Manager Of The Year:
AL: Terry Francona Cleveland Indians
NL: Clint Hurdle Pittsburgh Pirates
This one has sparked a little bit of a debate. The National League was an easy choice. Clint Hurdle deserved the Award for leading the Pirates to their first winning season, and first playoff appearance, in 20 years. That one was almost a given. The Braves and Dodgers both had good years, I'm not taking anything away from the work of Don Mattingly in LA or Freddy Gonzalez in Atlanta. But the difference between the three is this. The Pirates weren't a given to make the playoffs, where as both LA and Atlanta were expected to get there. Granted LA had a rough start to the year and turned it around to take the West, still the Pirates had had the biggest turn around from the year before and Hurdle had a lot to do with that.
The American League I was a tad surprised by. It's a well deserved honor for Terry Francona I'm not taking that away from him. But I just personally feel that John Farrell should have won the award. Having the Red Sox win the title had no influnce for me, as this is an award for the regular season. I just felt the Red Sox had a bigger turn around than the Indians did. Sure both Boston and Cleveland had bad years last year, Cleveland lost 94 games and the Red Sox lost 93. Both teams had a huge turn around, but I just felt the one by the Red Sox was tougher to do, considering that the AL East is a tougher division to play in than the AL Central. That's all I'm saying.
Since the award was instituted in 1983, this is the 2nd time an Indians Manager has won the award (Eric Wedge won it in 2007), and this is the 3rd time that a Pirates manager has won the award (Jim Leyland won it back in 1990 and 1992). This is the 1st time that each manager has won the award
Rookie Of The Year:
AL: Will Meyers Tampa Bay Rays
NL: Jose Fernandez Miami Marlins
In both cases I think the writers got the winners right. Jose Iglesias was the next closest in the AL and I still think Meyers beat him out. Granted Meyers only played in 88 games for the Rays, he still had a bigger impact on the team than Iglesias did.
Same thing can be said with the National League. Yasiel Puig made the race close in the National League, but Fernandez was just better. Sure Puig was one of the reasons that sparked the Dodgers to their turn around in winning the NL West, but Fernandez put up great numbers on a bad baseball team in the Marlins. In fact, Fernandez was the best player on that bad Marlins team, clearly being the only bright spot for the club.
Since Rookie Of the Year started being given out in 1949, this is the 3rd Tampa Bay ray to win the Award, with Meyers following Evan Longoria (2008) and Jeremy Hellickson (2011). As for the NL, this is the 4th time a Marlin has won the award, with Fernandez following Dontrelle Willis (2003), Hanley Ramírez (2006) and Chris Coghlan (2009).
Cy Young Award:
NL: Clayton Kershaw Los Angeles Dodgers
AL: Max Scherzer Detroit Tigers
The AL Cy Young Award wasn't even close. Scherzer had the best year in the American League, hands down. The only one in the voting for the award who was even close was Yu Darvis of the Texas Rangers. Scherzer was the only pitcher in the bigs to win 20 games this year, going 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA and 240 strikeouts. Scherzer won the award not because he had a high scoring ball club behind him, which he did. Scherzer won the award because he was able to find different ways to get people out. He was, by far, the most dominating pitcher in the AL this season.
With the NL Cy Young, Clayton Kershaw took home the award with a 16-9 record with an 1.83 ERA and 232 strikeouts. This was another landslide win for the award, much like the American League. The only one close to Kershaw this season was Adam Weinwright of the Cardinals, but even he was a bit of a ways back. Kershaw was just outright dominant. The only shocker in Kershaw winning the award was that he didn't win it in a landslide.
The Cy Young award has been given out to the best pitchers since 1967. In the NL, this is the 11th time a Dodger has won the award. Kershaw had won the award back in 2011 so this is his 2nd trophy. before the 23011 win, the other dodgers to win the award were Don Drysdale (1962), Sandy Koufax (1963, 1965 and 1966), Mike Marshall (1974), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Orel Hershiser (1988) and Éric Gagné (2003). As for the Tigers, this is the 1st win by Scherzer and the 5th win by a Tiger. Besides Scherzer the Other Tigers to win the award were Denny McLain(1968 and 1969), Willie Hernández (1984) and Justin Verlander (2011).
Most Valuable Player
AL: Miguel Cabrera Detroit Tigers
NL: Andrew McCutchen Pittsburgh Pirates
Miguel Cabrera wasn't able to pull off back to back triple crown wins in the American League, but he was able to pull in a 2nd straight league MVP award. Only ones close in the league voting were Chris Davis of Baltimore and Mike Trout of Anaheim. Cabrera still finished the year hitting .348 which is his career best. Sure the power and RBI numbers weren't quite as prolific but they were still damn good. And think about this he had a groin injury too that wasn't revealed till towards the end of the season. He as hurt in September, and the Tigers struggled, going just 13-13 in the final month of the year. That right there should tell you just how big of an impact Miggy had on the Tigers lineup. He was that good of a ball player. Now I feel also that if Baltimore or Anaheim had been able to pull into the playoffs, this race would have been a little closer. But it wasn't and Miggy walked away with the award.
With the National League, it has been a long time coming for the Pittsburgh Pirates, with Andrew McCutchen walking away with the MVP award. He finished the year hitting .317 with 21 homers and 84 RBI's. Not the greatest numbers ever produced by an MVP winner, but still damn good numbers never the less. Much like the AL MVP Race, this one was just as much a landslide win for McCutchen, as he beat out Paul Goldschmidt of Arizona and Yadier Molina of St. Louis. Molina's platform was built on respect and reputation. Goldschmidt had the standout numbers. But McCutchen was recognized more for driving teammates on than for driving them in. His 84 RBIs are the fewest for an NL MVP (in a full season) since Kirk Gibson -- saluted as a similar driving force on the Dodgers -- earned the 1988 award after a 76-RBI campaign. (courtesy of MLB.com)
Since the League MVP Awards have been handed out in 1931, the Tigers have had 12 MVP winners. Miguel Cabrera has won the last two, so prior to that the other winners have been Ty Cobb (1911), Mickey Cochrane (1934), Hank Greenberg (1935), Charlie Gehringer (1937), Hank Greenberg (1940), Hal Newhouser (1944), Hal Newhouser (1945), Denny McLain (1968), Willie Hernández (1984) and Justin Verlander (2011). As for the Pirates, this is the 8th time one of their players have been named MVP. Aside from McCutchen, the others are Barry Bonds (1990, 1992), Roberto Clemente (1966), Dick Groat (1960), Dave Parker (1978), Willie Stargell (1979), Paul Waner (1927).
So there you have it. The Award Winners for Major League Baseball in 2013!
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