My 2013 IBWAA awards ballot: Trout, Kershaw, Myers, Hurdle, Uehara, more

This is my 2013 Internet Baseball Writers Association of America awards ballot (yay transparency!). I feel I didn't go too homer in some places. Enjoy!

*- BBWA winner

**- IBWAA winner

***- BBWA and IBWAA winner

American League

Most Valuable Player

1. Mike Trout, Anaheim

2. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit***

3. Josh Donaldson, Oakland

4. Chris Davis, Baltimore

5. Robinson Cano, New York

6. Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay

7. Manny Machado, Baltimore

8. Dustin Pedroia, Boston

9. Max Scherzer, Detroit

10. Adrian Beltre, Texas

- Like last year, my top two are the same. Also like last year, Cabrera was voted ahead of Trout. Trout has two of the best age-20 and 21 seasons, yet has zero MVPs to show for it. Oh, and he plays defense and runs the bases well. Donaldson was really good and underrated this season. Machado had a solid season with the bat, but was game-changing with his glove.

Cy Young

1. Max Scherzer, Detroit***

2. Felix Hernandez, Seattle

3. Anibal Sanchez, Detroit

4. Yu Darvish, Texas

5. Chris Sale, Chicago

- Scherzer had a fantastic season, and it had nothing to do with wins. Hernandez is underrated seemingly every year. Any of these five had a case for the award.

Rookie of the Year

1. Wil Myers, Tampa Bay***

2. Jose Iglesias, Boston/Detroit

3. Chris Archer, Tampa Bay

- Myers was not only the best rookie in an otherwise weak AL crop, he was the most impactful. Iglesias hit surprisingly well, but also has an “8” glove. Archer is the next great Tampa Bay starter.

Manager of the Year

1. Terry Francona, Cleveland*

2. Ned Yost, Kansas City

3. Bob Melvin, Oakland

- Francona did a masterful job in Cleveland. There’s some talent on that roster, but not 92-win talent. I’m shocked Yost didn’t get a lot of play for the award in the BBWA or IBWAA ballots. Melvin guided his team to the third-best record in baseball. I probably erred by not including IBWAA winner John Farrell**.

Reliever of the Year

1. Koji Uehara, Boston

2. Greg Holland, Kansas City**

3. Neal Cotts, Texas

- Uehara doesn’t throw hard at all, yet was one of the most dominant relievers in baseball. Holland is on the cusp of being an elite closer. Cotts had an amazing comeback season.

National League

Most Valuable Player

1. Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh***

2. Matt Carpenter, St. Louis

3. Hanley Ramirez, Los Angeles

4. Yadier Molina, St. Louis

5. Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona

6. Joey Votto, Cincinnati

7. Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles

8. Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles

9. Shin-Soo Choo, Cincinnati

10. Carlos Gomez, Milwaukee

- McCutchen was far and away the NL’s best player. While his counting stats aren’t overly impressive, he provided much more value than home runs and RBIs. Carpenter led the majors in runs scored, hits and doubles. Ramirez would have run away with this award if he performed like he did over, say, 130 games. He was that valuable. Molina and Goldschmidt were great in their own rights. I probably should have voted Kershaw higher.

Cy Young

1. Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles***

2. Jose Fernandez, Miami

3. Adam Wainwright, St. Louis

4. Cliff Lee, Philadelphia

5. Matt Harvey, New York

- This was the slam dunk of all slam dunks. Kershaw had a season for the ages and was never in danger of losing out to a fluke season (like last year). Fernandez was shut down in September, or he could have made a better case. Harvey was the biggest competition for Kershaw before he blew out his elbow.

Rookie of the Year

1. Jose Fernandez, Miami***

2. Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles

3. Hyun-Jin Ryu, Los Angeles

- The award is for “best rookie,” not “most valuable rookie.” Puig was the most valuable, Fernandez was the best. His age-20 season was one of the best in the history of the game -- hard to overlook that. Ryu was hurt by a deep class (Shelby Miller, Julio Tehran) and age (26).

Manager of the Year

1. Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh***

2. Fredi Gonzalez, Atlanta

3. Don Mattingly, Los Angeles

- OK, maybe this was the slam dunk of slam dunks. Like Francona in Cleveland, Hurdle managed his team to better-than-expected results with talent that wasn’t necessarily top-notch (despite having the MVP). Mattingly is only here because his team sucked until June 22 and he was almost fired.

Reliever of the Year

1. Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles

2. Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta**

3. Trevor Rosenthal, St. Louis

- Hard to go wrong with any of these three. My Dodger bias plays in a little here, but Jansen is vastly underrated in the media because, well, I’m not exactly sure why.

