The 2011 Options: No-Brainers?

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As Twins fans know, there are two players who have options for the 2011 season. Nick Punto’s option is for $5 million with a $500,000 buyout. Jason Kubel has an option for $5.25 million with a $325,000 buyout.

Upon first glance, both appear to be no-brainer decisions. Punto, who turns 33 years old next in November, was hurt a lot in 2010, and he struggled when healthy. It would seem a no-brainer to give Punto $500K and let him become a free agent. Kubel has become a veteran who can hit for power, drive in runs and although realistically and primarily a DH, he can play the two corner outfield positions. Still just 28, it would seem a no-brainer to pick up his very reasonable option. Are we certain that they really are both no-brainer decisions? Should they be? Let’s look:

NICK PUNTO

Let’s start with the one that I am more certain is a no-brainer. In the last two years, he has played in 125 and 88 games. He has hit .228 and .238. His OPS has been .621 and .615. Each of those numbers says that it is a no-brainer to decline the option. But with Punto, there is the defense, and that excellent defense is worth something in terms of dollars. If he could post a .725 OPS as he did in 2006, or a .726 OPS as he did in 2008, while playing 125 or more games and playing that kind of defense, he is worth $5 million or more. If Orlando Hudson is not brought back (which we assume he won’t), the second base job is open. They could give it to Alexi Casilla and hope he can handle the starting gig. They could open up a competition between Casilla, Luke Hughes, Trevor Plouffe and Steve Singleton for the second base job. Or, they could pick up Nick Punto’s option and let him play 2B again where he is a great glove, and let him bat ninth where his lack of offense will not hurt the team.

Would I pick up his option? No. I would decline the option.

Would I consider bringing him back at a lesser cost? Maybe. The going rate for a good utility infielder is $1.5 to $2 million. Would you consider bringing him back in 2011 at $1.25 million base, plus incentives based on plate appearances that would max out at about $4 million if he gets 500+ at bats? If he plays that much, it would most likely be because he has earned it, most likely defensively. There is this perception that if he’s on the roster, Gardy will play him as a starter. However, Punto has regularly been a utility player for the team and only started when someone else did not come through. So unlike in previous years, I don’t think they need to let Punto go “to protect Gardy from himself” as they maybe had to in the past.

What do I think the Twins will do?  I really think they will try to negotiate a lesser deal with him, as much as protected in case Casilla does not run with the starting opportunity the way we may hope. This team does value defense, and there are not many better than Punto with a glove. Some say that Matt Tolbert can fill the role, and maybe he can. But Tolbert isn’t as good defensively at any of the three infield positions, not even close. And really, he’s not better than Punto offensively either.

So, maybe it isn’t a complete no-brainer after all. But it should be.

JASON KUBEL

Kubel broke out in 2009, hitting .300 with a .907 OPS, 35 doubles, 28 homers and 103 RBI. In 2010, those numbers dropped. He hit just .249 with a .750 OPS. He had 23 doubles and 21 homers, but he still came through with 92 RBI. The season was disappointing and yet still he was a run producer. $5.25 million is a very fair salary for what he has done. In 2010, he had to play much more in RF than he has had to, and although he has little range, he makes the plays he gets to and has a strong arm. His inability to hit left-handers was certainly exposed (and maybe exaggerated?) in the playoffs the last two years when he has had to face CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte. The Twins still have four outfielders for the three outfield positions and the DH spot, however, the best position for three of them is probably DH. Will the Twins look to improve their OF defense and team speed in the offseason? Will Jim Thome be back, or will the team consider more veteran bats, including more right-handers? These questions all will have to be considered when deciding whether to pick up Kubel’s option. But one other factor needs to be addressed. If the Twins were to non-tender Kubel, he qualifies as a Type A free agent, and likely someone would give him a multi-year deal at an annual salary of over the $5.25 million. The Twins could offer him arbitration and receive two draft picks for him.

Would I pick up his option? Absolutely. It’s a very fair (meaning low!) price for a player who has produced offensively as Kubel has the last three years. There is a reason that he is a Type A!

What do I think the Twins will do? They will pick it up. That said, by picking up the option, it doesn’t guarantee he’ll be back with the Twins in 2011. He could still be traded.

This one definitely feels like it is a no-brainer, but there could be a small chance (thanks to the Type A status) that they could decline the option to clear an OF position and gain some draft picks. There is also a small chance that the Twins will sign me as their next DH… I think the odds of the Twins signing me are only percentage points smaller than the odds that they don’t pick up Kubel’s option.

—————————————————————-

So yes, in summary, I do think that both are, and should be, at least near-no brainers… what do you think? Comment here.

Hamilton, Votto Win Stan Musial Awards

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Press Release

Contact: Daniel Shoptaw                                                               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
E-mail: baseballbloggersalliance@gmail.com                                  

3 P.M. EDT, October 28, 2010

HAMILTON, VOTTO TAKE HOME STAN MUSIAL AWARD

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance concluded their award season today by naming the best player in each league for 2010.  When all the votes were tallied, two men were comfortably ahead.

Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton, who hit 32 home runs and fashioned an OPS of 1.044 while leading the Rangers into the playoffs, won the award in the American League.  Hamilton received sixteen first place votes and 261 points overall, which put him ahead of his nearest competitor, Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, by roughly 70 points.

In the National League, helping Cincinnati to an unexpected divisional title paid off for first baseman Joey Votto.  After a season where he cracked 37 home runs and posted a 1.024 OPS, Votto also received sixteen first-place votes toward his total of 252 points.  He also denied St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols the chance to win back-to-back BBA awards.  Pujols was selected as MVP by the BBA in 2009, but placed second with 197 points in this year’s voting.

Winners of other Alliance awards also received votes in the Musial balloting.  In the American League, Walter Johnson winner Felix Hernandez received 21 points, while Goose Gossage selection Rafael Soriano had a single mention.  On the senior circuit, Walter Johnson winner Roy Halladay placed fourth in the voting with 101 points.

