2013 Baseball Bloggers Alliance End of Season Awards AL Vote

This past Baseball season was one of the most exciting in recent years with the second Wild Card extending pennant races for a number of teams. So as per custom of the membership requirements for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, here are my picks for the end of the year voting for the American League.

American League
Connie Mack Award (Top Manager)
John Farrell
Terry Francona
Bob Melvin
Joe Girardi

Though both Francona and Melvin had amazing years guiding their teams to the postseason and Girardi did an amazing job keeping a patchwork Yankees team in contention until the last week of the season, I have to give my vote to John Farrell. Reversing the fortunes of the Boston Red Sox in one season and erasing the negativity that was felt in Boston under Bobby Valentine is enough for me to say that he is the Manager of the Year in the American League.

Willie Mays Award (Top Rookie)
Wil Myers
Dan Straily
Jose Iglesias

While Straily and Iglesias had impressive rookie campaigns in 2013, I believe Wil Myers of the Tampa Bay Rays will win the Top Rookie award in the American League. He was one of the main cogs in the Tampa Bay machine that once again had a successful campaign in one of the hardest divisions in Baseball.

Goose Gossage Award (Top Reliever)
Greg Holland
Joe Nathan
Grant Balfour
Koji Uehara

Where Balfour energized the A's with his dynamic intensity, Nathan was his usual calming effect and consistent self while on the mound for the Rangers and Uehara was lights out when officially becoming the closer for the Red Sox, I believe the top reliever in the American League is Greg Holland of the Kansas City Royals. As I mentioned earlier in the season, Holland had the most quiet 40+ saves seasons probably in the history of the game. He was one of the main reasons why the Royals finished with their best season since 1985.

Walter Johnson Award (Top Pitcher)
Max Scherzer
Yu Darvish
Felix Hernandez
Anibal Sanchez
Hisashi Iwakuma
Bartolo Colon

While the other hurlers on this list all had impressive seasons, Max Scherzer made Tim McCarver seem like a genius in validating his prediction for Scherzer for American League Cy Young Award winner. While many critics like to point to the fact that the Tigers score a tremendous amount of runs for Scherzer, his performance all season AND in this postseason shows how valuable and dominant a pitcher Scherzer is.

Stan Musial Award (Top Hitter)
Miguel Cabrera
Mike Trout
Chris Davis

I could really add a few more names to this list but let's be honest. The top hitter in the American League is Miguel Cabrera. Both Trout and Davis put up amazing seasons and either one would be a shoo in for this award except that I believe Cabrera had a better season while playing hurt the last month or so of the season. I really believe that we are watching something special in Cabrera. Something that we might not see in another generation or so.

In my next post I'll highlight my picks for the National League.

Sisco Kid