American League Most Valuable Player Vote Week #7

1. Josh Hamilton – 285 points
2. Kevin Youkilis – 167 points
3. Carlos Quentin – 160 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 14 points, the player ranked second is assigned 9 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 8 points. Click to see the actual votes.

American League Cy Young Vote Week #7

1. Cliff Lee – 122 points
2. Daisuke Matsuzaka – 48 points
3. Zach Grienke – 29 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 5 points, the player ranked second is assigned 3 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 1 point. Click to see the actual votes.

American League Rookie of the Year Vote Week #7

1. Jacoby Ellsbury – 89 points
2. David Murphy – 70 points
3. Greg Smith- 46 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 5 points, the player ranked second is assigned 3 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 1 point. Click to see the actual votes.

The following blogs contributed to the Blog Poll results:

Baseball Digest Daily
Baseball Happenings
Baseball Musings
Seth Speaks
Fire Brand of American League
Brock For Broglio
Brew Crew Ball
Beyond The Boxscore
Fake Teams
RotoRob
Over the Monster
No Bias Baseball
Outs Per Swing
Bugs & Cranks
Talking Chop
Roto Junkie
Baseball Time In Arlington
CardinalsDiaspora
Tiger Tales
Kranepool Society
Cubs F/X
Roto Advice
Chicago Cubs Online
Baseball Legends
Roto Professor
DRays Bay
DisabledListInformer

MVP: Utley, Jones, Berkman

CY: Webb, Volquez, Peavy

ROY: Soto, Fukudome, Votto

Is it just me, despite how I love Howard Johnson as a player, the Mets batting coach is not really getting much out of the players not named Ryan Church.   I also wonder why  Wagner was thrown into a non save mop up condition last night.  I know there is a push for Fire Willie Randolph, but alot of what I see around the diamond can be attributed to going with alot of older players in Pedro Martinez, Carlos Delgado, Luis Castillo,  Moises Alou.  The trades of Santana and Church/Schnedier has been a blessing that has kept Mets out of the cellar. If its not clear already, Jose Reyes regression continues and Hanlet Ramirez is now obviously is the better player. It was nice hearing on the broadcast last night that Keith and Gary check out MetsBlog.com every morning. I know they are affiliated with the SNY now, but it shows what is possible out of the good independent blogs.

On the Rays, its been noted by Rays Index that Friday nights near perfect game by Jamie Shields might of been the best Rays game ever.  Well, Kazmir and the bullpens outing yesterday kept the pitching awesomeness streak continue as the Rays blanked the Angels again 2-0.

American League Most Valuable Player Vote Week #5

1. Manny Ramirez – 270 points
2. Casey Kotchman – 114 points
3. Josh Hamilton, Carlos Quentin (Tie) – 113 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 14 points, the player ranked second is assigned 9 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 8 points.

American League Cy Young Vote Week #5

1. Cliff Lee – 116 points
2. Zack Greinke – 40 points
3. Ervin Santana, Chien-Ming Wang (Tie) – 18 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 5 points, the player ranked second is assigned 3 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 1 point.

American League Rookie of the Year Vote Week #5

1. Jacoby Ellsbury – 83 points
2. Greg Smith – 58 points
3. Evan Longoria – 25 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 5 points, the player ranked second is assigned 3 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 1 point.

The following blogs contributed to the Blog Poll results::

• Baseball Happenings
• Baseball Musings
• Seth Speaks
• Fire Brand of American League
• Brock For Broglio
• Brew Crew Ball
• Beyond The Boxscore
• Greener On Other Side
• Fake Teams
• RotoRob
• No Bias Baseball
• Outs Per Swing
• Bugs & Cranks
• Talking Chop
• Roto Junkie
• Baseball Time In Arlington
• Statistically Speaking
• Tiger Tales
• Kranepool Society
• Cubs F/X
• Roto Advice
• Chicago Cubs Online
• Baseball Legends
• Roto Professor

Please keep in mind for Rookie of the year voting, they must be of Rookie status
as defined by Major League Baseball.
http://www.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/about_mlb/rules_regulations.jsp

The stats section on ESPN allows you to droll down on stats by Rookie

• batters
• pitchers

Thus, Edinson Volquez (like Carlos Gomez in the American League) is not eligible for the Rookie of Year award. They collect 0 points in anyone who selects them for the Rookie of the Year.

National League Rookie of the Year Vote Week #4

1. Geovany Soto – 79 points
2. Kosuke Fukudome – 78 points
3. Joey Votto – 18 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 5 points, the player ranked second is assigned 3 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 1 points.

With the Chicago Cubs in need of OBP, the arrival of RF Kosuke Fukudome’s .444 OBP is just what the doctor ordered. Add-in a rookie catcher with a .415 OBP, and the Cubs look like they could run away with the NL Central. Helping these teammates rank 1st and 2nd in the NL ROY voting are OPS greater than .900 for each.” — Eric, FakeTeams

National League Rookie of the Year Vote Week #4

National League Cy Young Vote Week #4

1. Brandon Webb – 72 points
2. Tim Lincecum – 52 points
3. Ben Sheets – 35 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 5 points, the player ranked second is assigned 3 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 1 points.

