2008 SB Nation MVP Awards

by royalsreview on Nov 6, 2008 2:54 PM EST in News Comment 38 comments

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 reply actions 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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

no one had huff higher than me

by royalsreview on Nov 6, 2008 4:30 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

or bradley

by royalsreview on Nov 6, 2008 4:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

G-Size and A-Bet are actually sorta cool names

and C-Grand

by royalsreview on Nov 6, 2008 4:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

which is sad

by royalsreview on Nov 6, 2008 4:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 reply actions 0 recs

Huff and Kinsler too

did the table not include your ballot?

by ZeppelinDZ on Nov 6, 2008 4:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

LOL

At the random 2nd place vote for Upton.

Rowdy Hardy Fan Club member.

by doublestix on Nov 6, 2008 5:13 PM EST reply actions 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 reply actions 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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

Justin needs to get Dewan and MGL to share their numbers with him

by Gopherballs on Nov 6, 2008 5:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 up reply actions 0 recs

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 reply actions 0 recs