MLB - NEWS & NOTES

I'm not thrilled with Dozier beating out Kinsler.

 

^^same for Crawford with more errors beating out Galvis.

 

Really like the avi, Cat.

 

Pillar will never win it and will be a finalist every year.

 

thanks Will. I wish I had it for different reasons.

 

Players Choice Award winners announced

No surprise here: Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger have won the Players Choice Award for Outstanding Rookie in their respective leagues, MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and Ken Gurnick report.

Judge, 25, finished the regular season batting .284/.422/.627 with 52 home runs, 114 RBI, 128 runs, and 127 walks in 678 plate appearances. His runs, home runs, and walks totals led the American League. He also led all players in Wins Above Replacement (8.2), according to FanGraphs. Judge helped lead the Yankees from the AL Wild Card game into the ALCS, where they were ultimately stopped by the eventual world champion Astros.

Bellinger, 22, hit .267/.352/.581 with 39 home runs, 97 RBI, and 87 runs scored in 548 plate appearances. The Dodgers went on to win an MLB-best 104 games in the regular season and fell just short of winning the World Series.

The Rookie of the Year Awards, voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America, will likely have similar results. Those will be announced on November 13.

Nationals starter Max Scherzer won the award for Outstanding Pitcher in the National League. The potential NL Cy Young Award winner went 16-6 with a 2.51 ERA and a 268/55 K/BB ratio over 200 2/3 innings. Scherzer helped the Nats win 97 games but they were once again stopped in the NLDS, this time by the Cubs.

Indians starter Corey Kluber won the Outstanding Pitcher award in the American League. He went 18-4 with a 2.25 ERA and a 265/36 K/BB ratio across 203 2/3 innings. His wins, ERA, complete games (five), and shutouts (three) totals were major league bests.

The Cy Young Award winners, voted on by the BBWAA, will be announced on November 15.

Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman won the Comeback Player of the Year Award in the National League. The 33-year-old posted a career-low .642 OPS in 2016, but bounced back with a .930 OPS in 2017. That included a .303/.358/.573 triple-slash line along with 36 home runs, 108 RBI, and 90 runs scored.

In the American League, Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas won the Comeback Player of the Year Award. The 29-year-old free agent played in only 27 games in 2016 after undergoing ACL surgery. In 2017, he hit .272/.314/.521 with a career-high 38 home runs and 85 RBI in 598 PA.

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton was named the National League’s Most Outstanding Player. He hit .281/.376/.631 with an MLB-best 59 home runs and 132 RBI along with 123 runs scored in 692 plate appearances.

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve won the Outstanding Player Award in the AL. He won the batting title, hitting .346 with a .410 on-base percentage and a .547 slugging percentage. Along with that, he mashed 39 doubles and 24 homers while knocking in 81 runs, scoring 112 runs, and stealing 32 bases.

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado won the Always Game Award. He hit .309/.373/.586 with 37 home runs, 130 RBI, and 100 runs scored in 680 plate appearances. He also led the NL with 43 doubles.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo won the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award. Rizzo also won the 2017 Roberto Clemente Award. He overcame limited stage classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2008. He has since established the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, which raises money for cancer research and provides support to children and their families dealing with cancer.

Altuve won the Player of the Year Award for the second consecutive season.

 

Don Mattingly will return to manage the Marlins in 2018...

 

Awards season continues with the 2017 Silver Slugger Awards handed out on Thursday evening. Here are your winners:

American League

• C: Gary Sanchez (Yankees), first career Silver Slugger Award
• 1B: Eric Hosmer (Royals), first career Silver Slugger Award
• 2B: Jose Altuve (Astros), fourth career Silver Slugger Award (fourth consecutive)
• 3B: Jose Ramirez (Indians), first career Silver Slugger Award
• SS: Francisco Lindor (Indians), first career Silver Slugger Award
• OF: Aaron Judge (Yankees), first career Silver Slugger Award
• OF: Justin Upton (Angels), third career Silver Slugger Award
• OF: George Springer (Astros), first career Silver Slugger Award
• DH: Nelson Cruz (Mariners), second career Silver Slugger Award

Mike Trout deserved his sixth career Silver Slugger Award, but he missed some time with injury during the season and only played in 114 games. That likely explains why he was left out.

