SB Nation - Adam Wainwright

Fantasy Baseball: 2009 xFIP Leaders and Some 2010 Sleepers

raygu — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:32:02 -0000

Recently, Fangraphs has teamed up with The Hardball Times to include the THT pitching stat called Expected Fielding Independent Pitching, or xFIP.
xFIP is Expected Fielding Independent Pitching. This is an experimental stat that adjusts and "normalizes" the home run component. Research has shown that home runs allowed are pretty much a function of flyballs allowed and home park, so xFIP is based on the average number of home runs allowed per outfield fly. <strong>Theoretically, this should be a better predicter of a pitcher's future ERA</strong>

With that said, here are the 2009 xFIP leaders:

Name	K/9	BB/9	K/BB	HR/9	WHIP	BABIP	LOB%	ERA	FIP	xFIP	E-X
Javier Vazquez	9.77	1.81	5.41	0.82	1.03	0.297	76.60%	2.87	2.77	2.82	0.05
Tim Lincecum	10.42	2.72	3.84	0.4	1.05	0.297	75.90%	2.48	2.34	2.87	-0.39
Roy Halladay	7.83	1.32	5.94	0.83	1.13	0.313	79.00%	2.79	3.06	3.05	-0.26
Dan Haren	8.75	1.49	5.87	1.06	1	0.28	77.00%	3.14	3.23	3.08	0.06
Jon Lester	9.96	2.83	3.52	0.89	1.23	0.323	76.90%	3.41	3.15	3.13	0.28
Zack Greinke	9.5	2	4.75	0.43	1.07	0.313	79.30%	2.16	2.33	3.15	-0.99
Justin Verlander	10.09	2.36	4.27	0.75	1.18	0.328	72.70%	3.45	2.8	3.26	0.19
Ricky Nolasco	9.49	2.14	4.43	1.12	1.25	0.336	61.00%	5.06	3.35	3.28	1.78
Josh Beckett	8.43	2.33	3.62	1.06	1.19	0.302	71.60%	3.86	3.63	3.35	0.51
Adam Wainwright	8.19	2.55	3.21	0.66	1.21	0.309	80.40%	2.63	3.11	3.36	-0.73

Here are some sleepers for 2010 based on the difference between their 2009 ERA and xFIP:

Name	K/9	BB/9	K/BB	HR/9	WHIP	BABIP	LOB%	ERA	FIP	xFIP	E-X
Ricky Nolasco	9.49	2.14	4.43	1.12	1.25	0.336	61.00%	5.06	3.35	3.28	1.78
Carl Pavano	6.64	1.76	3.77	1.17	1.37	0.335	66.10%	5.1	4	3.96	1.14
Livan Hernandez	5	3.28	1.52	0.93	1.56	0.326	67.30%	5.44	4.44	4.78	0.66
Cole Hamels	7.81	2	3.91	1.12	1.29	0.325	72.10%	4.32	3.72	3.69	0.63
Jorge de la Rosa	9.39	4.04	2.33	0.97	1.38	0.316	71.60%	4.38	3.91	3.76	0.62
Jason Hammel	6.78	2.14	3.17	0.87	1.39	0.337	69.50%	4.33	3.71	3.81	0.52
Mike Pelfrey	5.22	3.22	1.62	0.88	1.51	0.321	66.70%	5.03	4.39	4.52	0.51
Josh Beckett	8.43	2.33	3.62	1.06	1.19	0.302	71.60%	3.86	3.63	3.35	0.51
Derek Lowe	5.13	2.91	1.76	0.74	1.52	0.33	68.70%	4.67	4.06	4.19	0.48
Brett Anderson	7.7	2.31	3.33	1.03	1.28	0.317	67.00%	4.06	3.69	3.61	0.45

You can see there is a correlation between high BABIP, low LOB% and the E-X column. The E-X column takes the difference between the putcher's ERA and his xFIP. I have written about previously, how Ricky Nolasco could be a very undervalued pitcher come draft day 2010. I have him in the UBA league at $10, but risk losing him if I don't give him a raise. This table screams to give him a raise, but I am not so sure.

Poll

Should I give Nolasco a $5 raise in 2010?

Fantasy Baseball: Javier Vazquez: Fantasy Stud.

Ian, yo — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:01:33 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

4 months ago: Atlanta Braves' Javier Vazquez pitches to the Florida Marlins in baseball game action Thursday, July 30, 2009, in Miami. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Browse more photos »

When you head into your draft in 2010, I ask that you keep Javier Vazquez in the back of your mind. In 2009, Vazquez put up numbers worthy of being the NL's number two pitcher according to Keith Law.

