Now that the 2013 Major League Baseball season is in the books, it’s time to hand out some awards. Budding superstars on the mound stole headlines in the National League, while the American League continued to watch the game’s best hitters fight for supremacy.
AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers third baseman
Same song as last season — just the second verse. Cabrera and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout are clearly the two best position players in baseball right now, but I give the edge to Miggy for a couple of reasons:
1. In almost every measurable offensive category, Cabrera out-performed Trout, despite being hampered by abdominal and groin injuries for much of the second half.
2. While it might be unfair to hold the Angels miserable season against Trout, I believe that when two players are comparable in value, the type of games they are playing matters. Cabrera has been competing for a division title since day one, and Trout hasn’t played a meaningful game since Memorial Day. Better luck next year, kid.
AL CY YOUNG AWARD: Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers pitcher
The tightest race of this year really comes down to one question: How important is a pitcher’s record? In a year where several pitchers had only marginal differences between them in categories that mattered, a gaudy win total can be an easy way out of a difficult decision.
Records aside, Darvish and Max Scherzer of the Detroit Tigers had eerily similar years. Darvish recorded a 0.07 run lower ERA and struck out two more batters per nine innings, while Scherzer threw five more innings and had a 0.1 lower WHIP.
But Darvish pitched half his games in the matchbox in Arlington while getting almost two runs less support per game, so he gets my vote.
AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Wil Myers, Tampa Bay Rays outfielder
Does anyone want this award?
Former No. 1 prospect Myers wins it for being the best of the bunch, but it is worth noting that his stats are almost identical to those of St. Louis first baseman Matt Adams, who probably won’t finish in the top 10 in the ROY race in the NL.
A year after Mike Trout had arguably the greatest rookie year ever, the pendulum has swung back to the NL, which is full of exciting young players.
After 21 years of ineptitude, the Pirates have a winning record and are in the postseason. None of that happens without McCutchen, who did a little bit of everything this season, hitting 21 home runs and stealing 27 bases while playing sensational defense.
A generation of baseball fans associates Pittsburgh with losing, and McCutchen gets points for being a big part of changing that impression.
NL CY YOUNG AWARD: Clayton Kershaw, LA Dodgers
Kershaw wins his second Cy Young on the strength of his miniscule 1.83 ERA, the lowest in the majors over a full season since Greg Maddux in 1994. The 25-year-old southpaw needed to be that good at times this season, as he is among the league leaders in lowest run support.
Second year New York Mets phenom Matt Harvey was giving Kershaw stiff competition until he suffered a season-ending elbow injury in August, effectively ending this race more than a month early.
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins pitcher
If not for some troubles early in the season, Fernandez could be threatening Kershaw for the Cy Young. After the All-Star Break, the 21-year-old flamethrower recorded an absurd 1.32 ERA while striking out more than 11 batters per nine innings, something only matched by Darvish over that stretch.
Although there is a laundry list of rookies who played key roles in getting their teams to the playoffs in the NL, including Yasiel Puig, Shelby Miller and Julio Teheran, none of them dominated the way Fernandez did for as long as he did, even while playing for the worst team this side of Houston.