The complete voting results are as follows (first place votes in parenthesis):
American League
Josh Hamilton, Texas (16) 261
Miguel Cabrera, Detroit (4) 188
Robinson Cano, New York 158
Jose Bautista, Toronto (1) 146
Adrian Beltre, Boston 107
Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay (1) 102
Paul Konerko, Chicago 65
Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay 56
Joe Mauer, Minnesota 50
Shin-Soo Choo, Cleveland 44
Felix Hernandez, Seattle 21
Vladimir Guerrero, Texas 13
Justin Morneau, Minnesota 12
Delmon Young, Minnesota 10
Cliff Lee, Seattle/Texas 8
CC Sabathia, New York 8
Alex Rodriguez, New York 7
Clay Buchholz, Boston 4
Mark Teixeria, New York 3
Jon Lester, Boston 2
Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle 2
Nick Swisher, New York 2
Jim Thome, Minnesota 2
Kevin Youkilis, Boston 2
Brett Gardner, New York 1
David Ortiz, Boston 1
Rafael Soriano, Tampa Bay 1

National League
Joey Votto, Cincinnati (16) 252
Albert Pujols, St. Louis (3) 197
Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado (1) 118
Roy Halladay, Philadelphia (1) 101
Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego 98
Troy Tulowitski, Colorado 98
Ryan Zimmerman, Washington 93
Matt Holliday, St. Louis 84
Aubrey Huff, San Francisco 32
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis 17
Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado 16
Josh Johnson, Florida 16
Dan Uggla, Florida 16
Jayson Werth, Philadelphia 16
Ryan Braun, Milwaukee 13
Prince Fielder, Milwaukee 10
Ryan Howard, Philadelphia 9
Martin Prado, Atlanta 7
Jason Heyward, Atlanta 6
Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee 5
David Wright, New York 5
Adam Dunn, Washington 4
Kelly Johnson, Arizona 4
Andres Torres, San Francisco 1
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was formed in the fall of 2009 to encourage cooperation and collaboration between baseball bloggers of all major league teams as well as those that follow baseball more generally. As of this writing, the organization consists of 233 blogs spanning all 30 major league squads as well as general baseball writing.

The BBA is organized under a similar structure as the Baseball Writers of America, where blogs that follow the same team are combined into “chapters” and only two votes from the chapter on an award are counted. The blog chapters that are focused on general baseball were allowed two votes as well, which they could use both on the same league or split between the two leagues.

Chapters generally followed one of two methods when casting their ballot.  Either representatives of the chapter were given the ballots for voting or a “group ballot” was posted, accounting for both of their votes.

Ballots are posted on the respective blogs and for this award, were tabulated on a 13-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 point scale for first through tenth place. In the interest of transparency, links are given below for the ballots. Chapter affiliation is in parenthesis.  Those chapters that decided on the group method are noted with an asterisk.

American League
Camden Crazies (Baltimore)*
The Bottom Line (Boston)*
The Tribe Daily (Cleveland)*
Motor City Bengals (Detroit)
Switch Hitting Pitchers (Detroit)
One Royal Way (Kansas City)*
Twinkie Talk (Minnesota)
Seth Speaks (Minnesota)
Bronx Baseball Daily (New York)*
Contract Year (Oakland)
Rise of the Rays (Tampa Bay)
Infield Fly (Toronto)
The Blue Jay Hunter (Toronto)
Advanced Fantasy Baseball (Fantasy)*
Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (Other)*
Misc. Baseball (History)*
Blogging From The Bleachers (General)*

National League
Blog Red Machine (Cincinnati)
Marlin Maniac (Florida)
Marlins Diehards (Florida)
Feeling Dodger Blue (Los Angeles)
The Eddie Kranepool Society (New York)*
Dugger’s Corner (Philadelphia)
Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? (Pittsburgh)*
The Outfield Ivy (St. Louis)
Pitchers Hit Eighth (St. Louis)
Friar Forecast (San Diego)*
22gigantes (San Francisco)*
Advanced Fantasy Baseball (Fantasy)*
Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (Other)*
Misc. Baseball (History)*
Ron Kaplan’s Baseball Bookshelf (Miscellaneous)*
Blogging From The Bleachers (General)*

Prior Winners:  2009: Joe Mauer, Minnesota; Albert Pujols, St. Louis

The official website of the BBA is located at www.baseballbloggersalliance.com.  The BBA can be found on Twitter by the handle @baseballblogs and by the hashmark #bbba.  Members of the BBA may be heard at Blog Talk Radio every Tuesday night with their call-in show, BBA Baseball Talk, which may also be downloaded as a podcast from iTunes.  For more information, contact Daniel Shoptaw at founder@baseballbloggersalliance.com.

Any thoughts, please feel free to Comment Here.

Over/Under: The Bullpen

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If you pick up a copy of the TwinsCentric 2010-11 Offseason GM Handbook, you’ll note that one area with a lot of quality free agent options is in the bullpen. When the World Series comes to an end, several members of the Twins bullpen will file for free agency. They are Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Jon Rauch, Brian Fuentes, Randy Flores, Ron Mahay and Clay Condrey. How many of them will be back? How many would you want back?  I am confident that Pat Neshek will come back with a vengeance in 2010. But what will Joe Nathan be capable of? How much will Matt Capps cost? Despite several ups and downs, I am a big believer in Jose Mijares. I believe in Alex Burnett and Anthony Slama, Kyle Waldrop and Rob Delaney. Where do Glen Perkins, Jeff Manship and other your arms fit into the equation? I’ve already spent a lot of words this offseason discussing the bullpen. It is going to be a lot of fun to watch it evolve over the offseason.

Today, I want to look at the Twins free agent bullpen arms and play a game of Over/Under. Hopefully many of your will head to the comments and put your guesses out there. I’ll put the name of the pitcher, a couple of thoughts, and then the contract I expect them to get this offseason, from someone… And what I’d like you to do is tell me if you think that the contract is too high or too low. That could be too many years, or too many dollars per year. Here we go:

Jesse Crain – 3 years, $11 million. He’s still young. He throws hard. That slider and curveball combination took off after a slow start. He could be a dominant set up guy and some team could see him as a closer.

Matt Guerrier – 1 year, $2.5 million – I think the fact that he’s a Type A Free Agent actually hurts him. I can’t imagine a team willing to give up a pick in the bottom half of the first round for a non-strikeout reliever. Maybe a team that is going to pick up a couple more Type A free agents could, and it would cost them a 2^nd or 3^rd round pick? So I think that the Twins have some room to work here.

Jon Rauch – 1 year, $3 million – He has more closing experience. Outside of the time from the All Star break until after the trade deadline, Rauch was pretty solid. But it’s hard for me to imagine any team’s GM thinking that Rauch should get a closer’s contract.