Edinson Volquez – Raise your hand if you saw this one coming. Can you say unsustainable?” — Rob Blackstien, RotoRob

No Johan Santana? Not with the way these three have been pitching” — Steve Keane, Kranepool Society

Tim Lincecum – He’s on pace to finish with a 26-0 record and 233 K’s…which probably won’t happen; no matter, he’s been one of the best this season & has found ways to get wins with a limited offense behind him (it helps only have allowed 4 ER all season)” — Ken, Roto Advice

Brandon Webb – I challenge anyone to defend to me not picking a 6-0, 1.98 ERA, 41.0 IP.” — Evan, Fire Brand of American League

National League Cy Young Vote Week #4

National League Most Valuable Player Vote Week #4

1. Chase Utley – 322 points
2. Chipper Jones – 159 points
3. Albert Pujols – 101 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 14 points, the player ranked second is assigned 9 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 8 points.

Chase Utley, Twenty extra base hits from a middle infielder. Albert Pujols, Love the walks. Rafael Furcal, Keeps on Hitting” — David Pinto, Baseball Musings

National League Most Valuable Player Vote Week #4

American League Most Valuable Player Vote Week #3

1. Manny Ramirez – 382 points
2. Carlos Guillen – 132 points
3. Josh Hamilton – 59 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 14 points, the player ranked second is assigned 9 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 8 points.

The mysterious Manny Ramirez seems quite motivated right now batting .338 with a .703 slugging average. It’s not Guillen’s fault that the Tigers are off to an awful start. He is shining through the motown rubble with the second highest OBP (.471) and second highest slugging percentage (.623) in the league” — Lee, Tiger Tales

American League Cy Young Vote Week #3

1. Cliff Lee – 82 points
2. Felix Hernandez – 68 points
3. Zack Greinke – 46 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 5 points, the player ranked second is assigned 3 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 1 point.

“This was a tough call as the Indians’ Cliff Lee and the Royals’ Zach Greinke have been outstanding, but both their clubs are under .500. I can’t see myself, or the actual CY Young voters choosing a pitcher from a sub-.500 club.” — Eric , FakeTeams.com

American League Rookie of the Year Vote Week #3

1. Nick Blackburn – 70 points
2. David Murphy – 46 points
3. Jacoby Ellsbury – 45 points

The player ranked first on a ballot is assigned 5 points, the player ranked second is assigned 3 points, and the player ranked third is assigned 1 point.

“This race is bound to heat up now that Longoria is up in the majors to stay, but Ellsbury has played well so far this year. He’s showing a great eye at the plate (12 BB’s to only 4 K’s), and is running with success on the basepaths (6 SB).” — Ken Roto Advice

The following blogs contributed to the Blog Poll results::

Baseball Happenings
Baseball Musings
Seth Speaks
Fire Brand of American League
Brock For Broglio
Brew Crew Ball
Beyond The Boxscore
Greener On Other Side
Fake Teams
RotoRob
Drays Bay
No Bias Baseball
Outs Per Swing
Bugs & Cranks
Talking Chop
Roto Junkie
Baseball Time In Arlington
Warning Track Power
CardinalsDiaspora
Statistically Speaking
Tiger Tales
Kranepool Society
Cubs F/X
Roto Advice
Chicago Cubs Online
Baseball Legends
Roto Professor

Rookie Of The Year.

Evan Longoria was recalled and signed to a long term deal all in his first week. I like Jed Lowrie as well who also got the call. Still, Nick Blackburn has been the most impressive rookie so far. I can’t really say alot of people pegged him as the front runner when the season started. 1) Nick Blackburn, Jed Lowrie, 3) Evan Longoria

Cy Young

Cliff Lee is doing what CC Sabathia was supposed to be doing in his first 3 starts. Felix Hernandez is a freak talent, and is doing a Doctor K impersonation in his second year. Also, in the AL West is Ervin “Magic” Santana. 1) Felix Hernandez, 2) Cliff Lee 3) Ervin Santana

MVP

Manny has really come back this year and is flexing the power numbers once again after an absence last year. Josh Hamilton is showing if healthy he has one of the best bats in all of baseball. B.J. Upton is showing everyone that last year was not a fluke. 1) Manny Ramirez, 2) Josh Hamilton, 3) B.J. Upton

To see how out voting for week 2 went, here are the actual selections that were placed by the voters and the individual points given:

1. MVP
2. CY
3. ROY

One thing to note is the way the Cy and ROY points go, it is 5 points for a first place vote, 3 points for second, and 1 point for third. Whereas, with the MVP, it is 14 points for first, 9 for second, and 8 for third.

I based the point system similar to how the actual writers vote at the end of the year. Where the ROY and Cy Young tend to favor simply the players production, the MVP is more subjective (and controversial) to the players value to his team.

It will be interesting to keep a running summary over the course of the season on how many points each player achieves in each of these categories.

The American League’s Blog Poll second vote will be released early this week. You can find the AL’s first voting period results here.

Moreover, should a rookie that only appears in a partial season (and a smaller sample size) be compared equally to a rookie who plays the entire season? That’s what this poll might provide is a way of counting the number of times his performance is rated high throughout the season rather than an average.

Also, if you only take one checkpoint at the end of the year, how about the player who excelled early on in the year. It seems that the player who finishes the season off strong, but struggled early on gets a higher priority by voting at the end of the year only.

Like they say in polls like on the college scene, its better to lose early in the season. It seems like teams are rewarded are not entirely rated by the entire body of work. But, the teams with success at the end of the year are weighted more heavily.

Here is the list of the actual votes for week one by the representative blogs:

• Most Valuable Player
• Cy Young
• Rookie of the Year