had to face two great offenses and only one patsy.

As for the win total of each pitcher: I ignored that, because, as I’ve said for years, it tells us nothing useful about how well the pitcher performed.

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Wait what the hell? He had Javier Vazquez second?

Why does this dude get to vote for awards?

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Originally Posted by metsguy234

Wait what the hell? He had Javier Vazquez second?

Why does this dude get to vote for awards?

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lol.

Way to parrot the Jon Heymans of the world and completely ignore that post I linked to.

Also, I find it incredibly funny how these writers that are hammering Law (along with metsguy) constantly decry statistics and whine about how scouts are so much better (even though, you know, scouting and stats are complements and need each other to work best)...yet are now bashing a....scout.

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Originally Posted by metsguy234

Wait what the hell? He had Javier Vazquez second?

Why does this dude get to vote for awards?

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Vazquez had a great year. I was glad he got some recognition for it.

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Originally Posted by metsguy234

Wait what the hell? He had Javier Vazquez second?

Why does this dude get to vote for awards?

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It is not a bad choice at all, they are very close, and the ballot could have been a LOT worse

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Originally Posted by HoustonGM

Also, I find it incredibly funny how these writers that are hammering Law (along with metsguy) constantly decry statistics and whine about how scouts are so much better (even though, you know, scouting and stats are complements and need each other to work best)...yet are now bashing a....scout.

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Keith Law is a former front office member for the Blue Jays (i.e. not a scout)

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Originally Posted by metsguy234

Keith Law is a former front office member for the Blue Jays (i.e. not a scout)

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lolololololololol

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In 2002, Law was hired by the Toronto Blue Jays as a "Consultant to Baseball Operations" after impressing Blue Jays' general manager J. P. Ricciardi during the offseason winter meetings. Paul DePodesta had recommended Law to him and Ricciardi asked Law's opinions regarding the approaching Rule 5 draft of that year, and, impressed with Law's answers and explanations, offered him a position with the team. During his time with the Blue Jays, he acted as a major league and minor league scout, contract negotiator, and provided assistance to the team's marketing and sales staffs. Law reached the position of "Special Assistant to the GM" before resigning in 2006 to work at ESPN.

At ESPN, Law works as baseball scouting writer, He writes baseball columns, maintains a blog, provides analysis on radio and television, and holds weekly chats on ESPN.com.

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Originally Posted by HoustonGM

lolololololololol

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Well he fails at scouting then.

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Originally Posted by metsguy234

Well he fails at scouting then.

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:rolleyes:

Shut up.

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Originally Posted by metsguy234

Well he fails at scouting then.

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Sht up. it's just an award. It was very close after the obvious #1..

Google search "Don't Feed The Troll"

Copy URL

Post in thread.

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Originally Posted by FloydtheBarber

Sht up. it's just an award. It was very close after the obvious #1..

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You aren't clear on the award we're talking about.

Your both acting like your opinions are facts, when they're not. This wasn't the American League. There were multiple solid candidates for the award, none of whom would've been wrong.

I personally would have put Carpenter and Wainwright ahead of Vazquez, but like HGM said, it was so close that it really didn't make a difference.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ins...ife_of_reilly/

They mention everyone's new favorite sportswriter in this article

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Originally Posted by metsguy234

Wait what the hell? He had Javier Vazquez second?

Why does this dude get to vote for awards?

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Its stupid statement like this why people don't take you seriously ...

well MG got this off topic fast.

anyway, glad they voted this one right, Mauer earned it, and i am happy he did, i don't want to see the mlb.com yankees page where the comments most likely are anger filled.

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Originally Posted by HoustonGM

Because he didn't believe that Carpenter was the best pitcher in the NL. He had Tim Lincecum as the clear front-runner and then Carpenter, Wainwright and Javier Vazquez as an incredibly close 2-3-4. He ordered them Vazquez-Wainwright-Carpenter. 7 writers had Carpenter 3rd. Why is it so insane and ridiculous that someone had him an incredibly close 4th?

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I don't get that either...

The voters are actually getting it right this year :confused:

Awesome they picked the right guy

pretty sad that we get excited when they pick the right guy

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/...=.jsp&c_id=nyy

you should read some of the comments at the bottom of the page ;)

what's wild, is that Riveria beat out Grienke in MVP votes


a simple example

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jmc198769-did you watch DJ all year? Do you know how clutch he is? He lead the best team in baseball in the toughest division in the MLB and you want to compare him to Joe Mauer? don't be rediculous...Joe Mauer had great numbers as I posted, but his defense can not be compared to a short stop. His RBI's can not be compared because Jeter had 153 at bats with no one on in front of him...get off the Joe Mauer band wagon and give Jeter some props!!

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:rolleyes:

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but his defense can not be compared to a short stop.

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You're right, since catcher > shortstop.

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get off the Joe Mauer band wagon and give Jeter some props!!

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Because we obviously can't do both.

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jmc198769-did you watch DJ all year? Do you know how clutch he is? He lead the best team in baseball in the toughest division in the MLB and you want to compare him to Joe Mauer? don't be rediculous...Joe Mauer had great numbers as I posted, but his defense can not be compared to a short stop. His RBI's can not be compared because Jeter had 153 at bats with no one on in front of him...get off the Joe Mauer band wagon and give Jeter some props!!

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The beginning of the end of days started here.