Vazquez has been bounced all over the MLB, going from the NL to AL five times in his twelve year career. In all but four seasons in his career, Vazquez has had an FIP under 4 as well.

Much of Vazquez's success lies in his ability to maintain a high K/9 and keep his walks low. While I don't expect Vazquez to keep his K/9 at his career high of 9.77, or keep his BB/9 at it's second lowest total in his career, I do think Vazquez can put up good numbers in the national league. There really are no largely apparent signals that Vazquez will regress. His GB% was roughly 2% lower than his career average and his FB% was down about 5% while his HR/FB remained relatively neutral.

If Vazquez were again moved back to the AL, you could expect the normal increase in ERA, but if you're drafting Vazquez hoping for 200 innings, 200 Ks, an ERA around 3-3.50 and a WHIP hovering in the 1.10-1.30 range, you will not be disappointed.

If I were drafting today, I would happily take Vazquez over Chris Carpenter, Jon Lester, Matt Cain and I'd strongly consider taking him over Adam Wainwright (who's FIP had him pegged as an inferior pitcher to Vazquez.)

Poll

Would you draft Javier Vazquez over Adam Wainwright if you drafted today?

Joe Jackson talks briefly to a newsboy about yesterday's news

DanUpBaby — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:52:16 -0000

File photo—Kansas City Royals pitcher Brad Thompson, center, sells newspapers outside a nickel theater in St. Louis, July 14, 2009. The Indians won 3-1 in fifteen reels.

View full size photo »

It's the most famous young face in the history of baseball—it's the symbol of purity corrupted, of the sport's loss of innocence in the face of organized crime and a gambling scandal that nearly ended baseball as young boys everywhere knew it.

Outside the courthouse there's a nervous crowd milling around, waiting for news. Suddenly there's a burst of activity and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, surrounded by well-wishers, ex-fans, photographers, reporters, and baseball players, pushes through the double doors and takes the steps with his easy grace. The crowd is shocked into silence—the reporters' questions are so much rhubarb—but one brave, stoic newsboy, carrying his accusing newspapers guiltily, steps into the baseball great's path and begs, his voice quivering with the weight of posterity on its back: "Say it ain't so, Joe! Say it ain't so!"

Having gotten his lede, the lucky reporter stalks back to the newsroom. But after his famous silence the fallen hero gives the newsboy a measured look and says, "Well, it depends on what you mean. Certainly I was mixed up with bad people who were doing bad things. But in the end either the facts or the sheer gravitas of my story will vindicate me, and that's all I can really ask for."

The baby-faced newsboy sniffles a little. No more than ten or eleven, by the looks of it, he's already an old hand at the business. "I—I'm glad to hear that, Joe, I really am, but that's not what I'm askin' about. Didn't you see the paper? Haven't you been paying attention? I got signed by the Royals!"

"Oh, Lord, kid," Joe says. "The Royals? That's a harsh break. But I'm afraid it's so."

"I know! I'm WonderBrad! I pitched 57 scoreless innings in a row in the minor leagues—and forget this rag," he says, "I was in the New York Times!"

"The first break-up is always tough. But I say you oughtta look at it this way: now that you're gone, the Cardinals fans you impressed all through that great season, and in your first few years as a reliever—well, that's how they're going to remember you! Not as the pitcher of last resort, or the guy who could only come in after a certain percentage of the TV audience had gone to bed."

"What's a TV?"

"The timeline is hazy, kid. Don't ask questions. It's like this—a role player's best moment is when he catches fire for those first few months and he can't do anything wrong. But his second-best moment is right now, after he's gone. From now on you're WonderBrad. Ten years from now they won't even remember that your fastball and your changeup eventually met in the middle."

The newsboy's face clears a little—a boyish glow takes hold. "I guess you're right, Joe." The matter settled, the crowd having grown bored and a little confused, the newsboy resumes plying his wares.

"Extra, extra—read all about it! Lincecum Cy Young of the National League!"

"Wait, kid, what'd you say? Lincecum?"

"It's so, Joe. Some people say it's a sea-change in how awards will be won. Other people are just really, really mad about it."

So here's what I still don't get. How can you look at what Wainwright did from a won-loss standpoint and essentially dismiss it in favor of Lincecum? As gifted a pitcher as Lincecum clearly is, he faltered down the stretch when his team was in the playoff hunt. In his last 10 starts, the San Francisco ace was only 3-4 with a 3.15 ERA. I'm sorry, but that has to mean something, doesn't it? If won-loss records are suddenly obsolete, why do we bother to keep the stat?

