In recent posts (Oct. 6\/7), BBRT has shared its opinion on the AL & NL Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards.\u00a0 In this post, we\u2019ll take a look at two more major regular season recognitions \u2013 Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year.\u00a0 \u00a0We\u2019ll start with the easiest to guage, American League Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n

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Mike Trout – likely unanimous AL ROY.<\/p><\/div>\n

AL Rookie of the Year \u2013 Mike Trout (Angels)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t know the AL ROY is going to be the Angels’ Mike Trout, go back to Monday Night Football, you\u2019re reading the wrong blog.<\/p>\n

The (now) 21-year-old Trout, called up in late April, finished the season with a .326 average, 30 HRs, 83 RBI (from the lead-off spot) \u2013 while also leading the AL in runs scored (129) and stolen bases \u00a0(49) and likely earning Gold Glove consideration. In the process,\u00a0 he became the youngest player to reach the \u201c30-30 Club\u201d (HRs and SBs), one of only 19 players to reach 30-40, and came within one stolen base of joining Eric Davis (1987) and Barry Bonds (1990) in the 30 HR-50 SB fraternity.\u00a0 \u00a0In fact, as BBRT completes this post, Trout is not only being talked about as a shoe-in Rookie of the Year, but as a leading AL Most Valuable Player candidate (see BBRT post of Oct. 7).<\/p>\n

Honorable Mention would go out to the Rangers\u2019 right-hander Yu Darvish, who posted a 16-9 record, with a 3.90 ERA, striking out 222 batters in 191 1\/3 innings pitched.\u00a0 The contest, however, is not even close.<\/p>\n