Brian Fuentes – 1 year, $6 million – Fuentes has a lot of closer experience and he absolutely dominates left-handers. He has a ton of value to a team either as a closer or as a set up man. He seems to be in some strange middle ground place now. At his age, he may not be paid quite like a closer, and yet, his closer experience could get him paid more than even the top free agent closers. He’s also already in his upper 30s.

Ron Mahay – Minor League Deal – $850,000 if in big leagues – This is basically what he got this year from the Twins when he signed in spring training. He is a veteran. He is left-handed. His numbers were significantly better than the level of confidence most Twins had in him.

Randy Flores – Minor League Deal – $800,000 if in big leagues – Yeah, he was pretty bad for the Twins, but his numbers in Colorado were solid when they put him on waivers. He’ll get a shot somewhere.

Clay Condrey – Minor League Deal – $800,000 if in big leagues – Condrey’s 2010 season was lost due to injury and set back and more injury. But I think that it could make sense to bring in a veteran ground ball machine on a minor league deal. There is almost no risk in such a deal, and they could keep him in the minor leagues early in the season if appropriate. I would have no problem if the Twins brought him into spring training.

So there you go. Obviously the primary discussion players would be Crain, Guerrier, Rauch and Fuentes. Would you go with the Over or the Under compared with my projections? What would you do with those players? Feel free to Discuss and Comment here.

Locking Up Liriano

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On Tuesday, Twins top starter Francisco Liriano turned 27 years old. It’s almost hard to believe that he is just 27 years old as 2006 seasons like so long ago. The magical rookie campaign of the Dominican left-hander started with so much promise and ended with the uncertainty of Tommy John Surgery. He missed all of the 2007 season. 2008 and 2009 were filled with ups and downs. As Dan Wade pointed out on the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast last night, the uncertainty with Liriano in 2010 could be summed up by his 2010 contract which included two separate incentive structures, one if he was a starter, the other if he was pitching out of the bullpen. We also found it very unfortunate that many Twins fans are saying that Liriano is not an ace (and more silly, that he never could be) because of a bad 5^th inning in October, rather than looking at what he did over 190+ innings from April through the end of September.

I’m not one to dig too deep into the stats, but after two straight seasons of being an extreme fly ball pitcher, Liriano was able to coax over 53% ground balls in 2010. His Batting Average on Balls in Play was .340, and much higher than other pitchers. He walked very few (2.72 per 9 innings) and struck out 9.44 per nine innings. He gave up just nine home runs over his 191.2 innings. He posted a tremendous .266 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) which takes out things that a pitcher can’t control such as his team’s defense. That was one of baseball’s best. In summary, Liriano was one of the top ten pitchers in the league in 2011. He appears to be close to what he was in 2006, which is saying a ton.

FanGraphs.com also posts a value that each player earned during the 2010 season. In its calculated estimate, Liriano earned $24 million in 2010. The Twins had signed him for $1.6 million in his first arbitration season. That brings me to the point of discussion for today’s blog. Should the Twins look to lock up Francisco Liriano to a long term contract this offseason in an attempt to lock him up through his final two seasons of arbitration and through a couple of his potential free agent years?

To help with the discussion, I am including one of piece of my Blueprint for the Twins offseason. In the TwinsCentric Offseason GM Handbook, each of us posted our Blueprint for the Twins offseason. Mine includes nine points which includes transactions involving over 40 names. If you want to see the other eight blueprint ideas, be sure to secure your copy of the TwinsCentric Offseason GM Handbook.

Anyway, I do believe that the Twins would be wise to strongly attempt to sign Liriano to a four year contract extension. I think that the four year contracts signed the last two offseasons by Zack Greinke of the Royals and Josh Johnson of the Marlins should be good comparative deals in negotiations with the Twins talented left-hander. Is there risk? Of course. What is the value of cost certainty? How much do the Twins believe in the future of Liriano? These are questions they will have to consider. But for today, as we did in the TwinsCentric Offseason GM Handbook, I want to put you in the role of the Twins GM and would appreciate your thoughts on if the Twins should lock up Liriano or go year-to-year. Here is the 5^th of my nine transactions in the Offseason GM Handbook for a little background.

5) Sign Francisco Liriano to four-year, $40 million extension.

Liriano is entering his second season of arbitration eligibility and our estimates have him getting $4.5M. Liriano has ace potential and it showed again during a strong 2010 season. Let me submit to you the following chart for your consideration: 

Zack Greinke			Josh Johnson			Francisco Liriano
ARB 1 (08)	1.4M		ARB 1 (09)	1.4M		ARB 1 (10)	1.6M
2009	3.75M		2010	3.75M		2011	4M
2010	7.25M		2011	7.75M		2012	8M
2011	13.5M		2012	13.75M		2013	14M
2012	13.5M		2013	13.75M		2014	14M

 Yes, there is risk with Liriano physically. But Josh Johnson also had Tommy John surgery, and Greinke’s battle with depression early in his career is certainly noteworthy in this discussion of risk. Liriano returned to his 2006 form in 2010, and he is primed for a breakout 2011 season. All three of these pitchers will be 27 years old throughout the season.

What do you do? Feel free to Discuss and Comment here. You can also e-mail me.

Fox Joins SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast

As mentioned above, Dan Wade joined the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast last night. We asked, How did the Twins win over 90 games in 2010 (considering several injuries and several disappointing seasons). We also started looking to the 2010 season and discussed ‘Aces.’ But we led off last night’s podcast being joined by Matt Fox. Fox got the spot start for the Twins on the Friday night before Labor Day against the Rangers. The Twins had been hurt by short starts and extra inning games and found themselves short a pitcher. Fox was the surprise call-up and came through by giving up two runs on four hits and a walk in 5.2 innings. Two days later the Twins Designated him for Assigment and a few days later, he was claimed by the Boston Red Sox and he spent the rest of the season with that team. Fox was on the show for about 20 minutes and recalled his debut, his time with the Twins and much much more. It was great to catch up with him again. Please tune in to the show for those two guests and plenty of Twins talk, and feel free to let me know what you think.

AFL UPDATE

Ben Revere went 2-3 to raise his batting average to .413. He also stole his sixth and seventh bases.