"Don't read any more unless you're gonna buy that."

"Okay, okay. There's something kind of haunting about that last line, isn't it? Like he's just a little worried somebody's going to say, 'You're right, why do we bother?' 'If switchboards are suddenly obsolete, why do we have all these people sitting in front of them?'"

"Give him his wins, Joe. They're a narrative, for goodness' sake. You should know something about that."

"Oh, wins and losses are great; nobody's ever going to occasion a parade when he breaks the 6 WAR barrier. And Wainwright and Carpenter both had great years. But it's a shame that this is the debate he's having, or trying to have, when there's a neighboring one that's a lot more important, especially considering a lot of these guys probably picked Lincecum because of his innings and his strikeouts, anyway: Does the Cy Young measure value, or does it measure what that value should have been?"

"This is why I never strike anybody out. I cut off philosophizing at the pass."

"Say we could eventually have a stat that measures the expected value of each swing, from a grounder to the second baseman to a ball that should be a home run. Is that a tool for MVP debates?"

"Is this about Keith Law's ballot?"

"Javier Vazquez had better peripheral stats than Wainwright. He should have been better. But all those runs Wainwright stranded were valuable, even if there's no reason to think he'll do that again. Vazquez is a perfect test case for this, too, since his ERA has always lagged his peripherals. But instead we're talking about wins like nobody's ever lost the Cy Young to a player with fewer wins before."

"This is a slippery slope, though. Do you give the MVP to the clutchest player, too?"

"Look, I don't know, Brad. I'm just a baseball player. I can't even read, to be totally honest—I just figured Bryan Burwell would be really mad and I made it up the best I could."

"You did good, Joe. We all have secrets," the newsboy says. "I'm actually 27 years old."

Tim Lincecum Wins Second Consecutive NL Cy Young

GameFish — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:41:05 -0000

Tim Lincecum had fewer first-place votes than Adam Wainwright, fewer second-place votes than Chris Carpenter, and fewer victories than any pitcher to win the award in a non-strike season. But none of that stopped him from being awarded the Cy Young by the Baseball Writers Association of America for the second consecutive year:

Lincecum repeated as the National League Cy Young Award winner, besting St. Louis right-handers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright despite getting fewer first-place selections than Wainwright in the vote conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and announced on Thursday.
Lincecum (15-7, 2.48 ERA, 261 strikeouts) received 11 first-place votes and 100 points. Carpenter (17-4, 2.24 ERA, 144 strikeouts) finished second with nine first-place votes and 94 points, followed by Wainwright (19-8, 2.63 ERA, 212 strikeouts), who had 12 first-place votes and 90 points.

Carpenter also had more second-place votes -- 14 to 12 -- than Lincecum, who became the pitcher with the lowest victory total to win a Cy Young in either league. The previous low win total for a Cy Young winner was 16, by Zack Greinke of the Royals earlier this week and Brandon Webb of the D-backs in 2006. Both of those pitchers went 16-8.

Whatever the opposite of a landslide is, that's the margin with which Lincecum won the award, in what was one of the closest races in Cy Young history. But regardless, just two full seasons into his Major League career, Tim Lincecum has two Cy Youngs under his belt. He's got to be feeling pretty high (in the perfectly legal sense of the word, of course).

Gold Glove Fielding: Yet another reason why Ubaldo Jimenez is awesome

RockiesMagicNumber — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:27:32 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

"Oh, I can get you out this way as well? Man, I should do this more often!" And he did. More than anyone else in the NL.

Browse more photos »

Oh yes, we're discussing fielding. That can of worms that doesn't seem to get measured right, credited appropriately, or appreciated properly as far as building a team goes. There's a lot of debate on who are the best fielders, which metric does the best job, who are the best judges, and are Gold Glove awards complete tripe, or recognition of truly, the best gloveman?

Well, none of this really applies to pitchers, so you might as well close the can. A position player has a zone they're supposed to cover or what have you, have to play balls and field them to make outs, turn complicated plays, etc etc etc. If a fielder can't field, they'd better be able to club the ball, and vice-versa. However, a pitcher's job is to pitch the ball. Being a solid fielder is somewhat of a bonus, but not really a make-or-break kind of situation, as most balls that a pitcher actually needs to properly field aren't going to fall in the gap for doubles or rattle around in the corner; that is to say that typically, the worst thing that can happen by a pitcher not getting to a ball is an infield single. Definitely not ideal, but could be much much worse. Of course, I'm excluding throwing errors, which are such a huge deal, but that's another story, and we'll touch on them later.