NL Rookie of the Year \u2013 Wade Miley (Diamondbacks)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Wade Miley – stats on next year’s card will show why BBRT likes him as NL ROY.<\/p><\/div>\n
BBRT sees a three-way battle here \u2013 one that could have been avoided except for a kink in the ROY eligibility rules (more on that later).\u00a0 BBRT takes Arizona hurler Wade Miley over Bryce Harper of the Nationals and Norichika Aoki of the Brewers.<\/p>\n
First, why Miley?\u00a0 For the year, he posted a 16-11 record (leading the Diamondbacks in wins), with the league\u2019s tenth-best ERA among qualifiers (3.33).\u00a0 He took on a strong workload for a rookie (194 2\/3) innings pitched – showing poise, control and power (only 37 walks against 144 strikeouts).<\/p>\n
Second, why not Harper or Aoki (especially Harper, who was touted all year as the league\u2019s top and most exciting rookie)?\u00a0 For BBRT these two players, who took widely different paths to the NL (Harper a teenage sensation and Aoki a 30-year-old Japanese import), stole votes from each other.\u00a0 \u00a0Here’s the proverbial \u201ctale of the tape.”<\/p>\n
Games Played: \u00a0Aoki<\/strong> leads 151 to 139.<\/p>\n
Hits: \u00a0Aoki<\/strong> tops Harper 150 to 144.<\/p>\n
Batting Average:\u00a0 Aoki<\/strong> bests Harper – .288 to .270.<\/p>\n
Runs Scored:\u00a0 Harper<\/strong> tops Aoki \u2013 98 to 81.<\/p>\n
Home Runs:\u00a0 Harper<\/strong> well ahead of Aoki 22 to 10.<\/p>\n
Doubles: \u00a0Aoki<\/strong>\u00a0makes up for some of Harper’s HR-power, leading in two-baggers 37-26.<\/p>\n
Triples: \u00a0Harper<\/strong>\u00a0is more explosive, with 9 triples to Aoki’s 4.<\/p>\n
RBI:\u00a0 Despite the \u201coverpowering\u201d HR lead, the RBI race was closer than you would expect, with Harper<\/strong> leading 59 to 50.<\/p>\n
Stolen Bases: Like Harper in HRs, Aoki<\/strong> has a big lead here, 30 to 18. \u00a0Also, Oaki was safe 89.5% of the time to 75.0% for Harper.<\/p>\n
Walks:\u00a0 Harper<\/strong> leads Aoki 56 to 43.<\/p>\n
Strikeouts:\u00a0 BBRT hates these wasted at-bats. \u00a0Aoki<\/strong> fanned only 55 times to Harper\u2019s 120.<\/p>\n
Excitement quotient:\u00a0 Have to give the edge to Harper<\/strong>, who went all-out, all-the-time.<\/p>\n
Harper had a fantastic season for a teenager<\/strong>, but just not enough to offset Wiley\u2019s presence in the Diamondbacks’ rotation \u2013 and really not that far ahead of Aoki’s 2012 performance.<\/p>\n
Honorable Mention:\u00a0 BBRT regrets that Cardinal Lance Lynn did not qualify for ROY consideration (there was some debate early in the season).\u00a0 He was well under the 50 innings pitched limit (getting in 18 games with 34 2\/3 innings in 2011), but his early June\u00a0 2011 call-up gave him more than the allowable 45 days of ML service (during the 25-man roster period \u2013 yes, it\u2019s a technical rule).\u00a0 Without that hitch, and time on the bench, Lynn would get BBRT\u2019s vote hands down for his 18-7, 3.78, 176 innings pitched, 64-walk, 180-strikeout effort.<\/p>\n
Notably, over in the AL, Mike Trout faced a pre-season ROY-eligibility dilemma himself.\u00a0 According to reports last December, Trout was initially credited with 55 days on the Angels\u2019 active roster (during the 25-player time period) in 2011. However, Trout was on the 25-man roster for just 38 days, with the remaining additional 17 days being credited after a short-term demotion to the minors.\u00a0 MLB, in that case, ruled that while Trout retains 55 days of service time for accounting purposes, only the time he spent on the active roster will count against his rookie status.\u00a0 Wow, I\u2019m getting a headache, Mr. Commissioner.<\/p>\n
AL Manager of the Year \u2013 Bob Melvin (A\u2019s)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
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The A’s Bob Melvin – BBRT choice for AL Manager of the Year.<\/p><\/div>\n
BBRT’s choice, Bob Melvin, brought a no-name, no-payroll club (picked for last place by many analysts) to the West Division Championship with a 94-68 record (second-best in the AL).\u00a0 Along the way, his A\u2019s overcame a 13-game deficit as of June 30; were nine games out at the All-Star Break, four back with eight to go; and two behind with three to go.\u00a0 They had to sweep the first-place and favored Rangers in the last series of the year and needed to overcome a 5-1 deficit in game 162 to capture the Division title.\u00a0 They did it all \u2013 and with the lowest payroll in the league.<\/p>\n
They also did it with no 100-RBI men; no .300 hitters; only one player with 30 or more homers; no-pitcher with more than 13 victories; only one pitcher with 30+ starts; and no pitcher with 200 innings pitched. They had 54 wins from rookie pitchers, and started a rookie hurler in each of the last 14 games of the season.<\/p>\n
Runner-up?\u00a0 That would be Buck Showalter of the equally “disrespected-in-the-preseason” Orioles.\u00a0 Showalter kept his Orioles in the race with the vaunted Yankees until the final weekend, finishing two games out of the Division title \u2013 winning a Wild Card spot with a 93-69 record.\u00a0 Had Melvin\u2019s A\u2019s not captured the West, BBRT would have split its vote between the A\u2019s and Orioles\u2019 skippers.<\/p>\n
