2008 SB Nation MVP Awards
Every year the baseball bloggers here at SB Nation get together and vote on the major post-season awards, using the same format and distribution system as the BBWAA. This year, in addition to my vote, site moderator and contributor "NYRoyal" also voted in the American League contests.
So did any Royals receive any support?

First, as we've done all week, the irrelevant National League totals:
| National League | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Pujols | 13 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 218 |
| Lance Berkman | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | 1 | - | 113 |
| Hanley Ramirez | - | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 86 |
| David Wright | - | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | 1 | 95 |
| Chipper Jones | - | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 85 |
| Ryan Howard | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | 71 |
| Chase Utley | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | - | 2 | 1 | 71 |
| Ryan Braun | - | - | 1 | 3 | - | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 51 |
| Carlos Beltran | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 1 | 1 | 36 |
| Manny Ramirez | - | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | 27 |
| Matt Holliday | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | - | - | 4 | - | 24 |
| CC Sabathia | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | 23 |
| Carlos Delgado | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 21 |
| Aramis Ramirez | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| Ryan Ludwick | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 17 |
| Jose Reyes | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | 8 |
| Brad Lidge | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| Carlos Lee | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | 6 |
| Pat Burrell | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | 4 |
| Brian McCann | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | 4 |
| Prince Fielder | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | 4 |
| Stephen Drew | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 3 |
| Geovany Soto | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 2 |
| Tim Lincecum | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| Brian Giles | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
Congrats to Brian Giles and Pat Burrell on their mysterious down-ballot success. I'm amused by the continued support for Ryan Howard, though us bloggers aren't a bad as the pros in this regard. Awhile back there was a post on Beyond the Boxscore that basically Howard was the tenth most valuable player... on the Phillies.
Now for the AL results:
| American League | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dustin Pedroia | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 2 | - | - | 155 |
| Joe Mauer | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 109 |
| Grady Sizemore | 5 | 2 | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 | - | 106 |
| Kevin Youkilis | 2 | - | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | - | 1 | 2 | - | 98 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 2 | 1 | 4 | - | 4 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 96 |
| Josh Hamilton | 1 | 1 | - | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 73 |
| Justin Morneau | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 2 | 63 |
| Carlos Quentin | - | - | 2 | 2 | - | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | 58 |
| Carlos Pena | - | 1 | - | - | - | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 31 |
| Cliff Lee | - | 1 | - | - | 2 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 24 |
| Milton Bradley | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 23 |
| Aubrey Huff | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | 2 | 17 |
| Roy Halladay | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | 13 |
| Miguel Cabrera | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 12 |
| Evan Longoria | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| B. J. Upton | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 |
| Ian Kinsler | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 2 | - | 8 |
| Francisco Rodriguez | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | 5 |
| Alexei Ramirez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 4 |
| Brian Roberts | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 4 |
| Vladimir Guerrero | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 4 |
| Jim Thome | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 4 |
| Nick Markakis | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 2 |
| Joe Nathan | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Jermaine Dye | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
An acceptable result I suppose, though I have a hard time subjectively identifying the hemp-necklaced man as the MVP. I voted as follows: 1. Sizemore 2. Arod 3. Pedroia 4. Bradley 5. Huff 6. Youkillis 7. Hamilton 8. Kinsler 9. Quentin 10. Mauer. This is basically a straight statistical + positional adjustment + defensive considerations ballot, although, in retrospect, I probably had Mauer waaay too low. (And obviously, I'm a no-pitcher guy.)
One of the enjoyable things about this kind of process is that you get to discover guys that had randomly good seasons, like Aubrey Huff, who, perhaps inspired by the the Rays' Rise turned in the 12th highest VORP in baseball, hitting .304/.360/.552, albeit mostly as a DH.
Of course, not a single Royal, which is predictable but not fun. Longoria and Aviles were essentially equally valuable in reality, but that didn't translate here, even though we feted Mike fairly well on the ROY voting. Lastly, Curtis Granderson probably deserved a few votes. I'm looking at you, whoever voted for Joe Nathan.
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No Aviles?!?!?