Back to the issue of zone ratings and such, they don't apply to pitchers. Pitchers may be the only fielder that we can actually look at the basic metrics and get an idea of how well they did.

So let's dive in.

Now, I have all of the pitcher fielding stats from Baseball-Reference (God Bless that site) all sorted into - you guessed it - a big ol' spreadsheet. I started by narrowing it down to only pitchers who faced more than 500 batters this season, basically eliminating relievers and longmen, leaving us with the guys who were starters most of the season - 62 of them. The top 5 on this list are Adam Wainwright (STL), Jason Marquis (COL), Bronson Arroyo (CIN), Ubaldo Jimenez (COL), and Danny Haren (ARI). These guys all faced 942 or more batters this season. The rest of the top-10 are NL West pitchers as well. Note the lack of NL East pitchers...sissies. The bottom 5 are Dave Bush (MIL) with 523 PA, Kyle Lohse (STL), Homer Bailey (CIN), Mike Hampton (HOU), and Hiroki Kuroda (LAD). This kind of is a combination of longevity and inability to get outs. I'm sure you can figure out who is who.

Next, I want to take a look at % of balls in play - meaning anything that isn't a K, BB, HR, or HBP. Top 5 there are Joel Pineiro (STL), Zach Duke (PIT), John Lannan (WAS - hey, an NL East candidate, finally!), Aaron Cook (COL), and Braden Looper (MIL). 81% or more of plate appearances these guys were involved in resulted in a ball in play. The bottom 5 are Tim Lincecum (SFG) at 64%, Jonathan Sanchez (SFG), Yovani Gallardo (MIL), Clayton Kershaw (LAD), and Rich Harden (CHC). Jorge De La Rosa was 6^th from last at 66%, and Ubaldo was 12^th from last at 69%. Adam Wainwright checks in at 44^th, with 72% BIP. What this part tells us that these guys punched out a lot of guys to get their outs, possibly got in trouble with walks/HBP, and generally didn't rely on their defense for too much.

So far, not very interesting. Probably not going to get any better, either. We're just kind of trying to paint a picture of how pitchers do their job, namely Ubaldo. Let's keep plugging on.

Next thing we should look at is how many balls in play a pitcher actually fields - not how many balls a pitcher can successfully turn into an out, mind you, but getting to the ball is half the battle. In terms of just number of balls fielded, Ubaldo leads the pack with 57 fielded balls, followed by Marquis with 52 and Cook with 44. Ryan Dempster (CHC) and Paul Maholm (PIT) fill out the rest of the top 5 in that category. Wainwright snatched up 35 balls, good for 14^th overall.

But raw numbers don't really tell us much there, because these pitchers may be completely different in how their plate appearances end up. Ubaldo was pretty near the back end in terms of BIP% and yet let the NL in fielded balls. So I took their Ball-In-Play% and PAs and found out how many balls were put in play. Then I went to find out what percentage of balls in play were fielded by the pitcher, because it's kind of hard to field a ball when it ends up being a strikeout. Leading this category is our boy Ubaldo, who gets a glove on 8.77% of balls put into play, as expected. Trailing are Cookie, Marquis, Livan Hernandez (NYM), and Ryan Dempster again. The least gloveworthy pitchers are Aaron Harang (CIN) and Jonathan Sanchez, tied at 3.34%, followed by Todd Wellemeyer (STL), Manny Parra (MIL), Johnny Cueto (CIN), and Dave Bush.

So now that should seem like a good enough point to hang our hats on, but I thought a bit harder about this: What if a guy isn't a bigtime groundball pitcher? Ubaldo got 52.5% Groundballs on BIP in 2009, while Aaron Harang only saw 34.9% of BIP on the ground. Should we penalize Harang for not having as many opportunities? I mean, how is a pitcher going to field a flyball to right-center? No, the only balls a pitcher can really get to are ground balls or bunts, and for the sake of this part of the analysis, we're going to just use non-bunts - or at least balls that weren't deliberately bunted.

I reworked that percentage to just see what percentage of GROUND BALLS in play a pitcher was able to get his glove on, and the numbers changed a pile. Livan Hernandez now leads the pack, fielding 18.12% of balls put into play on the ground. Ubaldo trails him, followed by Barry Zito (SFG), Kenshin Kawakami (ATL), and Johan Santana (NYM). The bottom 5 in terms of groundball grabbing are: Hiroki Kuroda, John Lannan, Dave Bush, Johnny Cueto, and Manny Parra. Wainwright ranked 44^th, at 10.11%.

