AL Manager of the Year
Jon Grudenhire has done a great job rallying the Twins after last seasons disappointments and a rough start to the year. Since the All Star break there have been few teams better than
Minnesota and they should be confident running into the post-season.
Few will recognise how good a job Joe Torre has done in New York as he has been forced to shuffle his deck countless times due to injuries to some of his key personnel. Of course it helps when your coffers are as deep as the Yankees but any team that loses the likes of Cano, Sheffield and Matsui for long stretches is going to feel it and even through all that, New York has walked the East.
Ultimately there is only one name that needs to be brought up when deciding the top gaffer in the AL and it’s the guy who has sculpted a group of youngsters and cast offs into a pennant winner. Jim Leyland has done wonders for Detroit after spending a few years in the broadcast booth and for most of the year his team had the best record in baseball in the best division in baseball.
NL Manager of the Year
I know I picked Cincinnati to finish dead last in the central but somehow Jerry Narron has made them into a winner. Of course it has helped that GM Wayne Krivsky has scrounged some rough diamonds from here, there and everywhere but this is still a team that really should not have done as well as it has and Narron deserves a lot of credit.
The Marlins, however, were a team picked by many (not me I might say) to finish dead last with his AAA all stars and he has taken them into the last fortnight of the season still with a slight sniff at the playoffs.
The most remarkable thing is how they’ve managed to get so many good performances from so many first year players. It was obvious that the guys they had available had potential and the tools to be good ballplayers eventually and if a couple of the guys had good seasons, a couple more showed flashes and a few showed they needed a little more time on the farm then the organisation would have been moderately happy, its just a shame that they can’t seem to revel in Girardi’s achievements due to a clash of personalities between him and owner Jeffrey Loria (just another person who doesn’t like Loria).
Joe Girardi should definitely be manager of the year and when he’s eventually relieved of his responsibilities by Florida in the off season, you know every team with a managerial vacancy will be beating down his door.
AL Rookie of the Year
What a year for rookie pitching. We’ll start with mini-Johan, Francisco Liriano, who was simply untouchable throughout the middle third of the season. He and Santana really look like they could be the dominant force in the AL for years to come and if not for injuries shortening his season he would definitely have been the guy to get the nod.
Then there’s Boston closer Jon Papelbon who just about qualifies for rookie status after a cup of coffee last year. Failed as a starter and an absolute success as a closer. It took forever for the league to get a run off him and it was tough enough to get a hit.
Really the thing that will determine this years AL RoY will be whether you feel a reliever is as valuable as a starter because Justin Verlander in Detroit has been superb for Detroit. It is always inevitable that rookie pitchers will wear down even more than players in other roles because the demands of the Majors are just so much higher than any other level and Verlander has been a victim of his own success down the stretch. He was just so good in the first half that he rung up a tonne of innings but even with his end of season swoon, he’ll still be amongst the leaders in wins and will have an ERA below 4.00 and few pitchers have been so valuable to their team. If anyone could be an MVP on the Tigers line-up this year its him.
NL Rookie of the Year
We’ll start this with the guy I picked before the season started and that’s Ryan Zimmerman who will win a lot of Gold Gloves in his career, and if not for Scott Rolen he’d be a shoo in this year, and has coupled stellar D with excellent hitting and base-running and will likely finish the year leading all rookies in a fair few offensive categories…I’d give him the award for his defensive contribution alone.
LA blooded a lot of their blue ribbon prospects this year and while Billingsley and Russ Martin (he’s a great player) probably haven’t logged enough time to get serious consideration, Andre Ethier was the guy who stepped up when injuries hit the Dodgers. He has slumped down the stretch (drastic understatement) which will hurt his chances.
How can you talk about rookies and not mention the Marlins? Dan Uggla has come from nowhere, Josh Willingham has shown some great pop, Hanley Ramirez has been igniter supreme at the top of the order but ultimately the rotation has seen Anibal Sanchez and Scott Olsen look superb and then there’s your rookie of the year, Josh Johnson, who is still vying for the ERA crown. Johnson has really made a lot of people forget that Dontrelle Willis has had a sub-par season and if he was on a better side he would likely have won enough games to be in the congested Cy Young race in the NL this year.
What a great year for rookie pitching.
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