Braun named NL ROY; Pedroia wins AL ROY

tie=spineless

 

Is Vegas laying odds on the NL MVP voting? I'd take the odds there will be a tie there.

 

The talk about Tulowitzki picked up before the playoffs. Part of it was a three-error game Braun had very late in the season. I think that highlighted his deficiencies on defense about the same time as people began to realize how good Tulowitzki's all-around game is.

Not that Braun doesn't deserve it. He does. But there were people taking Tulowitzki's side before the playoffs.

 

Tulowitzki also played 42 more games than Braun, who didn't appear in the big leagues until May 25.

 

No, a tie would not be spineless it would simply mean that two guys finished with the same number of points based on the voting system.
It's not like one guy sits back and says, I can't decide so I'll give it to both of them.

And whoever suggested maybe a 4th place vote for Kendrick, you only vote 1-2-3 in Rookie of the Year.

 

In 1999 Raffy Palmeiro won the Gold Glove at 1st base. He played 28 games there. The rest were played as a DH. Fielding does not matter when voting for awards.

 

I would just like to point out, again for all the Braun fans, that Tulo had the fewest errors of any shortstop in either league, the most assists of anyone since Ozzie Smith, turned more double plays than anyone in either league, and had the best zone rating of any shortstop in the game, anchored a defense that set a major league record for fielding percentage, and went to the playoffs.

Looking over Braun's stats, yeah, I'm ok with him winning the award. He had a hell of an offensive season, and Tulo actually hit .250 away from Coors. But Tulo had one of the best defensive seasons in awhile. If you believe that win-shares stuff of Bill James, Tulo was worth three more wins to his team than Braun. I don't know how much that takes into account the fact that Braun played 40 fewer games (maybe not at all), but three more wins gets the Brewers to the playoffs, yes?

 

That would be me who said he deserved a fourth place vote. I didn't know they voted just 1-2-3. You learn something new every day.

He would deserve a third place vote only behind Braun and Tulo. Nothing higher. He had a great year and pitched well, but not worthy of a first or second place vote during this year's campaign.

 

outofplace is right, that three-error Braun game opened the door for Tulowitzki sentiment to build steam.

Which is kind of idiotic, considering that Braun won so many more games than that with his bat.

No one with Braun's offensive numbers has failed to win ROY in a year where another candidate didn't have comparable numbers to my knowledge, so why should this year be any different?

Nothing at all against Tulowitzki, but the right man won the award.

 

I'm not big into all the math stuff, but I'm almost positive that win shares aren't an averaging-out type of stat. It's cumulative.

So if Braun plays 40 more games -- and plays well -- he earns those three win shares, and probably a few more. It's pretty amazing that he did what he did in so few games.

That said, I have a slight problem with a player missing 40 games (whether by injury or call-up) being deserving of any award, unless he's otherworldly dominant. That's the biggest reason Chipper or Utley aren't in the MVP running.

 

Here is Rob Neyer's argument for Tulowitzki, in which he either ignores the fact that Braun played fewer games when calculating win shares, or averages it out. I can't tell. He does point out that Braun had the second-worst fielding percentage of any third baseman since 1910 so let's not pretend like this was just about one three-error game. He was murdering the ball at the plate, but butchering it in the field. Often.

 

As soon as you start using contrivances like win shares, WARP and FRAR, you're not evaluating a player, you're masturbating with mathmatics.


There was no bad choice here.