So simply put, we've established that Ubaldo is at or near the top in terms of being able to get a glove on balls that are hit his way. That's pretty impressive stuff, being able to carry a K/9 over 8 and also be agile enough to field his induced grounders.

But that's not the name of the game of defense, now is it? The goal of defense is to take batted balls and turn them into outs.

So who's the best at that? Well, I suppose the best way to look at it would just be the number of outs converted based on the number of balls fielded, or at least a good starting point. The top 5 on this list is as follows: Carlos Zambrano (CHC) at 96%, followed by John Lannan, Bronson Arroyo, Kenshin Kawakami, and Kevin Correia (SDP). Bottom of the list has Homer Bailey at 71%, Rich Harden, Jamie Moyer (PHI), Manny Parra, and last, Ted Lilly. Ubaldo and Wainwright tied for 32^nd at 86%.

So this is kind of closed and finished now, right? Best fielding pitcher in baseball is Carlos Zambrano, right? Well, you could easily make the case that Big Z did the best job on average with the balls he fielded.

But there's other good to be drawn from the numbers we have. How many assists was the fielder responsible for? How good of a job did they do in covering 1B on 3-1 putouts? How often did they start double plays, how often did they make a 1-6 (or 1-4) putout? These are all pretty advanced fielding plays for a pitcher to make, given that they're completely off balance from pitching and probably a bit wary, watching for comebackers.

So for starters, the 3-1 putout. Wainwright and Pineiro led the majors with 23 "3-1" putouts, showing that they did a fine job covering 1B on those bouncers up the line. Chris Carpenter (STL) fell right behind them, followed by Bronson Arroyo and Kevin Correia. Ubaldo comes in at 44^th, with only 6 such putouts. The highest Rockie in this category is Aaron Cook, with 15. Does this mean Ubaldo doesn't cover 1B well enough? I don't think so; I think it rather speaks more to the fielding ability of the 1B. Albert Pujols is still arguably the best defensive 1B in the game, so there's a good chance he's making more absurd grabs at 1B that Todd Helton may not be able to get to that enables him to start the 3-1 putout. Considering 3 groundballing STL pitchers are on top of the list, I don't think that's too much of a stretch. Anecdotally, I know that I see him at or near 1B when these plays occur pretty often. But "Anecdotally" only counts for the people actually making the decisions, I need evidence. So let's move on.

I'd argue assists are a pretty huge part of a pitcher's job as well. Being able to get that simple 1-3 out can be a make-or-break kind of play during an inning. Just in terms of assists, Ubaldo leads the NL with 47, followed by Marquis, Paul Maholm, Cook, and Zach Duke.

What's more interesting than the cute little underhand or alligator arm toss to 1B is the plant-and-throw to 2B to nail the lead runner. Ubaldo is 2^nd in the NL with assists made to 2B, with 4. Kenshin Kawakami ranks 1^st with 6, and then Duke, Arroyo, and Wainwright are tied with Ubaldo at 4 2B assists to round out the top 5. Additionally, Ubaldo leads the NL in Fielder's Choices, with 3. Wainwright only has 1.

To take the 2B assist farther, you can then look at how many 1-6-3 (or 1-4-3) DPs are started by pitchers, but I don't put nearly as much credit on that as I would the 2B assist, simply because the 6/4-3 turn can be more indicative of the fielder. But then again, it could also be a result of a perfect (or errant) throw that causes (or undoes) the double play.

Zach Duke leads the NL with 1-6/4-3 double plays, with 4. Kawakami, Arroyo, Cook, and Brian Moehler (HOU) follow with 3 apiece. The leaders in groundball double plays where the pitcher was involved in any way, shape, or form offer no real surprises, as the top 5 are Ryan Dempster, Zach Duke, Aaron Cook, Brian Moehler, and Kenshin Kawakami.

Finally, errors - and I promise this is almost done - play a big-ish part in pitching fielding, but only in certain ways. If a pitcher can't field a ball cleanly or what have you, typically that results in "everybody's safe", but not much more damage than that, given the fact that the ball was hit about 60 feet, tops. However, throwing error, those are the big ones. Those are the ones that let guys score, give extra bags, and make everyone look dumb. Tied for the MLB lead are - you guessed it - Jorge de la Rosa and Doug Davis (ARI) with 5. Following them are Aaron Cook and Jon Garland (ARI) with 4, and 5 people tied with 3. Ubaldo and Wainwright are tied for last with 0, along with a bunch of others. HOWEVER, Ubaldo does have 2 fielding errors, being his only blemish in this category, while Adam Wainwright is spotless as far as his errors go.