FAIL
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on Nov 6, 2008 3:29 PM EST 0 recs
if you actually bought some of the old arguments for MVP
and factored in his improvement over the man he replaced (which could be a more new school argument), you can actually squint and see Aviles as a top candidate
by royalsreview on
Nov 6, 2008 4:36 PM EST
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aviles was 28th in the AL in vorp
this may be the highest finish by a royal since beltran
by royalsreview on
Nov 6, 2008 4:47 PM EST
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Where you using VORP? Or something else/in addition to
Huff and Bradley get lots of markdown due to positions… Surprised Bradley didn’t do a bit better. Awesome year. He could fall out of bed and OBP .370. Sort of an angry, oft-injured Bobby Abreu.
I would have voted this way for AL MVP:
1) G-Size
2) A-Rod
3) D-Ped
4) J-Mau
5) B-Rob
6) A-Belt
7) C-Grand
8) J-Ham
9) K-You
10) N-Mar
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
Nov 6, 2008 4:34 PM EST
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G-Size and A-Bet are actually sorta cool names
and C-Grand
by royalsreview on
Nov 6, 2008 4:36 PM EST
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I like all those guys. Granderson and Beltre, mostly. A-BeLt -- awesome, I agree
He does most of it with defense… he’ s didn’t even hit as well as Gordon this year (not that Gordon hit badly compared to league average, but no one would make Gordon one of the top 10 players in the AL).
Is A-Belt the most underrated position player in the AL right now?
I mean, after Jeter?
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
Nov 6, 2008 4:40 PM EST
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the underrated badass Dayton thought Guillen was
most underrated though? impossible to say… the orioles actually have three or four unknown but good players
by royalsreview on
Nov 6, 2008 4:42 PM EST
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Did Dayton really say Guillen was underrated?
Dear Lord, if so, KC is f-cked.
I’ve done the calculations every which way, and I can’t see how, after adjusting for defense and position, he’s even an average player in 2007.
I’ve been “saving” some of this, but here is a little comparison I did using bRAA, defense stats, and position (didn’t prorate yet) I could find. No baserunning or arm ratings. This is the short version I do adjust for relative AL NL strengths. The numbers are total wins above replacement WAR.
Jose Guillen, WAR 2005-2008
2005: 3.7
2006: -0.1
2007: 1.8
2008 -0.2 (that includes a generous defensive figure)
for comparison, here’s another player
2005: 3.7
2006: 4.1
2007: 0.5
2008: 0.8
Guess who the second player is…

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
Nov 6, 2008 4:48 PM EST
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I think you mean Markakis
No one had Markakis higher than you, right? Markakis was worth about 15 runs more than Huff last year.
by Gopherballs on
Nov 6, 2008 4:37 PM EST
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hmm
well i meant Huff, but maybe I should have had N-Markay instead
i guess my + defense + position breaks down with the Huffer
his damn randomness was so seductive though
by royalsreview on
Nov 6, 2008 4:39 PM EST
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can't believe the LL people didn't put Beltre on their ballot
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
Nov 6, 2008 4:40 PM EST
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may not have voted
for whatever reason, a lot of people didn’t this year
by royalsreview on
Nov 6, 2008 4:42 PM EST
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Probably wasted their vote in the Presidential election
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
Nov 6, 2008 4:48 PM EST
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wait
you had Mauer as 10th on your ballot, yet the table had ZERO 10th place votes for him
am I missing something?
by ZeppelinDZ on Nov 6, 2008 4:52 PM EST 0 recs
Huff and Kinsler too
did the table not include your ballot?
by ZeppelinDZ on
Nov 6, 2008 4:54 PM EST
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HMMM
you may be right…
I will write a VERY STRONG email to someone about this.
bummer
by royalsreview on
Nov 6, 2008 5:49 PM EST
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LOL
At the random 2nd place vote for Upton.
Rowdy Hardy Fan Club member.
by doublestix on Nov 6, 2008 5:13 PM EST 0 recs
BTW
I dunno about MVP, but Brian Giles was probably the best RF in baseball this year, almost a win better than Markakis.
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on Nov 6, 2008 5:18 PM EST 0 recs
I've got them about even
Giles: +32.9 bRAA, +16 runs defense (plus 20 plays per plus/minus), 49 runs above average total
Markakis: +37.7 bRAA, +9.6 runs defense (plus 12 plays per plus/minus), 47.3 runs above average total
by Gopherballs on
Nov 6, 2008 5:26 PM EST
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That makes sense
Justin Inaz’s numbers (the ones I was using above) have Markakis about -4 runs on defense.
