Baseball Bloggers Alliance Award Predictions Part II

In my last post, I made my first round of year end award predictions as required by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. Where the last post focused on the Connie Mack (Manager of the Year) and Willie Mays (Rookie of the Year) awards, these predictions focus on the Goose Gossage (Reliever of the Year) award, the Walter Johnson (Pitcher of the Year) and the Stan Musial (MVP) awards. As with the last post, I will only place my choices here for today and when the awards are announced after the World Series will I give thoughts into the award winners.

Goose Gossage (Reliever of the Year)
American League

1. Greg Holland (Kansas City Royals)
2. Dellin Betances (New York Yankees)
3. Zach Britton (Baltimore Orioles)

National League

1. Craig Kimbrel (Atlanta Braves)
2. Mark Melacon (Pittsburgh Pirates)
3. Aroldis Chapman (Cincinnati Reds)

Walter Johnson (Pitcher of the Year)
American League

1. Felix Hernandez (Seattle Mariners)
2. Corey Kluber (Cleveland Indians)
3. Max Scherzer (Detroit Tigers)
4. Matt Shoemaker (Los Angeles Angels)
5. Phil Hughes (Minnesota Twins)

National League

1. Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers)
2. Adam Wainwright (St. Louis Cardinals)
3. Johnny Cueto (Cincinnati Reds)
4. Doug Fister (Washington Nationals)
5. Madison Bumgarner (San Francisco Giants)

Stan Musial Award (Most Valuable Player)
American League

1. Victor Martinez (Detroit Tigers)
2. Nelson Cruz (Baltimore Orioles)
3. Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels)
4. Jose Altuve (Houston Astros)
5. Adam Jones (Baltimore Orioles)
6. Michael Brantley (Cleveland Indians)
7. Jose Abreu (Chicago White Sox)
8. Robinson Cano (Seattle Mariners)
9. Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers)
10. Corey Kluber (Cleveland Indians)

National League

1. Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers)
2. Jonathan Lucroy (Milwaukee Brewers)
3. Buster Posey (San Francisco Giants)
4. Giancarlo Stanton (Miami Marlins)
5. Anthony Rendon (Washington Nationals)
6. Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh Pirates)
7. Justin Morneau (Colorado Rockies)
8. Josh Harrison (Pittsburgh Pirates)
9. Hunter Pence (San Francisco Giants)
10. Adam Wainwright (St. Louis Cardinals)

When the results of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance are all announced, I'll return to the predictions and see how my choices matched up with my fellow alliance members.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

Connie Mack (Manager of the Year) and Willie Mays (Rookie of the Year) Predictions

With the MLB playoffs in full swing, I've decided to come back to the present. As you've undoubtedly noted, my blog has taken quite the historical path as of late. But since I think I am going to devote the in-season time to historical events that happened in Baseball on a daily basis, during the postseason and offseason, I think I am going to reside in the present and give Doc Brown and the Delorean a break ;)

For today I wanted to shed some light on the year end award voting for the 2014 MLB season. One of the requirements for membership in the Baseball Bloggers Alliance is for members to vote in the form of a blogpost and all the votes are collected and tabulated by the Alliance. Today's post is devoted to the Connie Mack (Manager of the Year) and Willie Mays (Rookie of the Year) awards. Now I will only place my choices here for today and when the awards are announced after the World Series will I give thoughts into the award winners.

Connie Mack Award (Manager of the Year)
American League

1. Ned Yost (Kansas City Royals) 
2. Lloyd McClendon (Seattle Mariners)
3. Mike Scioscia (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)

National League

1. Matt Williams (Washington Nationals)
2. Clint Hurdle (Pittsburgh Pirates)
3. Don Mattingly (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Willie Mays Award (Rookie of the Year)
American League

1. Jose Abreu (Chicago White Sox)
2. Yordano Ventura (Kansas City Royals)
3. Dellin Betances (New York Yankees)

National League

1. Jason deGrom (New York Mets)
2. Joe Panik (San Francisco Giants)
3. Billy Hamilton (Cincinnati Reds)

Will my predictions match the actual results of the votes for the Manager and Rookie of the Year Awards? We'll have to wait for the official announcements to see.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,

Baseball Sisco

#baseballsisco

#baseballsiscokidstyle

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

Baseball Bloggers Alliance Year End Ballot

As part of our requirements for membership in the Baseball Bloggers Alliance(BBA), we have to make our selection for the alliance's year end predictions. The five awards are as so:

- Connie Mack Award (Top Manager)
- Willie Mays Award (Top Rookie)
- Goose Gossage Award (Top Reliever)
- Walter Johnson Award (Top Starter)
- Stan Musial Award (Top Hitter)

So without further ado, here are my predictions for the awards: 

1. Connie Mack Award (Top Manager)
Joe Maddon (Tampa Bay Rays)
Kirk Gibson (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Ron Roenicke (Milwaukee Brewers)

2. Willie Mays Award (Top Rookie)
Craig Kimbrel (Atlanta Braves)
Eric Hosmer (Kansas City Royals)
Ivan Nova (New York Yankees)

3. Goose Gossage Award (Top Reliever)
Craig Kimbrel (Atlanta Braves)
Jose Valverde (Detroit Tigers)
Mariano Rivera (New York Yankees)

4. Walter Johnson Award (Top Starter)
Justin Verlander (Detroit Tigers)
Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Ian Kennedy (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Roy Halladay (Philadelphia Phillies)
C.C. Sabathia (New York Yankees)

5. Stan Musial Award (Top Hitter)
Adrian Gonzalez (Boston Red Sox)
Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers)
Jose Bautista (Toronto Blue Jays)
Matt Kemp (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Curtis Granderson (New York Yankees)
Ryan Braun (Milwaukee Brewers)
Michael Young (Texas Rangers)
Prince Fielder (Milwaukee Brewers)
Ryan Howard (Philadelphia Phillies)
Robinson Cano (New York Yankees)

In my next post, I'll elaborate further on my predictions for the end of the year award based on league.

FH