Graphic credit: Howard Cole, baseballsavvy

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw wins 2013 National League Cy Young award

For the second time in three years, Clayton Kershaw on Wednesday was voted as the best pitcher in the National League by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Kershaw received 29 of the 30 first-place votes. The Cardinals' finished second Adam Wainwright finished second and the Marlins' Jose Fernandez -- who was named NL Rookie of the Year on Monday -- finished third.

Kershaw had his best season to date, posting a 1.83 ERA. It was the first time a starter has done that since 2000 (Pedro Martinez), and the first time it's been done in the NL since 1995 (Greg Maddux).

To go along with his ML-leading ERA (for the third straight year), he posted a ML-best 0.91 WHIP, a 6.3 hits per nine innings, a 2.0 BB/9 and an 8.8 K/9. Coincidentally, it was the first time in Kershaw's career he didn't strike out at least a batter an inning.

He also had a 6.5 WAR, 2.39 FIP and 2.88 xFIP. And he's about to get paid.

Kershaw is going into the last year of arbitration and is set to make roughly $18.25 million. The Dodgers have been trying to get him signed long-term, and I think it'll happen sooner rather than later. The Dodgers -- despite their seemingly infinite money -- can't afford to let Kershaw reach free agency. He's the best pitcher on this planet and should be paid as such.

Kershaw beat out Roy Halladay for the Cy Young award in 2011 and finished second to R.A. Dickey last year (a race he probably should have won).

Congrats, Clayton. Now how about some World Series hardware?

-----

Nick Punto signed with the A's today. He's guaranteed $3 million for the 2014 season and has a vesting option for the 2015 season.

Punto was surprisingly not terrible this season, but I think I summed up his season with a tweet earlier.

No more head-first slides at 1B or getting picked off 2B in the playoffs. You won't be missed, Punto (but you were better than expected).
— Dustin Nosler (@FeelinKindaBlue) November 13, 2013

Happy trails, Lil' Pony (never liked that nickname anyway).

Photo credit: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue

My 2012 IBWAA awards ballot: Trout, Braun, Hernandez, Kershaw and more

Now that award season is officially over, it's time to reveal my ballots for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America.

American League

Most Valuable Player
1. Mike Trout, Anaheim
2. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit
3. Adrian Beltre, Texas
4. Josh Hamilton, Texas
5. Robinson Cano, New York
6. Austin Jackson, Detroit
7. Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay
8. Adam Jones, Baltimore
9. Justin Verlander, Detroit
10. Alex Gordon, Kansas City
- Only two players were truly worthy, but I chose Trout over Cabrera in this situation. Despite Cabrera's fantastic season, Trout's season was just as amazing, plus he has the clear edge in baserunning and defense.

Cy Young
1. Felix Hernandez, Seattle
2. Justin Verlander, Detroit
3. David Price, Tampa Bay
4. Chris Sale, Chicago
5. Jered Weaver, Anaheim
- I'm surprised Hernandez got such little play for the award. He led the American League in shutouts and home runs per nine innings. I have no problem with Price winning it, as all three were deserving.

Rookie of the Year
1. Mike Trout, Anaheim
2. Yoenis Cespedes, Oakland
3. Yu Darvish, Texas
- This was a no-brainer. If not, it would have been an interesting race between Cespedes and Darvish.

Manager of the Year
1. Buck Showalter, Baltimore
2. Bob Melvin, Oakland
3. Robin Ventura, Chicago
- This one I almost literally flipped a coin. While the IBWAA chose Showalter, the BBWA chose Melvin.

National League

Most Valuable Player
1. Ryan Braun, Milwaukee
2. Buster Posey, San Francisco
3. Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh
4. Yadier Molina, St. Louis
5. Chase Headley, San Diego
6. Ryan Zimmerman, Washington
7. David Wright, New York
8. Aaron Hill, Arizona
9. Ian Desmond, Washington
10. Jason Heyward, Atlanta
- Braun was better in a lot of categories this season than he was last season when he beat out Matt Kemp for the award. While Posey had a fantastic season, Braun's pure numbers gave him the edge in my book.

Cy Young
1. Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles
2. Gio Gonzalez, Washington
3. R.A. Dickey, New York
4. Stephen Strasburg, Washington
5. Johnny Cueto, Cincinnati
- I knew Kershaw wouldn't win, but I felt he was the best pitcher in the NL all season. I think I overlooked Dickey's amazing season and voted Gonzalez ahead of him. But Gonzalez had a great season as well.

