Award Votes - It Is Time

This writer does not have a vote in the big awards at the end of the season. But this writer is a card-carrying member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance and as such, does have a vote in their awards, which, as posted earlier in the week, will be announced in mid-October. The Fan decided to post his award choices now with two things in mind. First, the season has only a week to go and things are not going to change much in a week. Second, the Fan has until October 10 to post his votes but this observer doesn't want to be colored by the early rounds of the playoffs. After all, these awards are based on what happens during the season, right? So there you have it. The Fan will make his official vote (the post is the official vote) with a top five in each category. Here we go!

Stan Musial Award - MVP

American League

1. Jose Bautista - You can't argue with 52 homers, can you? Add in 32 doubles, 118 RBI, 105 runs scored, a .387 OBP and a 1.021 OPS and you have a winner.
2. Josh Hamilton - Hamilton would have won but he missed the last month of the season. He still leads the AL in Fangraphs WAR, but this Fan can't vote for a player who missed that much time.
3. Adrian Beltre - Fantastic season. Simply fantastic. But he can't match Bautista's numbers.
4. Evan Longoria - Quietly put together another great season. He's as good a third baseman as Beltre.
5. Carl Crawford - The best fielding outfielder in the AL. Another great batting season and all those stolen bases.

National League

1. Joey Votto - The best offensive season in the National League. Penalized in WAR because of his position but still second in the league. Where would the Reds be without the year he had? No where. That's where.
2. Ryan Zimmerman - The best third baseman in baseball. Good offensive season, but he can do better.
3. Albert Pujols: A late push at the end are propelling his numbers, but he was a no show in the crush time when the Reds were surging and the Cardinals were sinking.
4. Matt Holliday - He had a much better season in the field and put up good offensive numbers.
5. Troy Tulowitzki - No telling what numbers he would have put up if he had played the entire season.

Walter Johnson Award - Cy Young

American League

1. Felix Hernandez - 12-12 despite the best pitching season of his career. The Mariners simply couldn't hit and their defense wasn't great either. The Fan can't understand how Liriano and Lee have more WAR for Fangraphs. King Felix has out pitched them both.
2. C. C. Sabathia - Say all you want about him giving up too many base runners and that his ERA is too high. Just think where the Yankees would be without him. Enough said.
3. Justin Verlander - Same as Sabathia. He is a real stud that goes out there every fifth day and gives you all he has. The Tigers would be infinitely worse without him.
4. Jon Lester - Had some inconsistency, but when he's been good, he's been as good as there is in the AL.
5. Cliff Lee - You can't even fathom his K/BB ratio. It's one of the all time coolest stats ever. But he hasn't added much to the Rangers since he was traded there.

National League

1. Roy Halladay - The league's best pitcher. Period. Will bend but never breaks. Gives you eight or nine innings every time out.  Awesome.
2. Adam Wainwright - His best season in a fantastic career. Had a rough stretch when the Cardinals needed him most.
3. Ubaldo Jiminez - Any guy that pitches as well as he does when half of his starts are in Colorado has to get extra points. His average fastball speed is off the charts.
4. Roy Oswalt - Not among the leaders in WAR, but what has meant to the Phillies has to get him on the list.
5. Tim Lincecum - A couple of bad stretches cost Lincecum his third Cy Young, but he has been terrific down the stretch.

Connie Mack Award - Manager of the Year

American League

1. Terry Francona - This one will probably cost the Fan some negative comments, but look at how long the Red Sox stayed relevant despite losing so many key players, having a messed up bullpen and everything. This has probably been his finest managing job ever.
2. Joe Maddon - Despite inconsistent pitching and weak hitting, Maddon always keeps his team in the game. The smartest manager in baseball this side of Tony LaRussa.
3. Ron Gardenhire - A lot of the Twins' success has as much to do with the GM as it does with Gardenhire. But you can't devalue the season the Twins had despite losing Morneau and their closer.
4. Ozzie Guillen - Despite a horridly constructed team (which is partly Guillen's fault) he made them relevant for a while and even saw first place for a day or two before falling hard in September.
5. Joe Girardi - Debated here between Girardi and Washington. But Texas hasn't beaten a good team all year and benefited from a weak division. Giradi over manages at times, but he's handled his bullpen really well and kept the Yankees in the race despite off years from Jeter, injuries to Pettitte and a shaky rotation.