SethSpeaks.net Stan Musial Award Ballot (AL MVP)

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance has now named its first awards of the season, and just one is yet to be announced. First, the Connie Mack Awards for top manager went to Ron Washington and Bud Black. Then Neftali Feliz and Buster Posey won the Willie Mays Awards for each league’s top rookies. The Goose Gossage Awards for top relievers went to Rafael Soriano and Brian Wilson. Yesterday, the Walter Johnson Awards, given to each league’s top pitcher, were handed out to Felix Hernandez and Roy Halladay.

That leaves just one more award to give, the Stan Musial Award which is akin to the Most Valuable Player Awards. I have one of two Twins Blogger ballots for this award. The other was from “Fetch” at Twinkie Talk, which you can see here. And here is my vote:

STAN MUSIAL AWARD BALLOT

This was a really difficult vote. Before doing the research, I jotted down who I thought would be my Top 5, and to be honest, after doing the research, the top four were pretty easy choices, but it was difficult to determine what order they should be in. From four through ten, it was more difficult.

But first, my thoughts on the MVP award. It seems that everybody has a different definition of “value” and what an MVP should be. And that’s why it’s great, because it creates a ton of discussion. And that’s why it’s frustrating, because it can be difficult to determine the differences in value between two or more players. I do not believe that an MVP has to be from a playoff team. I do believe that an MVP should be from a team that was competitive through most of the season. In other words, that means that guys like Luke Scott, Billy Butler and Shin-Soo Choo tend to be overlooked despite some very strong seasons. I believe that a pitcher can get votes, but in order to finish in the top ten, a pitcher needs to be beyond dominant. I believe that no one statistic is the right measure for an MVP. I also believe that you need to look at a multitude of stats to really make a decision. I think those stats should be a combination of counting stats and rate stats along with some of the advanced metrics. I believe that there were a lot of very good players in 2010 in the American League, and just because a player does not finish in the Top 10 does not mean they didn’t have a good year or somehow was disappointing. I also believe that salary and expectations should play no factor in the vote.  I also believe there is room for intangibles in the vote and yet, that should be used in a tie-breaking type of situation. I mean, if someone like Derek Jeter and Milton Bradley put identical numbers up, I have no problem with giving the edge to the “leadership” of Jeter. But I can’t reiterate enough that ‘intangibles’ are not a big percentage at all in any MVP discussion.

So what numbers did I look at? As you know, some of the MVP candidates missed some time, and I do believe that has to be noted. So I looked at games played and plate appearances. I took a glance at extra base hits and home runs. I know RBI are a product of having runners on in front of them, but someone has to drive in runs. I looked at the triple slash numbers (BA/OBP/SLG) and OPS. I also looked at Runs Created, and RC27. I looked a wOBA. I wanted to look at positional variation, so I reviewed WAR (Wins Above Replacement) and VORP (Value Over Replacement Player). I looked at Win Probability Added to determine “clutchness” throughout the season. I also looked a little bit at defense by looking at UZR. Like I said, I don’t want any formula based on these things, but wanted to be able to compare and contrast.

Finally, I contacted a few bloggers from some of the teams of players that I had some questions about, and all of that put together helped me to come up with my Stan Musial Ballot. We were asked to vote for the top ten (which is the same thing that the Baseball Writers do when they vote for MVP). Here is my ballot:

#10 – Joe Mauer – Minnesota Twins – .327/.402/.469

Yes, the home run numbers dropped from his 2009 MVP season, but contrary to popular belief, Mauer had another very good 2010 season. His VORP was at 50.5 which is in the top eight in the league. He creates runs. He is clutch with a WPA of 2.45 which is top ten in the league. He also does a very good job behind the plate. Was it a down year from a remarkable 2009 season? Sure. Does that mean it was a bad year? Not at all.

#9 – Nick Swisher – New York Yankees – .288/.359/.511

People wondered what the personality of Swisher would do in New York. He struggled some in 2009, but in 2010, he put together his best season. It was also his most consistent season. That was important to the Yankees since Derek Jeter had a down year, and A-Rod and Mark Teixeira each had struggles and injuries throughout the season.

#8 – Evan Longoria – Tampa Bay Rays – .294/.372/.507

The Rays were the top team in the league and they were really carried by two players on offense. Longoria provided the power with 46 doubles and 22 home run. He created a lot of runs. He was clutch, and he played a terrific 3B defensively. Despite his youth, Longoria turned into a real leader on the 2010 Rays roster.

#7 – Adrian Beltre – Boston Red Sox – .321/.365/.553

Beltre was a free agent last offseason and signed a make-good deal with the Red Sox. Beltre made good, to be sure. First, he remained one of baseball’s best defensive 3B. However, he also led the league with 49 doubles while added 28 home runs.

#6 – Paul Konerko – Chicago White Sox – .312/.393/.584

I know, he plays for the White Sox, but he seems like a good guy. And he had a tremendous 2010 season, arguably the best of his career. Konerko hit 39 home runs and drove in 111 runs. He was in the top five in the league in WPA, and despite playing the hitter-friendly 1B, he had a VORP of 64.2. If he played another position, he would rank higher with these numbers. Of course, he’s not a great first baseman defensively, with a -13.4 UZR. But the end of the day, Konerko was again the best hitter and the leader of the White Sox.

#5 – Robinson Cano – New York Yankees – .319/.381/.534

Of course, the Yankees were only one game behind the Rays as the best team in the league, and Cano was clearly the best player on the Yankees roster. The second baseman hit 41 doubles, hit 29 home runs and drove in 109 runs. He was clutch, and he was consistent. His defense improved, although his UZR was still slightly below 0 (-0.6).

#4 – Jose Bautista – Toronto Blue Jays – .260/.378/.617

I think we were all assuming that Bautista’s dream season would eventually end with him waking up and reality setting in, but it never did. 35 doubles and 54 home runs later, he ended the season as the Blue Jays all-time single season home run leader. He was third in the league in OPS. He was second in the league in runs created. He was in the top three in Win Probability added. Now, his defense in right field and at 3B were both slightly sub-par, but when you’re providing this kind of offense, adequate defense is way more than adequate! The softball-swinging Jays may have finished fourth in the AL East, but they had a record above .500 and must of the credit for that is Bautista.

