Managing the Yankees

Let's make a Fantasy Award for MLB through the season. You can make a comment on who should be the right man for the award.

MVP
Yankees - Mark Teixeira:
A though choice with Derek Jeter not far behind. Other consideration are Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia. Especially CC Sabathia, who's having another Cy Young season.
Why Mark Teixeira? Well he led the league in both home runs and RBI and finished second in OPS+. His glove at 1B also improved the overall play of the infield defense. Offense and Defense. It's hard to find an over-all player like that.

American League - Joe Mauer (Twins):
A catcher who has a batting average of .365 and has 28 HR and 96 RBI. Did i mention that Mauer is the best catcher in baseball today. If only the Twins has strong line-up and a good rotation, they would be prime candidate to win the World Series.

National League - Albert Pujols (Cardinals):
The best pound for pound player in the National League. Pujols, year after year, is a monster, and after 9 prolific seasons in the league I think there's enough to go on to classify him as an all time elite hitter. Pujols finished the season with a Major League leading 188 OPS+, and while that would likely stand out as a career year for most any other player, it's just another season for Pujols. He also led the Majors with 47 homeruns, and finished 3rd in the NL in both RBI and batting average.

Cy Young
Yankees - C.C. Sabathia:
Between Sabathia and Rivera, i would go for Sabathia. It's tough to compare a starter to a closer. With only 1 inning pitch by a closer compared to 6-8 innings pitch by a starter. I should say the award should go to a starter. Sabathia, after a shaky start, was as good as advertised - an ace and workhorse at the top of the rotation. He tied for the league lead in wins, finished sixth in ERA+ at 133, and fourth in IP with 230. There is probably some concern out there about how he'll perform in the postseason given his past struggles, but unlike with his prior teams, the Yankees haven't overworked Sabathia down the stretch just to make the postseason.

American League - Zack Greinke (Royals):
No debate here! With King Felix, Verlander and Yankee Sabathia as prime candidates for AL Cy Young award. With the way Greinke pitched, how many wins do you think he would have had with the Yankees offense and bullpen behind him? Greinke was clearly the best pitcher in the league this year and he shouldn't be denied his due because he was on a lousy team. His 203 ERA+ is an absurd, all time great number (15th best since the live ball era began in 1920), he also led the league in WHIP, while his 242 Ks were second in the league, and his 229 IP good for fifth. Greinke is also just 25, so the best could be yet to come.

National League - Adam Wainwright (Cardinals):
Another tough race, and the most impressive thing is that for the most part, the candidate pool is dotted with young pitchers who should only get better. Chris Carpenter is the exception to this, and while he did lead the league in ERA+, the fact that he didn't top 200 IP is what holds him back in this close race. Incumbent winner, Tim Lincecum is also up there, but unlike Greinke, Lincecum, while great, didn't distance himself from a tight pack to make his 15 wins largely irrelevant. Wainwright gets the nod for leading the league in IP and wins, while finishing fourth in strikeouts and ERA+ (158) - a dominant workhorse for sure.

Rookie of the Year
Yankees - David Robertson:
He came, he sought, he conquered! Except with the recent injury Robertson stands out compared to other Yankee rookies. With David Robertson, he helped transform a strong and reliable bullpen for the Yankees. Robertson was a impact out of the pen, able to pitch effectively in most any situation, and thus give Joe Girardi a lot of flexibility and stability.

American League - Rick Porcello (Tigers):
Porcello, a local product (Seton Hall Prep) was the youngest player in the league this year, and was good enough to qualify as a reliable third starter on most teams. He finished with 14 wins, 165 IP, and a 113 ERA+. Figure if he can do this at 20, imagine how good he'll be at 25. Also, to illustrate how close this is.

National League - J.A. Happ (Phillies):
At a time when the Phillies were struggling to solidfy their rotation, Happ emerged and provided much needed stability. He finished the year with an impressive 146 ERA+ in 166 IP, a very respectable 1.235 ERA, and won 12 games along the way.

Manager of the Year
American League - Joe Girardi:
Being to able to manage his players and giving rest to aging players like Matsui and Posada. Knowing his players strength. Like assigning Jose Molina to be Burnett's cacther. So with no obvious choice, I'll go with the guy who turned a team that was struggling early in the season into the most dominant in baseball by season's end. True, it's a easier when you have the Yankees payroll behind you, but the Yankees finished the regular season as unquestionably the best team, 6 wins better than anyone else in baseball and almost 30 runs better in run differential than any other team in the AL. The team had decided issues early in the year but Girardi found a way to solidify most every area and bring needed balance to the team's approach.

National League - Jim Tracy (Rockies):
Tracy wasn't there for the whole season, but he took over a team that was 10 games under .500 after 46 games, and led it to the postseason, even almost catching the once seemingly insurmountable lead of the Dodgers.

Comeback Player
Yankees - Jorge Posada:
Who taught that an aging catcher can perform well this season coming from a shoulder injury. I'll go with Posada who had a typically strong year despite entering the season with a host of questions surrounding age, injury, and position. If there's been an underrated Yankee over the last decade, it's been Posada, whose production and leadership as a catcher have enormous value.

American League - Jorge Posada (Yankees):
I don't think many people would have thought realistically that Posada could come back from his injury and at his age catch 100 games, post a 130 OPS+, and even throw out a respectable percentage of base runners.

National League - Chris Carpenter (Cardinals):
This may be the easiest selection of all - Carpenter missed virtually all of the last two seasons, pitching just 21.1 innings combined, but he's returned this year without missing a beat, incredibly leading the NL with a 185 ERA+.


That's my choice! What's yours?