2016 MLB Thread

[Vetali]

Martin had an OPS under .600 last year so he should fit right in with the Seattle soft bats.

Dipoto is banking on that he was truly hurt and can pick up from before.

Either way... holy shit feels good to have an actual center fielder.

[draynay]

looking at his 2015 numbers doesn't really do much.

Could say that about a lot of Mariners, part of why he fits in, at least he can field better than anybody they had.

[kidsafe]

So yeah, I'll adjust my voting splits a little in favor of the southpaw. 55-30-15 Arrieta-Greinke-Kershaw. Still an almost 2-1 vote when it comes to Arrieta/Greinke.

First place votes were 57%-33%-10% so I was damned close.

[Fenixdown]

Who do we think will get MVPs? I'm thinking for the NL it will be Rizzo and for the AL it will be Donaldson. I was trying to think of someone from an NL playoff team that had numbers close to Rizzo's, and beyond them going pitcher for both with Arrieta like they did Kershaw, I can't come up with anyone.

[kidsafe]

It's gotta be Bryce Harper. Nobody else other than Votto even came close and neither were in the postseason.

[Rennadrel]

Harper and Donaldson most likely. I'd be surprised if Trout beats JD, considering much like the Twins, he tailed off towards the end of the season, while Donaldson was pivotal in the Jays actually making the playoffs. Sure, Trout might be more valuable to LA than Donaldson was to the Jays because well, Toronto was pretty much it's own All Star team in some ways due to the amount of talent in that batting order. Still though, he came up clutch far more often and was consistently Toronto's most dangerous player of the field.

[CR77]

Harper and Donaldson most likely. I'd be surprised if Trout beats JD, considering much like the Twins, he tailed off towards the end of the season, while Donaldson was pivotal in the Jays actually making the playoffs. Sure, Trout might be more valuable to the Twins than Donaldson was to the Jays because well, Toronto was pretty much it's own All Star team in some ways due to the amount of talent in that batting order. Still though, he came up clutch far more often and was consistently Toronto's most dangerous player of the field.

Angels?


Also Harper unanimous

[kidsafe]

Angels?

Also Harper unanimous

Of course it was. Only on MMO-C would you find someone throwing in a Rizzo pick and someone else thinking the NLCY vote would be close.

[Fenixdown]

Of course it was. Only on MMO-C would you find someone throwing in a Rizzo pick and someone else thinking the NLCY vote would be close.

I only tossed in Rizzo because the Cubs made the postseason, and I'm one of those that feels the MVP should go to a player who is the best on his team and helps lead that team to the playoffs. Harper had a great season statistically, but his team went into nuclear meltdown mode and all of those home runs and RBIs were meaningless.

Were I a voter, I would have voted Rizzo.

[CR77]

I agree that helping your team to the postseason should be A factor, but not THE factor. It may be biased but if Nelson Cruz hadn't got injured and kept his pace he would have at least been a finalist in the AL, and the M's were no where near the postseason. In terms of regular season numbers(what the award is for, not postseason) Harper was by far the top player in the NL.

[kidsafe]

The only factor is whether the player's team made the postseason or not. Need I remind everyone again that award voting takes place immediately at the conclusion of the regular season? It was farcical when Miguel Cabrera won MVP over Trout in 2012 because his team made the postseason and because he barely won the "Triple Crown."

[ItachiZaku]

Because he only played ~100 games in the AL, or because you think Gordon is better and more deserving?

I'm not sure how I feel about a part time leaguer, but Cespedes definitely deserved the NL MVP over Harper and no way in fucking hell Harper should have been unanimous.

- - - Updated - - -

His history should have no impact on an award for 2015 - it probably might a little, but it shouldn't. As for the Escobar homerun, sadly that has no impact on something like this.

You'd like to think so, and I know voting is suppose to happen before X, but we all know Gibson doesn't win MVP over Strawberry, if not for his post season bullshit.

- - - Updated - - -

The only factor is whether the player's team made the postseason or not. Need I remind everyone again that award voting takes place immediately at the conclusion of the regular season? It was farcical when Miguel Cabrera won MVP over Trout in 2012 because his team made the postseason and because he barely won the "Triple Crown."

I'm not a fan of sabermetrics and all this new shit, but if you win the triple crown, and don't win the MVP... there better be a 35-0 pitcher with an ERA of .25 and 400Ks. The only exception is if the "winner" was literally a very slow #2 in all of those categories, but had like a 30-2 GWI advantage. But if that triple crown guy was on the worst team in the league, he ain't really worth shit, no is he? Like Harper, so toxic even his teammates were kicking his ass.

