It's award season and lots of players are looking forward to hearing their names called for specific awards. A few major ones have already been handed out, but a few crucial honors are still on the shelf. And in other baseball news, the Hot Stove is starting to heat up. We're going to go over all of this, and say some goodbyes too. So let's hit it, shall we?
Let's go over some awards for starters. The American League and National League Silver Sluggers have come out, and there weren't too many surprises. In the A.L. the winners were C Joe Mauer, 1B Miguel Cabrera, 2B Robinson Cano, 3B Adrian Beltre, SS Alexei Ramirez, OFs Jose Bautista, Carl Crawford, and Josh Hamilton, and DH Vladimir Guerrero. The only surprise here may have been Chicago White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez, who hasn't been much of a slugger in his career. But in 2010, Ramirez finished among all A.L. shortstops; first in homeruns, first in average, third in hits, and third in RBI. So by all accounts he deserved the award, he just wasn't on too many people's radar, including mine.
Over in the National League, the winners were C Brian McCann, 1B Albert Pujols, 2B Dan Uggla, 3B Ryan Zimmerman, SS Troy Tulowitzki, OFs Ryan Braun, Carlos Gonzalez, and Matt Holliday, and pitcher Yovani Gallardo. I agree with almost every single selection, except maybe Ryan Zimmerman. Now I know most of you will call me a homer because of this, but I think Mets' third-baseman David Wright may have been passed over here. Wright beat Zimmerman in hits (166-161), homeruns (29-25) RBI (106-85), runs (87-85) and stolen bases (19-4). Even Casey McGehee of the Milwaukee Brewers had more hits and more doubles than Zimmerman. True, Wright had 24 points less average than Zimmerman and nearly 70 more strikeouts, but this does not construe a runaway victory. The case can be made that Zimmerman was a bit more consistent than his two nearest competitors, but there is a case also to be made against his selection. That's all I'm saying.
The Gold Gloves awards were similar in that I had only minor grievances with the selections. In the American League the Yankees almost made a clean sweep of the infield. The honorees include C Joe Mauer, 1B Mark Texiera, 2B Robinson Cano, 3B Evan Longoria, SS Derek Jeter, OFs Carl Crawford, Ichiro Suzuki, and Franklin Gutierrez, and P Mark Buehrle. Again, I only had one problem and that is with the selection of shortstop Derek Jeter. Everyone keeps saying that he isn't the defensive player he used to be, and that he might potentially have to move to another position one day. But then he goes and wins a Gold Glove? Either everyone is wrong in their assumptions, or something isn't right with this choice, and I think it's the latter.
True, Jeter is a fine defensive SS still, and he only had 6 errors and a field percentage of .989. Those are wonderful statistics. However, he had 74 less potential outs than Yuniesky Betancourt of the Royals, and 135 less assists than Alexei Ramirez. What this means is that while Jeter still fields quite well, he isn't getting to the ball nearly as much as he used to. His range is severely restricted, and yet he is awarded for it. I love Derek Jeter, but this doesn't make sense. I personally would have liked to see the award to one of the younger, more agile shortstops, like Ramirez, or Elvis Andrus. But I don't get to vote.
In the National League, C Yadier Molina, 1B Albert Pujols, 2B Brandon Phillips, 3B Scott Rolen, SS Troy Tulowitzki, OFs Michael Bourn, Carlos Gonzalez and Shane Victorino, and P Bronson Arroyo all won. I have to say, I agree with every choice in the N.L. I'd also like to give an extra-special congratulations to the fine gentlemen who won both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger this year. It is a difficult feat to accomplish, and it means you are the best at your position in just about every aspect. Congrats also to Ichiro Suzuki who won his 10th consecutive Gold Glove, one for every year he has been in the league. That is just incredible! One can only imagine the records he might have broken had he started in America earlier.
There is other baseball news to be told, however. The Florida Marlins are making an early splash, pardon the pun. They tried to sign their Silver Slugger second-baseman Dan Uggla to a substantial contract worth $48 million over 4 years. The second-baseman declined the offer, though. Now I know most of you will take umbrage at a baseball players scoffing at $48 million, but as one MLB Network commentator put it, you have to put it in perspective. Now the perspective is skewed for sure, but if you go by the numbers, Uggla had his best statistical year ever in 2010. His potential ceiling could be even higher, and he is proving to be possibly one of the best hitting second-basemen of all-time. Does that mean he needs to make more than $12 million? I have no idea. But it appears that it is more than the Marlins are willing to spend, because I just found out while writing this segment that the Atlanta Braves just acquired Dan Uggla by trading Omar Infante and lefty reliever Mike Dunn. This seems awfully lopsided toward the Braves advantage, but I don't know much about Mike Dunn, and the report I just read doesn't say much about him. The coming days should shed some light on this deal. But as of right now, the Marlins really screwed up this deal, and the deals that shipped Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller out of town aren't looking too bright either.
Finally, a sad farewell to two of baseball's finest. Seattle play-by-play man Dave Niehaus and ultimate-utility man Ed Fitzpatrick both passed away this week. Fitzpatrick played from '62-'77 for the Angels, Royals, Pirates, Rangers, and Brewers and did just about everything on the field. He played catcher, outfielder and first-baseman. He even played 2B and 3B a couple of times. He was the kind of guy you wanted on your team, because he gave it all at whatever you asked him to do. Likewise, Dave Niehaus gave everything he could to the fans of Seattle baseball. In 2008 he was honored with the Ford C. Frick award for excellence in baseball broadcasting. He was the first person to call Alex Rodriguez A-Rod, and constantly told the Seattle faithful to "Get out the rye bread and mustard, Grandma, it is grand salami time!" whenever a grand slam occurred. Both of these men will be missed by much of the baseball world. But we should also be thankful for what they gave us while they were here. Thanks guys. And thank you for reading. More awards are coming out in the next few days, so stay tuned folks.
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