#3 – Carl Crawford – Tampa Bay Rays – .307/.356/.495

Crawford is just a solid all-around player, and he put together a great season for the Rays. He hit 30 doubles, 13 triples and 19 home runs. He drove in 90 runs. He stole 47 bases. He was very clutch. And defensively, his 18.5 UZR is far and away the best of anyone who could even be considered an MVP candidate. Since the Rays were the best team in the league, the “Best Player on the Best Team” argument would push us to Crawford.

#2 – Miguel Cabrera – Detroit Tigers – .328/.420/.622

If the Detroit Tigers had been in contention into September, Cabrera would probably be considered a front runner, but like our #1, Cabrera’s season ended a little early too. But Cabrera put together another incredible season of offensive numbers. He had 45 doubles, 38 homers and led the league with 126 RBI. He led the league in Runs Created at 133.3. His 6.93 WPA was second in the league as was his .429 wOBA and 79 VORP. After a disappointing end to his 2009 season, Cabrera came back with another great season, even if his 1B defense is pretty bad.

#1 – Josh Hamilton – Texas Rangers – .359/.411/.633

I thought missing much of September would hurt Hamilton’s case in my head, but a review of all of the things I mentioned told me that he was still, far-and-away the league’s top player and most valuable player. Despite the missed time, Hamilton’s 40 doubles, 32 home runs and 100 RBI were still among league leaders. He led the league in batting average (.359), slugging percentage (.633), OPS (1.044), RC27 (9.59), wOBA (.447), WAR (8.0), WPA (9.31) and VORP (80.5). And he plays a very good defense with a 7.9 UZR. The Rangers were a semi-surprise team in 2010 in that the Angels had really dominated the AL West in recent years. Hamilton led the Rangers to an easy win in the division.

Feel free to Discuss and Comment here.

SethSpeaks.net Site Update

Good Monday Morning everyone!

Before I get too far, I am currently unable to post at the normal site (www.SethSpeaks.net). So this morning, I am only posting here. I’m not sure what’s going on there, and I hope that it is something I can figure out soon.

But I did want to touch base with the readers today. Last week was a tough week. I think I only posted twice on SethSpeaks.net, hosted a podcast and posted once on StarTribune.com’s TwinsCentric blog. I won’t get into too much, but I did go to the ER twice, once on Monday morning, and once on Friday night. As of right now (Sunday evening), everything is fine, and I hope that remains to be the case.  (I could write a blog about my ER experiences!! But I don’t want to bore people too much!) But please understand that some of the lack of content was for that reason.

For instance, I got football picks from most of our panelists, and I have them all figured out. I just was not able to post them on Friday or Saturday, and when I tried on Sunday, it wasn’t working. But do know that the panel did send in its picks.

By the way, those of you who pre-ordered your TwinsCentric Offseason GM Handbook should either have received your copy or will be receiving it very soon. Obviously I’ve had a chance to review it, and it is something that we are really proud of. This is the publication that, a year ago with its first version, really opened up a lot of tremendous opportunities for TwinsCentric.  This year’s version is really exciting, and yet really different. Last year, we didn’t know how much the payroll would go up, so we could project and contemplate adding the likes of JJ Hardy, or keeping Carl Pavano, or adding someone like Felipe Lopez… or Orlando Hudson. This year, things are different. Payroll will not go up by 50% again this year. There are a lot of free agents and arbitration-eligibles. There are a lot of question marks. What’s going to happen? Well, hopefully the TwinsCentric Offseason GM Handbook will help navigate you through this offseason. For those that have not ordered it yet, you can still go to TwinsCentric.com and pick up last year’s Handbook for FREE, and when the World Series is complete, you can order your copy of the 2010-11 TwinsCentric GM Handbook.  Of course, we do want to thank you for all of your support.

Speaking of the offseason, the Zack Greinke rumors are already in full gear. Apparently the Twins are among the teams that Greinke would accept a trade to. There is talk that due to his social anxiety disorder, he would prefer to stay in a small market. Travis Aune or TravisTwinsTalk.blogspot.com tells me that he has heard rumors of a potential deal involving Greinke and David DeJesus coming to the Twins in exchange for Kevin Slowey, Delmon Young and Aaron Hicks. Very interesting in theory. But of course, we don’t know what’s really going on in any negotiations, or frankly, if there have  been any discussions between the Twins and Royals. Remember, it was only days after the conclusion of last year’s World Series that the Twins and Brewers consummated their Hardy/Gomez trade. Things can start happening quickly, and although I don’t know a percent-likelihood that Greinke is in a Twins uniform in 2011 (and 2012), but it definitely sounds like there is a legitimate chance.

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE UPDATE

The Peoria Saguaros have played pretty poorly as a team. Most of the Twins minor leaguers on their roster understand a team playing poorly. But here is a quick update of how the seven Twins players have done in the first two weeks:

• Ben Revere – OF – In ten games, Revere is 16-39 (.410/.477/.513) with two doubles and a triple. He has five walks with four strikeouts. He is also 5-5 in stolen base attempts. In one four game stretch, he went 11-18.
• Chris Parmelee – 1B – In nine games, he is 9-34 (.265/.359/.412) with three doubles and a triple. He also had a stretch where he went 6-14. He has five walks and nine strikeouts.
• Joe Benson – OF – In seven games, he is 4-20 (.200/.238/.350) with three doubles. He has zero walks and six strikeouts.
• David Bromberg – RH SP – He has made two starts and thrown six innings. He has given up six runs on 14 hits. He has walked one and struck out five.
• Carlos Gutierrez – RH RP – In five relief appearances, he has thrown 3.2 innings. He has given up four runs on four hits. He’s walked two and struck out two.
• Tyler Robertson – LH RP – In four relief appearances, he has given up five runs in five innings. He has given up eight hits, walked three and struck out three.
• Kyle Waldrop – RH RP – In six innings over four relief appearances, he has given up six runs on seven hits. He has walked two and struck out three.

Each of the four pitchers has ERAs over 9.00 or higher. Obviously that isn’t ideal, but when the most innings any has pitched is six, obviously we can’t make too much of the numbers.

WORLD SERIES THOUGHTS

I am completely in shock that MLB and the FOX executives allowed a situation where the Yankees and Phillies, or at least one of them, isn’t in the World Series. Fortunately for the Rangers’ fans, their team just dominated Game 6, and despite the Yankees tying the game 1-1 on another bad umpire call, the Rangers came up with some huge hits down the stretch.