[kidsafe]

Trout's triple crown stats were close enough, he had 49 steals, plays a more skilled position and is a plus defender.

[Fenixdown]

Trout's triple crown stats were close enough, he had 49 steals, plays a more skilled position and is a plus defender.

However, nobody's seen a Triple Crown player since Yaz, and when he achieved such a feat, he won MVP despite playing for a Red Sox team that did not make the postseason.

Triple Crown stats are a lock for MVP 99% of the time. Same as setting records, such as Bonds and McGwire and even closers like the one who set the saves record for the Dodgers who's name I now can't seem to recall. I think if a pitcher managed to break the single season strikeout mark somehow, they'd probably be a lock for MVP unless a hitter did something equally extraordinary.

Record books will usually show MVP awards next to their setters. I don't disagree with Cabrera winning it over Trout. But Harper is just silly. It's the same calibur as A-Rod when he won it in Texas, a team that finished last in their division. Now, when Dawson won it, he was so much drastically better in terms of hitting categories over everybody else in the NL that it was hard not to give it to him, despite the Cubbies being a last place team. But Harper's numbers don't compare in that regard.

[Nellise]

However, nobody's seen a Triple Crown player since Yaz, and when he achieved such a feat, he won MVP despite playing for a Red Sox team that did not make the postseason.

Triple Crown stats are a lock for MVP 99% of the time. Same as setting records, such as Bonds and McGwire and even closers like the one who set the saves record for the Dodgers who's name I now can't seem to recall. I think if a pitcher managed to break the single season strikeout mark somehow, they'd probably be a lock for MVP unless a hitter did something equally extraordinary.

Record books will usually show MVP awards next to their setters. I don't disagree with Cabrera winning it over Trout. But Harper is just silly. It's the same calibur as A-Rod when he won it in Texas, a team that finished last in their division. Now, when Dawson won it, he was so much drastically better in terms of hitting categories over everybody else in the NL that it was hard not to give it to him, despite the Cubbies being a last place team. But Harper's numbers don't compare in that regard.

First, 2 of the 3 triple crown stats are known to not be very important in evaluating a player nowadays. Batting average by itself is significantly less important than OBP (Cabrera has good OBP too, but just pointing it out in general). RBIs are completely team dependent and have very little bearing on how good a player actually is.

Second, McGwire didn't win the MVP the season he set the homerun record, Sosa did, despite McGwire being a significantly better hitter that season. Bonds got it his year though because Bonds was ridiculous. Johnson had 372 strikeouts one season and was 11th in the MVP vote. Koufax didn't win either when he set the record with 382. Ryan was 17th when he had 383 and set the record.

Eric Gagne won the Cy Young, not the MVP when he had 55 saves for the Dodgers, which was only an NL record anyway, not the MLB record (which was 57 at the time).

Third, Dawson was one of the worst MVP choices ever. He had the 10th best OPS of everybody that got MVP votes while playing mediocre defense. His WAR was less than half of Tony Gwynn's that year. The MVP voters that year totally failed in both leagues with the Dawson and Bell choices.

Lastly, Harper was far and away the best player in the NL this year, it wasn't even close, and the MVP votes reflect that. He had the single best hitting season since Bonds in 2004 while playing decent outfield defense. The Nationals certainly disappointed almost everyone this year, but that was in no way Harper's fault. Nobody on a playoff team came anywhere near what he did this year.

[draynay]

Now, when Dawson won it, he was so much drastically better in terms of hitting categories over everybody else in the NL that it was hard not to give it to him, despite the Cubbies being a last place team. But Harper's numbers don't compare in that regard.

Then you're clearly looking at the wrong stats.

[draynay]

Dodgers are hiring Dave Roberts as manager, Dave Roberts is awesome, hopefully he's a good manager.

[kidsafe]

Only needs to be slightly better than Mattingly for the Dodgers to win a WS.

[Gumboy]

Only needs to be slightly better than Mattingly for the Dodgers to win a WS.

How sure are you that it's coaching that held them back? Not trying to be snarky, just seems like a weird thing to blame when the players are like 99.8% of the outcome in baseball

[kidsafe]

How sure are you that it's coaching that held them back? Not trying to be snarky, just seems like a weird thing to blame when the players are like 99.8% of the outcome in baseball

Not at all certain since the difference between a good manager and a bad one is only a couple of wins. The money is there, the player talent is there, so unless you buy deeply into "team chemistry," the weakest part of the equation was Mattingly. Matt Williams lost the 2014 NLCS by pitching Wacha for example. Bochy helped win the WS by doing the unfathomable and having Bumgarner pitch five innings in relief on two days of rest.

I think it's inevitable the Dodgers win a World Series in the next 5 years.