Should your numbers have Markakis as better (+0.5 wins for being in the AL)?
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
Nov 6, 2008 5:34 PM EST
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Justin needs to get Dewan and MGL to share their numbers with him
by Gopherballs on
Nov 6, 2008 5:37 PM EST
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he tried, iirc
I think Dewan wanted $100 or more just for his personal use of the Digital Fielding Bible, who knows what they would have wanted for publication on a free site…
Weird how they differ on some stuff.
Hey, GB, do you do your own Marcels for individual players? I have some questions, and I don’t know who else to ask… Basically, when doing the projections, do you individually project singles, doubles, triples, etc. and then build the “averages” (BA, OBA, wOBA, etc.) from those, or do you project from the averages and/or pseudo-linear weights like bRAA?
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
Nov 6, 2008 5:40 PM EST
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That's too bad
but I suppose I understand, given that the costs associated with running the video scouting operation. The BIS and STATS data is going to vary a little bit, but they do evaluate things a little differently.
As for Marcels, I will occasionally use the Marcels projector at THT. I also used to have a spreadsheet that I downloaded from somewhere that kind of did the same thing (you could plug in the raw numbers from the last three years or input your own best guess) or project run values based on the slash lines and playing time estimate.
by Gopherballs on
Nov 6, 2008 6:00 PM EST
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was it SG's thing?
I’m looking for something like that… I just want to plug in the last three years numbers and stuff… I’d make a spreadsheet myself, but the “instructions” aren’t totally clear. For each counting stat category (PA, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, Sb, and so on), to I take the weighted average and then calculate the averages from that?
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
Nov 6, 2008 6:39 PM EST
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Not sure
I could not find the spreadsheet the last time I looked for it — once I found the THT version, I just started using that. I do not use homemade projections all that much — the projections are generally available in the offseason, and Marcels really only works for guys with close to three full years in the majors, so they do not help guys who get called up during the year.
I think you are doing it correct to get the weighted average for the counting stats and then calculate the averages from that.
by Gopherballs on
Nov 6, 2008 7:13 PM EST
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hey
I thought you didn’t subscribe to Bill James, unless those were part of the “year end best of” stuff
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
Nov 6, 2008 5:41 PM EST
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No, I do
but I am thinking seriously about just buying the Fielding Bible and waiting until mid-season next year (once plus/minus has enough data to provide semi-meaningful numbers) to re-subscribe. There is some fun and interesting things on the site other than Dewan’s stats (his answers to readers’ questions are often pretty funny), but not enough that I would reference them all of the time or need to read again. James does some NFL analysis too, so apparently the site is popular with bettors.
by Gopherballs on
Nov 6, 2008 6:10 PM EST
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not disputing the numbers
but he really doesn’t look like a good defensive player, since he’s like 4’5 wide and tall
by royalsreview on
Nov 6, 2008 5:50 PM EST
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Brian Giles?
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
Nov 6, 2008 5:51 PM EST
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My ballot
1. Alex Rodriguez
2. Grady Sizemore
3. Dustin Pedroia
4. Aubrey Huff
5. Josh Hamilton
6. Kevin Youkilis
7. Joe Mauer
8. Milton Bradley
9. Ian Kinsler
10. Carlos Quentin
This is just my opinion. I could easily be wrong.
by NYRoyal on Nov 6, 2008 5:52 PM EST 0 recs
For some reason, this doesn't entirely jive with SBNation's grid above
Oh well. This is how I voted. Perhaps my votes didn’t get counted, or didn’t get counted accurately. Why should SBNation be any different from USA?
This is just my opinion. I could easily be wrong.
by NYRoyal on
Nov 6, 2008 5:54 PM EST
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Joe Mauer is calling for a recount
Substitute Markakis for Huff, move Mauer up to second or third, and I had the same ten guys in the same general order on my BP ballot.
by Gopherballs on
Nov 6, 2008 6:19 PM EST
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No Beltre for you?
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
Nov 6, 2008 6:40 PM EST
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Honorable mention
3B does not get much of a position boost. He was very close, along with Roberts and then the 1B/DH types (Huff, Cabrera, Pena).
by Gopherballs on
Nov 6, 2008 7:00 PM EST
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This is the difference between turning your life around and not turning your life around
5. Josh Hamilton
=
8. Milton Bradley
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on
Nov 7, 2008 11:24 AM EST
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