The Giants continued to get strong pitching in Game 6 even with a bad, short start by Jonathan Sanchez. And they got just enough hitting to beat the Phillies, a team that seemingly forgot how to hit for these six games.

The Phillies seemed to forget how to hit in the NLCS. The Yankees seemed to forget how to hit in the ALCS. The Giants have great pitchers in Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. The Rangers have a great pitcher in Cliff Lee. But as we continue to learn in playoff series, it’s often the other guys who help propel a team in the playoffs. Guys like Colby Lewis and Cody Ross are not great players. They’re solid big leaguers, but they got this opporunity and they came through. Josh Hamilton was horrible in the ALDS. He was terrific in winning the ALCS MVP. Mark Teixeira went 2-27 in this year’s playoffs before he pulled a hamstring and could not play the last two games.

So, who is going to win the World Series? Who knows?  It will be fun to watch, and that’s all that matters. Because as I’ve heard somewhere… the playoffs are unscripted. CJ Wilson could be MVP. Juan Uribe could be MVP. You just don’t know. So, again, hopefully we get to watch some good ball games.

With that, I am going to get some sleep. By the way, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians finale was awesome! And, how about those Brad Childress comments directed at Brett Favre after last night’s penalty-filled loss to the Packers. Things could get interesting at Winter Park!

Have a great week!! Hopefully I’ll be able to keep posting!! And as always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com.

Playoff Perspective: Mauer vs Puckett

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Joe Mauer has taken a lot of abuse by many Twins fans since his 3-12 (with three singles, none terribly important) performance against the Yankees in the ALDS. At the time, I was frustrated by his lack of emotion, and the team’s lack of a big hit when needed.

Last night, Giants rookie catcher Buster Posey notched four hits and has really become a star in the playoffs. He has played pretty well, to be sure. And like Mauer (and Matt Wieters), there was no question when Posey came up that he would star.

I’ve received more text messages and Twitter messages and e-mails saying that Buster Posey is a better player than Joe Mauer and he can come through when it matters.

Now, as I’ve mentioned, I’ve been tough at times on Mauer, wanting more, wanting to see emotion, hoping for something big. But taking a step back, he is the Twins most clutch hitter throughout his career with the Twins. He has come up with a ton of big hits when they matter. He has won games, and started huge rallies. He has also failed in a lot of situations. He’s about a career .325 hitter, and in big situations he is right around a .325 hitter. That still means he is going to fail over 60% of the time.

Michael Jordan is known for all the big shots he would hit at the end of games to give his team a win. We don’t mention all of the big shots he missed at the end of games.

What Joe Mauer needs is a defining playoff moment. Something that will let people forget the struggles. Something like a walk-off homer, or a bases-clearing double in the late innings of a playoff game.

If we know one thing, he will get plenty of opportunities in his time with the Twins and at some point, he’ll come through in a big way.

What he needs is a Kirby Puckett moment. Game 6 was Puckett’s time to shine in the World Series, wasn’t it? In 1987 against the Cardinals, he went 4-4 in game six. In 1991, he had the “carry the team on his back” game where he went 3-4 with stolen base, a triple and the walk-off, “we’ll see you tomorrow night” home run off of Charlie Liebrandt and the Braves.

But what if those series never got to six games? How would we view Puckett? Would he still be a Hall of Famer?

Here is a quick look at his four playoff series during his career, game by game:

1987 American League Championship Series versus the Detroit Tigers:

• In Game 1, Puckett went 1-4.
• In Game 2, Puckett went 0-4.
• In Game 3, Puckett went 0-5.
  • Let’s stop there for a moment. Had that been the end of the series, he would have ended it 1-13 (.077).
• In Game 4, he was 2-5 with a solo home run.
• In Game 5, he went 2-6.

1987 World Series versus the St. Louis Cardinals:

• In Game 1, Puckett went 1-5.
• In Game 2, Puckett went 1-4.
• In Game 3, Puckett went 1-3, with a walk and a triple.
• In Game 4, Puckett went 1-4 and was hit by a pitch.
• In Game 5, Puckett went 0-4.
  • So again, had the World Series ended in St. Louis after just five games, Puckett would have been 4-20 (.200) with one extra base hit.
• Then came Game 6, back at the Metrodome, and he went 4-4 with a stolen base.
• In Game 7, he was 2-4 with a double.

1991 American League Championship Series versus the Toronto Blue Jays:

• In Game 1, Puckett was 0-4.
• In Game 2, he went 1-3 with a walk.
  • I have to make my point quicker in this case because this was quite the series for Puckett. But through two games, he was 1-7 (.143).
• In Game 3, Puckett went 2-5 with a double.
• In Game 4, he went 3-4 with a home run.
• In Game 5, he went 3-5 with a home run.

1991 World Series versus the Atlanta Braves:

• In Game 1, Puckett went 0-4.
• In Game 2, Puckett went 0-4.
• In Game 3, Puckett was 1-4 with two walks and a solo home run.
• In Game 4, Puckett was 1-4.
• In Game 5, Puckett was 1-2 with A SACRIFICE BUNT!! Maybe someone can go back in Archives and find out what the likes of Patrick Reusse and Dan Barriero write about Puckett’s sacrifice bunt attempt in Game 5 of the World Series!!
  • So here we are, through five games of the World Series, and Kirby Puckett has gone just 3-18 (.167). How would Twitter be treating him!! Would Twins Nation have been calling for Jarvis Brown to be taking over centerfield duties!?
• In Game 6, as we all recall as if it was yesterday, he went 3-4 with a stolen base, a sacrifice FLY, a triple and that walk-off home run to force a Game 7. Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Mr. Puckett.
• In Game 7, he went 0-3 with a walk in the Twins 1-0, 10 inning win.

As I’ve said, I have no problem with people being disappointed with the playoff production of Joe Mauer to this point in his career. I have been greatly disappointed. But Puckett didn’t play Best of 5 series. Puckett got to play more than three games. Why? Because other guys stepped up when Puckett had an off game. People forget, these games are magnified, but they are the same game as the regular season games. You’re not going to  get two hits every single game. You are going to have 0-fers. Players can be in slumps.

