AL/NL Comeback Player of the Year

Fantasy fanboi loser checking in here.

Considered Cliff Lee went undrafted in 40 (yes 40) rounds of our fantasy baseball draft (10 teams), I would have to say he's the hands-down winner in the AL. Nobody expected him to come back and have the season he's had.

Similarly, Kerry Wood was a late minor-league round selection in our draft, and the person drafting him was laughed out of the room.

I'd also throw Josh Hamilton into the mix, but I guess he had that "comeback" year last year. He only solidified it this year.

 

I think some people here are forgetting just how bad things got for Lee a year ago. He simply could not get major-league hitters out any more. Also, as good as Mussina has been, Lee has been much better. It's not even close. Lee has been dominant all season.

I think part of the disagreement on this thread is how people define the award, how much credit you give a player for things like age and injury. To me, it is a combination of how ineffective they were before this season, whether it be due to poor performance or injury, and how good they have been this season. That makes Lee the better choice.

I think you can even make an argument for Milton Bradley returning from knee surgery to post the best numbers of his career as being a better comeback than what Mussina has done.

 

He may not have played enough to deserve this award but few have had a better comeback than Gabe Kapler. Last year he was a minor league manager and this year he is hitting .304 w/ 7HR and 33 RBI and some huge plays at big moments for "My Milwaukee Brewers".

 

I'm pretty sure Doug Davis has this locked up in the NL.
Yeah, he doesn't have spectacular numbers, but he came back from cancer.
That wins every year.

 

You couldn't be more wrong. He started 33 games last year and had better numbers than this year.

 

Tell that to Jon Lester last year.

 

His suggestion of Davis has nothing to do with last year, Dickens. Davis returned from cancer treatments during this season. That is pretty amazing.

 

I think this award, much like just about every other distinction in baseball, should be driven by statistics. It's amazing that Davis is back and pitching, but his transformation is nowhere close to others in the discussion.

 

No.

I see where you're coming from Mike, but I don't think statistics always tell the story with this or any award. Perhaps statistics are a better indicator for this award than they would be for most others, but part of the reason I nominated Mussina is that he went from looking washed up last year to having one of his best-ever seasons as he approaches 40. For him to go from bullpen afterthought to unquestioned ace, he had to make adjustments. He did.

 

While we're on the topic, we should make it clear that there are two comeback player of the year awards in each league. There is the traditional one, awarded by the sporting news and voted, I think, by the players. Then there is MLB's new one, which is a marketing scheme for Viagra or something. The fans vote for that one.

Also, my opinion is that you have to have been a marquee type player before and then suffer some sort of injury. I don't think a guy who just emerges for the first time like Ludwick or a guy who just happened to suck like Mussina qualifies.

I like Kerry Wood in the NL. Cliff Lee is an OK choice in the AL, but he doesn't qualify in the purest sense for me. A) He was never this good before. B) His injury was relatively minor in '07, mostly he just sucked. Milton Bradley would be a decent pick.

 

Lee is the slam-dunk winner in the AL. I would think Ervin Santana -- also sent down last year -- would get more consideration than Mussina.

In the NL, how about Kyle Lohse? Looked like he was going to be something early in Minnesota, fell off the map, and is now on track to have his best major-league season.

 

Milton Bradley did just as well last season as this season, with most of last season spent in the worst hitter's park in baseball. He missed a good majority of the early season with injuries, but was playing at full strength at the end of the season, when he suffered the serious knee injury. Voting for him would be like voting for Brett Favre for Comeback Player of the Year for coming out of retirement and leading the Jets to the playoffs.