MLB - 2006 World Series

[Ming]

Time for a new one...

[Imran Siddiqui]

Go Mets!

[Guynemer]

Go Tigers!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Go Tigers too

[Imran Siddiqui]

Since the season is over, (unofficial) AWARD TIME! [your own personal opinion, not who you think will win]:

NL MVP

Albert Pujols - 1B (StL)

Best player in the majors and with that finish, can you really vote against him?

NL Cy Young

Tossup/Who Cares

Just to make me look like an idiot (like I needed any help in that), Brandon Webb has SUCH a horrid final start that his ERA drops from 2.88 to 3.10 , moving Roy Oswalt to 1st in ERA with 2.98. There are 6 pitchers with 16 wins in the NL (including Webb) and 5 pitchers with 15 wins (including Oswalt)!

Hell, in the end it may deserve to go to Trevor Hoffman who has 46 saves with an ERA of 2.14, and will stick in the mind of voters who may see him in the playoffs.

Frankly, part of me just wants to say screw it, nobody gets it!

NL Manager of the Year

Joe Girardi - FLA (at least for now)

It's utterly absurd how a team with a $15M payroll could have contended for the playoffs as late as September. And to think Girardi is going to get fired because he can't get along with the owner.

You listening, clubs that need a manager?

NL Executive of the Year

Omar Minaya - NYM

Wagner and Delgado were the final pieces the Mets needed to dominate the National League and take the NL East. Also found some gems in Xavier Nady early in the year and then Shawn Green later in the year. Endy Chavez, Chad Bradford, etc, fit in beautifully.

--

AL MVP

Derek Jeter - SS (NYY)

Best player on the best team in the league. He's the sparkplug and was a rock when the Yanks had to deal with injury problems in midseason.

AL Cy Young

Johan Santana - SP (MIN)

If he doesn't win, this thing is mega-rigged. Tied for the MLB lead in wins with 19, leads the MLB in ERA with 2.77. He's so good it isn't even funny.

NL Manager of the Year

Tie = Jim Leyland - DET; Ken Macha - OAK

Everyone's favorite is Leyland, and why not? After all he took a team that lost 119 games three seasons ago to a phenomenal start and had them hold on at the end to get into the playoffs for the first time in... well, a long time.

Ken Macha is the forgotten one. I mean the A's win ANOTHER AL West title and with what? Zito and Haren pitched decent, but not great (look at those ERAs!). Harden was injured most of the year. Thomas and Swisher hit for good power (and got on base), but Chavez had a down year, 2B was a total mess, and their #5 hitter had 10 HRs and 59 RBIs while playing in 142 games . The only part of their team above average seemed to be the bullpen. And yet... they won 93 games. I STILL have no idea how they did it.

AL Executive of the Year

Billy Beane - OAK

See above (Ken Macha). Add to that the fact that Beane brought in Frank Thomas, who was an absolute integral part of that team. He kept Barry Zito, and the team somehow had enough good parts that Macha could cycle in and out that they won 93 games.

[Guynemer]

It's official; God has spoken.

[Stuie]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
NL MVP

Albert Pujols - 1B (StL)

Best player in the majors and with that finish, can you really vote against him?

Now Imran wants to argue with me.

But I can't be bothered.

[Imran Siddiqui]

He deserves it like 10000x over Ryan Howard .

Did that work?

[Stuie]

Nope.

[Arrian]

Go Yankees! Jesus hates me too, surely, so it works out.

My picks:

AL MVP: Joe Mauer. Jeter's a close 2nd. Honorable mentions to Johan Santana, David Ortiz, Jermaine Dye, Grady Sizemore, Carlos Guillen, Justin Morneau and Travis Hafner.

AL Cy Young: Santana, and it's not particularly close.

AL RoY: Verlander. Too bad about Liriano and Papelbon getting injured. Those guys were both sensational. Weaver might've gotten it had he been called up sooner. Heck, maybe the Angels would've won the division if they hadn't wasted starts on the wrong Weaver.

AL Manager of the Year: Leyland, although Gardenhire is right there with him.

AL Exec: Ryan, Twins. This is not for anything he did this year, but rather recognition of stuff that has happened over the course of the past several years that has resulted in this year's team. Drafting, player development and of course the absolute assraping that was the AJ Piersinski trade. If you don't like that rationale, ok, go with Beane, he's a good choice.

NL MVP: Pujols. Howard and Cabrera are close, but Albert is the best. Edit: Honorable mention to Beltran, too.

NL Cy: Oswalt. But like Imran said... what a tossup. It's just as close as the AL MVP race.

NL RoY: Hanley Ramirez, I think. There are other good candidates.

NL MoY: Girardi. Honorable mention to Bochy? (SD)

NL Exec: Minaya, I guess, but does that mean I can give the AL one to Cashman?

-Arrian

[Arrian]

the A's win ANOTHER AL West title and with what? Zito and Haren pitched decent, but not great (look at those ERAs!). Harden was injured most of the year. Thomas and Swisher hit for good power (and got on base), but Chavez had a down year, 2B was a total mess, and their #5 hitter had 10 HRs and 59 RBIs while playing in 142 games . The only part of their team above average seemed to be the bullpen. And yet... they won 93 games. I STILL have no idea how they did it.

One part luck, one part savvy, one part weak division.

-Arrian

[SlowwHand]

It helps Oakland that even the Rangers wilt in the Texas summer. Bunch of wusses.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well weak division or no, 93 wins is nothing to sniff at. And I wouldn't call it necessarily weak. It is arguably better than the AL East (LAA finished with more wins than Toronto and Texas and Seattle finished with more wins than Baltimore and Tampa Bay).

[Arrian]

I'm not sniffing. Not the one part savvy. They maximized their ability this year, no doubt.

I dunno about the AL West > AL East... though to really say since there are four teams in one and five in the other.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well, I just it can be argued that it is. No team that was really horrible. The Mariners who were last place in that division with 78 wins had the most wins of any division last place team by 7 wins (Nationals second best of the last place teams with 71 wins).

And the Angels had 89 wins, so not bad.