So this needs to wrap up, I've rambled about rankings for long enough. Let's draw some conclusions.

Just comparing Ubaldo and Wainwright, both are as good at converting the balls they field into outs. Good for them. Ubaldo fielded the most balls in the NL this season, hands down. Ubaldo also led the league in assists. He muffed 2 balls to Wainwright's 0, while neither of them committed a throwing error.

Simply looking at the number of "leads" or "top-5" categories Ubaldo falls into as compared to Wainwright, I'd give it to Ubaldo over Wainwright. But I just can't get past that "% of balls fielded turned into outs" ratio that Ubaldo ISN'T leading in. He's clearly good at getting to the balls, but it would seem he's eating a decent number of them - which can be the best fielding decision in itself.

So to conclude, if you asked me who I'd award the Pitching Gold Glove award to, which is the stupidest category (pitcher fielding) of the stupidest postseason award anyhow, I'd be torn between Bronson Arroyo, Kenshin Kawakami, and Ubaldo Jimenez. I don't think Wainwright is bad, but I don't see him making the smart plays, nailing the lead runner, etc, and I feel as if a lot of his putouts are just because Pujols is able to turn a single to RF into a 3-1 out. Not to say that Wainwright doesn't hustle, but come on, who doesn't? I'd probably give it to Kawakami over Arroyo, but Ubaldo's clearly showing his agility in the sheer number of balls he's able to get to.

Ubaldo Jimenez: Out Machine.

If you'd like to see the raw data, check it out here.

Waino, the Cy Young, and Me — a poem by Chris Carpenter

DanUpBaby — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:02:21 -0000

I got this in the mail last night, and I think it's worth a post. I'll turn this over to VEB-er MikeJGolde, the responsible party:

I took apart Carpenter's (awful) article about Wainwright and reconstructed it into something more appropriate.

His work of art follows the jump:

Look at his body of work.
Just start with that.
What Adam Wainwright did this year, he did all year long.
He was consistent through the whole season.
Look at whatever number you want.
That's most important.
I've been able to do that a few times in my career.
But I've also been a guy who hasn't done it.
That's why I know how hard it is to do.
Maybe, for one year you can do it.
Possibly.
But it's a hard thing to do again and again.
That adds pressure.
That can get to young pitchers.
I could see that early on.

For me, I love the competition.
I want the ball.
I want to do my job.
A lot of times, bottom line, that's all I'm thinking.

He does that well.
He wants to be that guy.
He wants to be that pitcher.

He's already proved that.

MikeJGolde, I can't thank you (or Chris Carpenter) enough.

SBN Awards: NL MVP (hint, it starts with a P)

DyingQuail — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:00:47 -0000

by Matt Rourke - AP

Is this Pujols? No. Is it an incredible dick-ish picture of Jayson Werth that I've been waiting ages to have a legitimate use for? Yes.

View full size photo »

Unanimity for presidents has been reserved solely for Washington. For Albert Pujols in 2009, all the denizens of SBN nation who cast a ballot lauded him with the honor being the unanimous NL MVP. Can anyone even make an argument against this?

For myself, I literally just voted by WAR, but I did slip Michael Bourn in at 8th because, I could and I thought he deserved it. I obviously wasn't the only one pulling some homerism, so I'm not too concerned.

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pts
1	Albert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	31	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	434
2	Hanley Ramirez	Florida Marlins	-	6	8	11	2	1	2	-	-	-	220
3	Chase Utley	Philadelphia Phillies	-	7	11	2	3	1	-	1	-	1	192
4	Prince Fielder	Milwaukee Brewers	-	5	4	4	7	7	1	-	-	-	186
5	Troy Tulowitzki	Colorado Rockies	-	4	1	5	2	3	3	4	1	2	134
6	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	-	4	1	-	1	2	2	3	1	-	79
7	Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	-	4	-	1	4	1	-	-	3	1	79
8	Ryan Zimmerman	Washington Nationals	-	-	1	3	3	3	3	1	-	2	79
9	Adrian Gonzalez	San Diego Padres	-	-	1	-	3	3	2	4	3	4	71
10	Pablo Sandoval	San Francisco Giants	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	3	4	3	57
11	Matt Kemp	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	1	1	1	1	5	3	-	1	56
12	Ryan Braun	Milwaukee Brewers	-	-	2	-	-	2	2	1	1	-	39
13	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	-	1	2	25
14	Derrek Lee	Chicago Cubs	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	3	2	25
15	Andre Ethier	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	-	-	-	24
16	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	1	4	1	23
17	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	1	16
18	Matt Holliday	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	12
19	Joey Votto	Cincinnati Reds	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	11
20	Mark Reynolds	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	10
21	Todd Helton	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	7
22	Jayson Werth	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	6
23	Adam Dunn	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	5
24	Juan Pierre	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
25	Justin Upton	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
26	Raul Ibanez	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
27	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
28	Brian McCann	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
29	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
30	Michael Bourn	Houston Astros	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
31	Yadier Molina	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
32	Nyjer Morgan	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
33	Yunel Escobar	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

My question is: Juan Pierre, really?