National League

• C: Buster Posey (Giants), fourth career Silver Slugger Award
• 1B: Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks), third career Silver Slugger Award
• 2B: Daniel Murphy (Nationals), second career Silver Slugger Award
• 3B: Nolan Arenado (Rockies), third career Silver Slugger Award (third consecutive)
• SS: Corey Seager (Dodgers), second career Silver Slugger Award (second consecutive)
• OF: Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins), second career Silver Slugger Award
• OF: Marcell Ozuna (Marlins), first career Silver Slugger Award
• OF: Charlie Blackmon (Rockies), second career Silver Slugger Award (second consecutive)
• P: Adam Wainwright (Cardinals), first career Silver Slugger Award

Like Trout, Freddie Freeman was a deserving Silver Slugger Award candidate, but he was likely discounted due to missing time during the season with an injury. He played in only 117 games.

A couple of Reds players were snubbed. Joey Votto‘s rate stats compare favorably to Goldschmidt’s, as do Zack Cozart‘s to Seager’s. The winners had slight edges in some counting stats, but RBI and runs scored are dependent on the players’ teammates. It’s disappointing that managers and coaches, who vote on the Silver Slugger Awards, still place so much importance on them.

• Votto: .320/.454/.578, 36 HR, 100 RBI, 106 R
• Goldschmidt: .297/.404/.563, 36 HR, 120 RBI, 117 R

• Cozart: .297/.385/.548, 24 HR, 63 RBI, 80 R
• Seager: .295/.375/.479, 22 HR, 77 RBI, 85 R

Votto how now been in the league 11 years and has not won a single Silver Slugger Award.

 

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports the Marlins have engaged in discussions with four teams regarding the possibility of a Giancarlo Stanton trade.

Morosi named the Red Sox, Cardinals, Giants and Phillies as already involved in the sweepstakes. The league's general managers have their annual meeting next week and Stanton will surely be a hot topic in the back rooms. The Cardinals have been rumored to be the leading contender in the early stages. The Phillies could be the most surprising team on this list. They might not have the plethora of major league ready prospects the Marlins will want but they are believed to have a lot of available money in their budget. The Marlins are in fire sale mode as their new ownership wants to slash payroll. Stanton signed a $325 million, 13-year contract before the 2015 season. There is $295 million left on the deal. He has the option to opt out after the 2020 season. Dee Gordon, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna are also potential trade candidates

 

Nolan Arenado was crowned as the Platinum Glove Award winner for the National League.

He wins the prize as the best of the National League Gold Glove Award recipients. This is his first Platinum Glove. The third baseman won his fifth Gold Glove this year. Arenado is a rare player combining elite offensive and defensive talents. He hit .309/.373/.586 with 37 home runs and 130 RBI this year

 

yeah but who does have that many major league ready prospects?? the phils have a ton of high level prospects, so to say it's shocking to see them vs the other clubs is surprising. the sox, giants and cards have that many more major league ready prospects than philly? seems hard to believe.

 

Carlos Beltran has retired. I didn't know that until just now. HOFer?

 

Re-posting what I said about Beltran last offseason to save myself some typing lol

 

yeah he finally got his WS ring and called it a career. i think he's a HOF'er! Maybe not first ballot, but he's in.

 

I agree with you guys. Definitely a HOF kinda guy, but it just might take a while and that's too bad. If its #'s they want... he has em.

 

Judge and Bellinger coast to the ROY in a unanimous vote.

 

this is a 2014 issue of Sports Illustrated correctly predicting the Houston Astros winning the World Series this year is going for big bucks on eBay. Wow. Crazy!

 

last night on the MLB Channel and Philly Comcast Sportsnet aired the memorial service honoring Roy Halladay. 9 people spoke, but they only showed 7 of them or at least Comcast did. Ex-Jay and Cardinal, Chris Carpenter spoke of their time swimming in the Amazon River !! Chase Utley spoke of Roy being more proud of his kids than his own accomplishments. Cole Hamels spoke of Roy as a friend and mentor that he would miss forever. His widow spoke for 20 min and lost her place on her type out sheets. She was amazing as well as the other speakers. A week later and it's still sad. I can admit, I had tears in my eyes watching it last night ! I was surprised to see many ex and current MLB players there.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/friends-family-and-mlb-teammates-celebrated-roy-halladays-life/

 

Corey Kluber, Max Scherzer win 2017 Cy Young Awards

 

MLB wants to get a pitch clock in place for the 2018 season