So far, the playoffs have not been Joe Mauer’s time. But when you are that good of a hitter, it really is just a matter of time before it evens out. As long as Ron Gardenhire is at the helm, the Twins will find themselves in the postseason frequently, and at some point, Mauer will have his One Shining Moment too. People can talk about the $184 million contract that kicks in in 2011, but that doesn’t change the game, and thankfully, it won’t change Joe Mauer or his approach at the plate. That approach at the plate is what has made him one of baseball’s best players, and it is what will make him a Hall of Famer!

Feel free to Discuss and Comment here.

Then be sure to go to TwinsCentric.com and purchase your copy of the TwinsCentric Offseason GM Handbook.

Hard(y) Decisions

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

As has been mentioned frequently already, and will continue to be mentioned, the Twins 2010/2011 offseason will be a very interesting one for many reasons. Eleven Free Agents. Nine Arbitration-eligibles. Questions about how to beat the Yankees. It will be very interesting.

What will the payroll be? Last year, it jumped from $67 million to about $100 million. In 2011, will it stay the same? Will it jump up to $110 million? That difference, $10 million, is the amount that Joe Mauer’s contract increases from 2010 to 2011. Could it jump up to $120 or even $125 million? We don’t know. But the reality is that the Twins still have to make a lot of decisions on payroll based on revenues and even with the new stadium, the resources are not unlimited. So several really tough decisions do have to be made.

We may not know officially, but we can pretty much assume that Orlando Hudson will be gone, replaced by Alexi Casilla, or someone who will make less than $1 million in 2011. But what about the shortstop position?

When the Twins acquired JJ Hardy from the Milwaukee Brewers shortly after the 2009 World Series in exchange for Carlos Gomez, the assumption was that he would be a huge improvement over Twins shortstops of the last decade, and maybe since Greg Gagne patrolled the position in the second half of the ‘80s and first years of the ‘90s. We also assumed that the decision to offer him a fourth year of arbitration would be a no-brainer.

However, Hardy made that a more difficult decision than I think any of us would have wanted. Defensively, Hardy was inconsistent. There was an extended stretch where he was unable to consistently throw the ball all the way to 1B in the air. But for the most part, he is a very solid shortstop with slightly above average range. Among shortstops with more than 800 innings played in 2010, he was the fifth best with a UZR of 8.1. He was the best in baseball with a 12.8 UZR/150. To put that into perspective, Brendan Ryan of the Cardinals was second best in that category at 12.1. On the other end of the spectrum the Rays Jason Bartlett was the worst at -13.5. Offensively, Hardy was also very inconsistent. At times, he did show some pop. At other times, he was tough to watch. At season’s end, he hit .268/.302/.357 with an OPS+ of 93. He primarily hit ninth in the Twins lineup, so you don’t expect world beater. His batting average and on-base percentage were similar to his career numbers while his slugging percentage was well below his career numbers. How much of that can be blamed on Target Field?

How much of that can be blamed on the bum wrist that hurt him most of the season? As noted, Hardy played in just 101 games in 2010. A year earlier, in Milwaukee, he played 115 games.

Now, no one in their right mind would claim that the Twins missed Carlos Gomez and would un-do the trade, but I think many of us (fair or not) hoped that Hardy would take a step forward in 2010.

So, what does this mean for 2011? Just shy of six years of MLB service time, Hardy is eligible for a fourth arbitration year. He made $5.1 million in 2010. He would be in line for a raise. But how much? Would he be happy to sign for $6 million, or will he expect more like $7 million or more? The answer to those questions could determine whether the Twins tender him an offer, or let him become a free agent. If he becomes a free agent, he would be one of the top free agent shortstops on the market and at just 28 years old, he could get a three year, $21 million contract, maybe more depending upon the team. The Twins could offer him arbitration, and then look to trade him.

Trevor Plouffe debuted in 2010 with the Twins. He showed signs in 2010, at the end of 23, that he was making strides in AAA Rochester. In 102 games, he hit .244/.300/.430 with 22 doubles, four triples and 15 home runs. The batting average really dropped later in the season once he moved back and forth between the Red Wings and the Twins several times. In 22 games with the Twins (several were just pinch running for Jim Thome late in games), he got 41 at bats. He hit just .146/.143/.317. Of his six hits, one was a double and two were home runs. One was an opposite field blast that showed his power. I can’t make much of his Major League numbers. First, they are the first of his career. Second, his playing time in the big leagues was so sporadic. He had some real struggles, and a long hitless streak, but he was getting two at bats a week at times. I believe that, given every day playing time (and getting the manager to believe in him, he could hit .250/.300/.400 in the big leagues in 2011. If you go to minorleaguesplits.com and enter his 2010 Rochester numbers into their Major League Equivalency database, it says that Plouffe’s numbers would translate to .211/.259/.360 with 19 doubles and 12 home runs in the big leagues. I believe that playing for a pennant-contending team and hitting at the bottom of the Twins order, he could hit better than that. Defensively, Plouffe is a solid shortstop. Certainly he is not elite, and some are frustrated with his inability to consistently make the routine plays. That certainly would be a concern. Again, I think the focus that Plouffe would display would help him over the course of a season.

The numbers I am outlining for Plouffe are nothing more than guesses, but semi-educated guesses. The projections put him with an OPS between .620 and .700. In 2010, JJ Hardy’s OPS was .714. How much better do you expect offensively from Hardy? What is Plouffe’s upside? Where do you think those numbers would end up, compared to each other in 2010?

And, how much is that difference worth in terms of dollars? I mean, if you can get a .720 OPS from Hardy for $6 million or a .700 OPS from Plouffe for $420,000, which would you do? What if Hardy would make $7.5 million instead of $6 million? And, if you don’t believe in Trevor Plouffe, what if the Twins acquired someone like Ivan DeJesus, Jr. from the Dodgers in the offseason? Or what if they brought back Nick Punto at $1.25 million for 2011 and got a .680 OPS and very strong defense?

How much is JJ Hardy worth? This isn’t about being cheap and going with the cheaper player. This is about getting the most of the money. And if they’re able to pay a SS $420,000 instead of $7 million, that’s $6.5 million that can be used elsewhere. Maybe on someone like Zack Greinke.

What do you think? It is a Hard(y) decision. I would guess that Hardy will be back as the Twins shortstop in 2011, but I would also guess that a discussion built around this topic will be had by the Twins brass when they have their post-season meetings in Ft. Myers.  What would you do? First, feel free to Discuss and Comment here. Then be sure to go to TwinsCentric.com and purchase your copy of the TwinsCentric Offseason GM Handbook.