Prince Fielder finishes fourth in SBN NL MVP Voting

KLSnow — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:00:38 -0000

The SB Nation Most Valuable Player voting was unveiled today. Here are the NL results:

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pts
1	Albert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	31	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	434
2	Hanley Ramirez	Florida Marlins	-	6	8	11	2	1	2	-	-	-	220
3	Chase Utley	Philadelphia Phillies	-	7	11	2	3	1	-	1	-	1	192
4	Prince Fielder	Milwaukee Brewers	-	5	4	4	7	7	1	-	-	-	186
5	Troy Tulowitzki	Colorado Rockies	-	4	1	5	2	3	3	4	1	2	134
6	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	-	4	1	-	1	2	2	3	1	-	79
7	Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	-	4	-	1	4	1	-	-	3	1	79
8	Ryan Zimmerman	Washington Nationals	-	-	1	3	3	3	3	1	-	2	79
9	Adrian Gonzalez	San Diego Padres	-	-	1	-	3	3	2	4	3	4	71
10	Pablo Sandoval	San Francisco Giants	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	3	4	3	57
11	Matt Kemp	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	1	1	1	1	5	3	-	1	56
12	Ryan Braun	Milwaukee Brewers	-	-	2	-	-	2	2	1	1	-	39
13	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	-	1	2	25
14	Derrek Lee	Chicago Cubs	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	3	2	25
15	Andre Ethier	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	-	-	-	24
16	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	1	4	1	23
17	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	1	16
18	Matt Holliday	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	12
19	Joey Votto	Cincinnati Reds	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	11
20	Mark Reynolds	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	10
21	Todd Helton	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	7
22	Jayson Werth	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	6
23	Adam Dunn	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	5
24	Juan Pierre	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
25	Justin Upton	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
26	Raul Ibanez	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
27	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
28	Brian McCann	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
29	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
30	Michael Bourn	Houston Astros	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
31	Yadier Molina	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
32	Nyjer Morgan	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
33	Yunel Escobar	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

Here was my ballot:
1. Albert Pujols
2. Prince Fielder
3. Tim Lincecum
4. Chase Utley
5. Hanley Ramirez
6. Ryan Zimmerman
7. Troy Tulowitzki
8. Matt Kemp
9. Javier Vazquez
10. Adrian Gonzalez

Follow the jump for the AL results.

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pts
1	Joe Mauer	Minnesota Twins	24	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	371
2	Ben Zobrist	Tampa Bay Rays	-	10	6	2	2	1	-	1	-	-	172
3	Mark Teixeira	New York Yankees	2	3	2	4	3	2	7	1	-	-	158
4	Derek Jeter	New York Yankees	1	5	3	4	4	2	1	1	2	1	157
5	Evan Longoria	Tampa Bay Rays	-	2	4	1	2	3	2	3	2	1	106
6	Zack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	2	3	2	1	1	-	2	-	-	-	92
7	Miguel Cabrera	Detroit Tigers	-	-	3	1	2	4	-	2	-	5	74
8	Kevin Youkilis	Boston Red Sox	-	2	-	-	1	3	1	8	1	-	69
9	Chone Figgins	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	-	3	4	1	-	1	3	1	60
10	Jason Bay	Boston Red Sox	-	1	-	4	2	-	-	1	-	2	54
11	Kendry Morales	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	4	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	39
12	Ichiro Suzuki	Seattle Mariners	-	-	1	-	2	-	1	2	2	3	37
13	Franklin Gutierrez	Seattle Mariners	-	-	-	1	1	1	3	-	1	2	34
14	Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	-	-	-	2	1	1	1	-	1	1	32
15	Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	3	2	-	31
16	Jason Bartlett	Tampa Bay Rays	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	22
17	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees	-	-	1	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	18
18	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	1	-	1	1	-	-	-	16
19	Adam Lind	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	4	16
20	Dustin Pedroia	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	4	1	13
21	Bobby Abreu	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	1	-	12
22	Aaron Hill	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	12
23	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	1	9
24	Torii Hunter	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
25	Brian Roberts	Baltimore Orioles	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	7
26	CC Sabathia	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	6
27	Carl Crawford	Tampa Bay Rays	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	6
28	J.D. Drew	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
29	Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
30	Jonathan Papelbon	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
31	Robinson Cano	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
32	Victor Martinez	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
33	Michael Cuddyer	Minnesota Twins	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
34	Shin-Soo Choo	Cleveland Indians	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
35	Michael Young	Texas Rangers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	3
36	Jacoby Ellsbury	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2
37	Jason Kubel	Minnesota Twins	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2
38	Alex Gonzalez	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
39	Nick Markakis	Baltimore Orioles	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