National League

1. Bud Black - Amazing season for the Padres who simply can't hit. And yet, somehow, they rode good pitching to the best record in the NL for a long time and in the hunt for the playoffs until the final week of the season.
2. Charlie Manuel - Doesn't get enough credit for the success of the Phillies. The GM gets a lot of the credit and deservedly so, but Manuel is the man in Philadelphia.
3. Dusty Baker - You can't argue with the first team to clinch a division and win their first playoff berth in fifteen years. Baker has erased a lot of the bad ink he has gotten over the years.
4. Bobby Cox - The Braves aren't playing well down the stretch, but the old master gave them a chance. Wish you didn't have to go, Bobby.
5. Bruce Bochy - The Giants got a boost from Burrell and Posey otherwise, their offense would be Seattle-like. Great pitching needs a good manager and Bochy has done the job.

Goose Gossage Award - Best Relief Pitchers

American League

1. Matt Thornton - The nice thing about this award is that you don't have to simply pick closers. Thornton leads the AL relievers in WAR. Great season.
2. Joakim Soria - Has been unhittable this season. Best relief pitcher in a losing cause.
3. Rafael Soriano - He is the biggest difference for the Bay Rays this year over past years. He's closed the door. Hard.
4. Daniel Bard - Has thrown more innings than any other reliever. Throws BBs all the time. He will be the closer next year.
5. Neftali Feliz - A rookie closer with great stuff. Has had his bad moments, but has had a whole lot of good ones too.

National League

1. Carlos Marmol - Eye popping numbers. 4.8 hits per nine innings. 15.9 strikeouts per nine innings. Leads the NL is games finished. More innings than most closers.
2. Brian Wilson - Fantastic season. Never blows a save. Good control. Great, great season.
3. Heath Bell - Another strong season for the Padres. He's better than Trevor Hoffman in his best seasons. A little, short bad stretch ruined his chances for the top spot.
4. Matt Belisle - 72 appearances covering 88 innings. 89 strikeouts. A real work horse.
5. Sean Marshall - 72 appearances. 10.9 K/9. Only three homers all season. Great year.

Willie Mays Award - Rookie of the Year

American League

1. Austin Jackson - This is the hardest award to pick because it's hard to know who all the contenders are. But after some homework, we have a winner. Jackson has scored 99 runs on his 172 hits. He has stolen 25 bases. Plus, he's played good defense. 3.3 WAR
2. Danny Valencia - If Valencia played more, he wold have won this. But in basically half a season, he's compiled a 2.7 WAR with great offense and great defense. He makes the Twins a different team.
3. John Jaso - Jaso is such a good base runner that it's hard to believe he's a catcher. 2.4 WAR with a .387 OBP.
4. Brennan Boesch - Boesch started really well, then faded and then rebounded a bit. His WAR is 2.1 for the season.
5. Neftali Feliz - The Fan tends to devalue closers as they only contribute about 70 innings a season. Still Feliz has saved 37 games in 40 attempts. Pretty amazing.

National League

1. Jason Heyward - Heyward wasn't as spectacular as we thought he was going to be. But he did get hurt and played despite his injury and the Fan suspects that has had a lingering effect. Nevertheless, Heyward has hung on and based on his overall numbers, takes the top vote. His 4.5 WAR tops all rookies.
2. Buster Posey - Posey really changed the dynamic in San Francisco and he's been better behind the plate than we thought he was going to be. He's been as good at the plate as predicted. 4.0 WAR is second only to Heyward.
3. Jaime Garcia - Garcia simply didn't get enough innings to move into the top spot. But he did win 13 games with a really good ERA. He's going to be a good pitcher for a long time. 3.2 WAR.
4. Gaby Sanchez - WAR suffers a bit because he plays first base, but he has been very good for the Marlins all year. 2.7 WAR
5. Starlin Castro - Competed for the batting title for a while. His defense has struggled and he doesn't walk enough. But he's going to be a good one. 2.1 WAR

That's it folks, those are the awards as the Fan sees them. This post is being sent to the BBA for tabulation.