Podcast Tonight; Live at 10!

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

On tonight’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast, we’ll talk about the NLCS with the Voice of the Ft. Myers Miracle, Alex Margulies. We’ll also ask him about his first season calling games in the Florida State League. We’ll also be joined by Twins 2010 draft pick and GCL Twins pitcher Brett Carroll. The lefty will discuss being drafted, signing, starting a pro career, the instructional league and much more. And we’ll have plenty of time for Twins talk as we shift our thinking to the 2011 season. The Twins have a ton of decisions to make on a lot of players. Let the discussion being. So join us tonight for this week’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast starting at 10:00 central time! The chat room will be open and hoppin’, and the call-in number will be open as well if you want to chime in with a question or comment (call 347-202-0548).

Posey, Feliz Win Willie Mays Awards

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net, and www.baseballbloggersalliance.com,

Press Release

Contact: Daniel Shoptaw                                                               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
E-mail: baseballbloggersalliance@gmail.com                                  1 P.M. EDT, October 18, 2010

POSEY, FELIZ WIN TWO-MAN RACES FOR WILLIE MAYS AWARD

The battle for the Willie Mays Award, given by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance to the top rookie in each division, turned out to be a two-man affair in both leagues, with Texas Rangers closer Neftali Feliz and San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey finishing solidly ahead of their closest competition, Detroit Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson and Atlanta Braves outfielder Jason Heyward, respectively.

Feliz posted a 2.73 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP while tallying 40 saves and helping Texas into the postseason for the first time since 1999.  Feliz only blew three save opportunities while fashioning a 3.94 strikeout to walk ratio.

Feliz garnered eighteen first-place votes and 102 points overall, finishing 22 points ahead of Jackson, who received six nods at the top of the ballot.

Posey did not begin the season in the major leagues, but did so much with his time in San Francisco that voters selected him as the National League’s top rookie.  Posey hit .305 and slugged .505 in just 108 games, tallying 18 home runs and 67 RBI after his callup at the end of May.  Posey’s offense helped San Francisco make up ground and eventually pass San Diego for the divisional crown.

Posey received 103 total points, including fifteen first-place selections, to outpace Heyward by 17 points.  Heyward received ten first-place votes for his work in helping Atlanta secure the National League Wild Card.

The complete voting results are as follows (first place votes in parenthesis):

American League

Neftali Feliz, Texas (18) 102

Austin Jackson, Detroit (6) 78
Danny Valencia, Minnesota 16
Brian Matusz, Baltimore (1) 12
Brennan Boesch, Detroit 11
Wade Davis, Tampa Bay 3
John Jaso, Tampa Bay 3

National League

Buster Posey, San Francisco (15) 103
Jason Heyward, Atlanta (10) 86
Jaime Garcia, St. Louis 20
Starlin Castro, Chicago 7
Ike Davis, New York 7
Gaby Sanchez, Florida (1) 6
Tyler Colvin, Chicago 2
Mike Stanton, Florida 2
Neil Walker, Pittsburgh 2

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was formed in the fall of 2009 to encourage cooperation and collaboration between baseball bloggers of all major league teams as well as those that follow baseball more generally. As of this writing, the organization consists of 233blogs spanning all 30 major league squads as well as general baseball writing.

The BBA is organized under a similar structure as the Baseball Writers of America, where blogs that follow the same team are combined into “chapters” and only two votes from the chapter on an award are counted. The blog chapters that are focused on general baseball were allowed two votes as well, which they could use both on the same league or split between the two leagues.

Chapters generally followed one of two methods when casting their ballot.  Either representatives of the chapter were given the ballots for voting or a “group ballot” was posted, accounting for both of their votes.

Ballots are posted on the respective blogs and tabulated on a 5-3-1 point scale for first, second and third. In the interest of transparency, links are given below for the ballots. Chapter affiliation is in parenthesis.  Those chapters that decided on the group method are noted with an asterisk.

American League

Camden Crazies (Baltimore)*
Boston Red Thoughts (Boston)*
The Tribe Daily (Cleveland)*
Detroit Tigers Scorecard (Detroit)
Switch Hitting Pitchers (Detroit)
One Royal Way (Kansas City)
Seth Speaks (Minnesota)
Twins Target (Minnesota)
Bronx Baseball Daily (New York)*
Contract Year (Oakland)
Rise of the Rays (Tampa Bay)
Tampa Bay Rays News (Tampa Bay)
Baseball Is My Boyfriend (Texas)*
The Blue Jay Hunter (Toronto)
500 Level Fan (Toronto)
Advanced Fantasy Baseball (Fantasy)*
Misc. Baseball (History)*
Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (Other)*
Blogging From The Bleachers (General)*

National League

Prose and Ivy (Chicago)*
Cincinnati Reds Blog (Cincinnati)
Marlin Maniac (Florida)
Marlins Diehards (Florida)
Feeling Dodger Blue (Los Angeles)
Bernie’s Crew (Milwaukee)*
Brewers Bar (Milwaukee)*
The Eddie Kranepool Society (New York)*
Dugger’s Corner (Philadelphia)
Phighting On (Philadelphia)
Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? (Pittsburgh)*
i70 Baseball (St. Louis)
Pitchers Hit Eighth (St. Louis)
Friar Forecast (San Diego)*
22gigantes (San Francisco)*
Advanced Fantasy Baseball (Fantasy)*
Misc. Baseball (History)*
Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (Other)*
Blogging From The Bleachers (General)*
Ron Kaplan’s Baseball Bookshelf (Miscellaneous)*

Ballots that were unofficial or helped make up their chapter ballot:

Bottom Line Sox (Boston)
Raise the Jolly Roger (Pittsburgh)
The Crazy Crabbers (San Francisco)
Stan Musial’s Stance (St. Louis–unofficial)

Prior Winners

2009: Andrew Bailey, Oakland; Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh

The official website of the BBA is located at www.baseballbloggersalliance.com.  The BBA can be found on Twitter by the handle @baseballblogs and by the hashmark #bbba.  Members of the BBA may be heard at Blog Talk Radio every Tuesday night with their call-in show, BBA Baseball Talk, which may also be downloaded as a podcast from iTunes.  For more information, contact Daniel Shoptaw at founder@baseballbloggersalliance.com.