Awards Central

Jason Michael Barker

Pedro and Jason Giambi in the AL.

Jeff Kent and Big Unit in the NL.

Was this the year the writers finally got things, er, write?

Bad pun aside, at first glance it appears they got pretty close. Pedro Martinez winning the AL Cy Young was the easiest of the four. I have yet to read an argument -- convincing or otherwise -- for any other pitcher in the league, and I don't expect one to surface in the near future.

Randy Johnson's NL Cy wasn't so clear-cut, but he was the correct choice nonetheless. There was quite a bit of talk late in the year about how Johnson's "second-half struggle" might give the award to 21-game winner Tom Glavine, but that was just silly -- the Big Unit's second half was just slightly worse than what Glavine did for the entire season. And don't even get me started about Johnson's numbers before the break.

Here's where things get a bit complicated. If I had it my way, Pedro Martinez would have won the AL Most Valuable Player each of the past two seasons. At various time this year (and last) I know I mentioned other players I'd vote for -- but upon further reflection that's just ridiculous.

People talked about Martinez having the greatest individual season by a pitcher in 1999... then he went out and pitched even better in 2000. In an era where offense is king and ballparks are small, Martinez' 1.74 ERA was nearly two runs better than his nearest competitor and a fraction of the league average.

In looking at the voting, though, you almost have to dismiss Martinez because of the silly notion the voters have about a pitcher winning the award. I think this is beginning to change -- Pedro finished fourth this year, though he only received two votes higher than fourth place -- both because of the increased importance on pitching and because Martinez is good enough to make people sit up and take notice.

That leaves us with -- in order of finish -- Jason Giambi, Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Delgado. There's certainly a case to be made for Giambi, who got on base at a .467 clip, hit 43 homers and carried the A's in September.

Rodriguez wasn't quite the hitter Giambi was in 2000, but he has one big thing going for him the other three do not -- he plays shortstop. As a group, AL shortstops hit .278/.344/.418 last season. Rodriguez hit .316/.420/.606, and that doesn't even include his stellar defense. For reference, Giambi hit .333/.476/.647 compared to .289/.381/.498 for the average AL first baseman.

Fellow first baseman Delgado had numbers very similar to Giambi's, so if you want to give Giambi the "winning team" edge that's fine with me.

Who's missing from this picture? Thomas. If you think first basemen aren't important defensively, how important are designated hitters? That's what Thomas was 127 times this season, a DH. He didn't hit as well as Delgado or Giambi either, the big difference being about 40 points of on-base percentage. Simply put, he shouldn't be anywhere near the MVP picture, and he certainly shouldn't have finished second.

I would have put them Rodriguez, Giambi, Delgado and the Manny Ramirez. Feel free to put Pedro at the front of that list and slide the others down a notch if you see fit.

It's probably better for everyone involved that Rodriguez didn't win the MVP, though. Throw in the award he should have won in 1996 and we could easily be looking at a two-time MVP winner by age 25 -- how many extra millions do you think Scott Boras could turn that into?

Isn't there an old saying about two MVP candidates on the same team splitting the vote? Looks like that wasn't the case in San Francisco, where Jeff Kent edged out fellow Giant Barry Bonds to win his first NL MVP. Before you call me Mr. Negative -- and you know who you are -- this is one I agree with. Hey, that's three out of four!

Again, it's all about positional value. Kent hit .334/.424/.596 in 2000, compared to .284/.359/.418 for the average NL second baseman. As a group, NL left fielders hit .284/.364/.490, with Bonds checking in at .306/.440/.688.

It's this same positional value that leads to my second-place choice, Mike Piazza, whose .324/.398/.614 smashed the .263/.341/.413 line put up by the average NL catcher in 2000.

Bonds? A very solid third... many years he would have walked away with the award in a landslide. It's a tough break for a guy who is a serious top-three MVP candidate every season, and has been for ten years.

Overall, a very good showing by the baseball writers. I don't agree with their AL MVP selection, but Giambi is no Ivan Rodriguez 1999 or Juan Gonzalez 1996. Speaking of payback, not a single member of the Texas Rangers received a single vote.

Now that Jason Michael Barker has finally revealed that the BBWAA has indeed succumbed to sense, maybe it's time to acknowledge his sterling efforts at education by writing him at jmb@strikethree.com.