Rookie of the Year
1. Wade Miley, Arizona
2. Bryce Harper, Washington
3. Mike Fiers, Milwaukee
- Harper had the hype and finished the season on a strong note, but I voted for Miley because he was consistently good up until a rough September.

Manager of the Year
1. Davey Johnson, Washington
2. Mike Matheny, St. Louis
3. Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh
- A lot of folks jumped on the Nats' bandwagon last year as the "breakout" team. It turned out they were a year too early. Johnson did a good job managing the team and it should be a power for years to come.

Photo credits

Trout: Keith Allison, Flickr

Kershaw: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue

My IBWAA voting just about done, join now to have your vote count

I'm hoping to be a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America someday. But until that time, I'm a member of Internet Baseball Writers Association of America -- and you should be, too.

It gives baseball writers out there a chance to do like the pros and vote on awards and possible Hall of Fame inductees. The professionals have made many mistakes in the past. However, I will applaud their forward-thinking in recent years.

I'm putting the finishing touches on my ballot before I send it off to Howard Cole. Cole is a former blogger at the Orange County Register, editor of Baseball Savvy and the founder of Cole on LA.

A big thanks goes out to him and everyone else involved in putting the IBWAA together and getting the new website up and running.

If you're a baseball writer and haven't joined yet, you should.

And to answer your question, I'm going with Mike Trout over Miguel Cabrera. It was the hardest decision on the ballot for me.

I'll post my full ballot after the voting results are tabulated.

Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr

Matt Kemp finishes second behind Ryan Braun in NL MVP voting

Ryan Braun doubled up Matt Kemp in today's National League MVP voting. The Brewers' outfielder snagged 20 of 32 first-place votes. Kemp received 10 first-place votes.

Braun had a tremendous season, leading the NL in OPS (.997) and slugging percentage (.597). He also joined the 30-30 club for the first time in his young career (33 HRs, 33 SBs).

The award could have gone to either outfielder, but Braun presumably had the edge because the Brewers were a playoff team and made it to the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers finished in third place and clearly out of playoff contention.

Kemp led the NL in home runs (39), RBI (126), OPS+ (171), total bases (353) and fWAR (8.7). He also led the Majors in bWAR (10.0) and was the first player to reach double-digits in that category since Barry Bonds in 2004.

Kemp got 10 first-place votes, 16 second-place votes and 6 third-place votes. Braun got 20 first-place votes and 12 second-place votes. That was the difference.

Congratulations to Braun. He had a great season.

The silver lining: It's nice knowing Kemp is locked-up for the next eight years. That's the best news of the off-season.

And Kemp will get an MVP before his career is done. Here's hoping the Dodgers get him some protection.

#####

Clayton Kershaw finished in 12th place, grabbing 11 total votes.

• Fifth place: 1
• Sixth place: 1
• Eighth place: 2
• Ninth place: 5
• 10th place: 2

That was good enough for 29 total points.

My 2011 MLB Awards ballot

The 2011 Major League Baseball season has come to a close and the Dodgers are not playoff-bound for the second consecutive year. Unlike previous years, though, they'll be a player in the award season.

Here is my awards ballot, beginning with the American League.

American League

MVP
1. Jose Bautista, TOR
2. Curtis Granderson, NYY
3. Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS
4. Justin Verlander, DET
5. Adrian Beltre, TEX
6. Miguel Cabrera, DET
7. Adrian Gonzalez, BOS
8. Dustin Pedroia, BOS
9. Alex Avila, DET
10. Alex Gordon, KC

Bautista: .302/.447/.608/1.056, 43 HR, 103 RBI, 132 BB, 181 OPS+, 8.5 bWAR, 8.3 fWAR
- Bautista proved his breakout 2010 season was not a fluke. He leads the Majors home runs, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, on-base+slugging percentage and OPS+. Despite the Blue Jays' status as a .500 ball club, Bautista has clearly been the league's best player, and possibly the best hitter in the game. If his team was headed to the playoffs, he'd be the slam-dunk choice.

Cy Young
1. Justin Verlander, DET
2. CC Sabathia, NYY
3. James Shields, TB
4. Dan Haren, ANA
5. Jered Weaver, ANA

Verlander: 24-5, 2.40 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 6.2 H/9, 9.0 K/9, 2.99 FIP, 3.12 xFIP, 170 ERA+, 8.6 bWAR, 7.0 fWAR
- This choice wasn't clear a couple months ago, but Verlander clearly separated himself from the pack. This is actually the easiest choice of any award on this ballot. His no-hitter not withstanding, he led the Majors in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, WHIP, H/9 and ERA+. He was clearly the league's best pitcher. He's going to garner serious MVP consideration, too.