NL Manager of the Year \u2013 Davey Johnson (Nationals)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
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Davey Johnson – BBRT choice for NL Manager of the Year.<\/p><\/div>\n
This was a close one for BBRT, with the Nationals\u2019 Davey Johnson barely edging out Bruce Bochy of the Giants and Dusty Baker of the Reds not far behind.\u00a0 All three managers brought 2011 non-playoff teams to Division Championships. \u00a0Johnson ends up with a slight edge for bringing his Nationals\u2019 squad in at 98-64, MLB\u2019s best record in 2012.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what BBRT saw over the season.\u00a0 We\u2019ll start with Johnson.\u00a0 His Nationals improved from 2011\u2019s third-place finish (80-81, 21 \u00bd games out) to 98-64 and an AL East Crown.\u00a0 In the process, Johnson had to deal with injuries to key players like Michael Morse, \u00a0Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman.\u00a0 He also had to keep enthusiastic (can you be overly enthusiastic?) 19-year-old rookie Bryce Harper on as even a keel as possible and handle the Stephen Strasburg shut-down controversy.\u00a0 Finally, he boosted the confidence and performance of middle-infielders Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa, who came into the season with a combined 515 total games of MLB experience.\u00a0 Those challenges, plus his deft handling of the pitching staff and MLB\u2019s best record earn Johnson BBRT\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n
Close behind is the Giants\u2019 Bruce Bochy.\u00a0 The Giants didn\u2019t have as far to come as the Nationals (which played a role in BBRT\u2019s preference for Johnson), going from 2011\u2019s second-place finish (86-76, eight games out) to 94-68.\u00a0 Bochy, however, faced plenty of challenge along the way.\u00a0 He lost his leading offensive player to a PED-related suspension, suffered through an off-year by staff ace Tim Lincecum (whose ERA went from 2011\u2019s 2.74 to 5.18), dealt with injuries to key players like Pablo Sandoval, and faced the threat of the high-spending Dodgers.\u00a0\u00a0 Outside of the spectacular year from Buster Posey (.336, 24 HR, 103 RBI), the Giants’ HR and RBI leader would have been Sandoval, with only 12 HRs and 63 RBI.\u00a0 Like the Nats, the Giants could count on a strong starting staff (Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong, Madison Baumgardner and a resurgent Barry Zito), which helped compensate for Lincecum\u2019s 10-15 record. A key to the Giant\u2019s strong season, however, was Bochy\u2019s handling of the bullpen, consistently getting the \u201chot hand\u201d in at the \u201cright time.\u201d\u00a0 As a result, the bulk of the saves went to:\u00a0 Santiago Casilla (25), Sergio Romo (14) and Javier Lopez (7).<\/p>\n
BBRT gives third place in the Manager of the Year race to Dusty Baker of the Reds.\u00a0 Baker brought the Reds from 2011\u2019s third-place finish (79-83, 17 games back) to 97-65.\u00a0 Over the course of the season, he had to deal with injuries to key players like Joey Votto (the center of the Reds\u2019 offense) and Scott Rolen.\u00a0 Baker, known as a player\u2019s manager and motivator, responded by getting the best out of players like Jay Bruce and Ryan Ludwick.\u00a0 Not blessed with a particularly strong bench, Baker proved a master (though an oft-criticized one) at juggling his line-up to keep the Reds on track.\u00a0 Baker also has to be credited for the Mid-May decision to move hard-throwing Aroldis Chapman into the closer role.\u00a0 Chapman responded with 38 saves, a 1.51 ERA and 122 K\u2019s in 71 2\/3 innings pitched.<\/p>\n
Like Johnson and Bochy, Baker did benefit from a solid and stable (perhaps the most stable) starting rotation.\u00a0 Baker\u2019s five-man rotation (Johnny Cueto, Matt Latos, Homer Bailey, Bronson Arroyo and Mike Leake) accounted for 161 of the Reds’ 162 starts.\u00a0 For you trivia buffs, the starter in that one \u201coutlier\u201d \u2013 the second game of an August 18 day\/night doubleheader – was rookie Todd Redmond (his only ML appearance to date).<\/p>\n
Overall, a great \u2013 maybe even award-worthy – managerial season for Baker.\u00a0 However, both Johnson and Bochy had to deal with more \u201cdistractions\u201d in bringing their squads home in first.<\/p>\n
BBRT invites your comments on 2012 regular-season awards.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In recent posts (Oct. 6\/7), BBRT has shared its opinion on the AL & NL Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards.\u00a0 In this post, we\u2019ll take a look at two more major regular season recognitions \u2013 Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year.\u00a0 \u00a0We\u2019ll start with the easiest to guage, American League […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n