Rookie of the Year
1. Eric Hosmer, KC
2. Michael Pineda, SEA
3. Jeremy Hellickson, TB
4. Mark Trumbo, ANA
5. Ivan Nova, NYY

Hosmer: .295/.337/.470/.807, 19 HR, 78 RBI, 11 SB, 121 OPS+, 1.5 bWAR, 1.6 fWAR
- Hosmer was the league's most consistent rookie. I nearly picked Pineda over him, but Hosmer batted either third or fourth in 95 of his 126 games, which counts for something. He's going to be a staple in the Royals' lineup for years to come.

Manager of the Year
1. Joe Maddon, TB
2. Manny Acta, CLE
3. Ron Washington, TEX

- Acta would have clearly won this award had the Indians stayed in contention in the second half. Instead, Maddon takes the cake. He's done an amazing job with a team that lost Carl Crawford, Matt Garza (via trade), Carlos Pena and Rafael Soriano from last year's division-winning squad. The Rays are tied with the Red Sox for the AL Wild Card and appear to have momentum in their favor.

National League

MVP
1. Matt Kemp, LA
2. Ryan Braun, MIL
3. Justin Upton, ARI
4. Albert Pujols, STL
5. Prince Fielder, MIL
6. Joey Votto, CIN
7. Troy Tulowitzki, COL
8. Clayton Kershaw, LA
9. Roy Halladay, PHI
10. Andrew McCutchen, PIT

Kemp: .324/.399/.586/.986, 39 HR, 126 RBI, 115 R, 353 TB, 171 OPS+, 10.0 bWAR, 8.7 fWAR
- He was the most dominant player in the National League this season. He lead the league in home runs, RBI (also the Majors), total bases, runs and OPS+. He was second in batting average and tied for second in stolen bases while making the most serious run at the Triple Crown the National League has seen in quite some time. There hasn't been a 10-WAR player in baseball since Barry Bonds in 2004, but Kemp was able to reach that mark this season. Factor in that he plays an important defensive position -- admittedly not that well -- and he's the choice for me. Braun is a close second.

Cy Young
1. Clayton Kershaw, LA
2. Roy Halladay, PHI
3. Cliff Lee, PHI
4. Ian Kennedy, ARI
5. Cole Hamels, PHI

Kershaw: 21-5, 2.28 ERA, 6.7 H/9, 9.6 K/9, 2.47 FIP, 2.84 xFIP, 163 ERA+, 6.9 bWAR, 6.8 fWAR
- While I'm sure you're surprised to see me pick both Dodgers for the NL awards (/sarcasm), Kershaw's second half was flat-out dominant. He went 12-1, with a 1.31 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 5.32 K/BB. He led the Majors in ERA and the NL in strikeouts, WHIP and H/9. He also improved on his K/9 and K/BB from 2010. His K/BB ratio is the most impressive. Halladay is a close second with Lee right behind him.

Rookie of the Year
1. Freddie Freeman, ATL
2. Craig Kimbrel, ATL
3. Brandon Beachy, ATL
4. Kenley Jansen, LA
5. Josh Collmenter, ARI

Freeman: .282/.346/.448/.795, 21 HR, 76 RBI, 32 2B, 256 TB, 53 BB, 118 OPS+, 1.1 bWAR, 1.0 fWAR
- This one could go either way. Kimbrel is deserving, but I'm going with the every day player in Freeman. He was a consistent force in the Braves' lineup on the season. He was in the Top 3 of Atlanta Braves in batting average (led team), runs, doubles, home runs, RBI, total bases, walks, on-base percentage and OPS. Before Dan Uggla's late-season surge, Freeman was the best Braves hitter who didn't miss any significant playing time. For these reasons, he's my choice instead of Kimbrel.

Manager of the Year
1. Kirk Gibson, ARI
2. Ron Roenicke, MIL
3. Davey Johnson, WAS

- Gibson took a rag-tag bunch of players and turned them into a 94-win, division champion. While Kennedy came out of nowhere to pitch like an ace, the rest of the rotation is less-than intimidating. J.J. Putz and David Hernandez at the end of the bullpen are a nice combo, but the rest of the bunch isn't much to worry about. And the lineup is basically Upton, Miguel Montero and whoever decides to have a good game. It would have been amazing for this team to finish .500, but Gibson got the most out of his guys to win the NL West and dethrone the Giants.

Chime in with your thoughts in the comments section or on Twitter.