2009 SBNation Awards: MVP

Al — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:00:27 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

Mike Fontenot after a forceout of Albert Pujols in April at Wrigley Field.

Browse more photos »

No surprises here, at least not for me. I expected Albert Pujols to be the unanimous MVP among SBN voters, and he was.

The AL winner is the guy I would have chosen; you may be a bit surprised at the second-place finisher.

Points for MVP are awarded as follows: 14 points for a first-place vote, then 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 for 2nd through 10th place.

BCB ballots:

Al: 1) Albert Pujols 2) Ryan Howard 3) Prince Fielder 4) Chase Utley 
5) Pablo Sandoval 6) Adrian Gonzalez 7) Hanley Ramirez 
8) Troy Tulowitzki 9) Derrek Lee 10) Adam Dunn

Mike: 1) Albert Pujols 2) Ryan Howard 3) Hanley Ramirez 4) Troy Tulowitzki 
5) Prince Fielder 6) Tim Lincecum 7) Chase Utley 
8) Adam Wainwright 9) Raul Ibanez 10) Mark Reynolds

National League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pts
1	Albert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	31	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	434
2	Hanley Ramirez	Florida Marlins	-	6	8	11	2	1	2	-	-	-	220
3	Chase Utley	Philadelphia Phillies	-	7	11	2	3	1	-	1	-	1	192
4	Prince Fielder	Milwaukee Brewers	-	5	4	4	7	7	1	-	-	-	186
5	Troy Tulowitzki	Colorado Rockies	-	4	1	5	2	3	3	4	1	2	134
6	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	-	4	1	-	1	2	2	3	1	-	79
7	Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	-	4	-	1	4	1	-	-	3	1	79
8	Ryan Zimmerman	Washington Nationals	-	-	1	3	3	3	3	1	-	2	79
9	Adrian Gonzalez	San Diego Padres	-	-	1	-	3	3	2	4	3	4	71
10	Pablo Sandoval	San Francisco Giants	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	3	4	3	57
11	Matt Kemp	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	1	1	1	1	5	3	-	1	56
12	Ryan Braun	Milwaukee Brewers	-	-	2	-	-	2	2	1	1	-	39
13	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	-	1	2	25
14	Derrek Lee	Chicago Cubs	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	3	2	25
15	Andre Ethier	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	-	-	-	24
16	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	1	4	1	23
17	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	1	16
18	Matt Holliday	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	12
19	Joey Votto	Cincinnati Reds	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	11
20	Mark Reynolds	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	10
21	Todd Helton	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	7
22	Jayson Werth	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	6
23	Adam Dunn	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	5
24	Juan Pierre	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
25	Justin Upton	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
26	Raul Ibanez	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
27	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
28	Brian McCann	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
29	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
30	Michael Bourn	Houston Astros	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
31	Yadier Molina	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
32	Nyjer Morgan	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
33	Yunel Escobar	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

American League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pts
1	Joe Mauer	Minnesota Twins	24	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	371
2	Ben Zobrist	Tampa Bay Rays	-	10	6	2	2	1	-	1	-	-	172
3	Mark Teixeira	New York Yankees	2	3	2	4	3	2	7	1	-	-	158
4	Derek Jeter	New York Yankees	1	5	3	4	4	2	1	1	2	1	157
5	Evan Longoria	Tampa Bay Rays	-	2	4	1	2	3	2	3	2	1	106
6	Zack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	2	3	2	1	1	-	2	-	-	-	92
7	Miguel Cabrera	Detroit Tigers	-	-	3	1	2	4	-	2	-	5	74
8	Kevin Youkilis	Boston Red Sox	-	2	-	-	1	3	1	8	1	-	69
9	Chone Figgins	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	-	3	4	1	-	1	3	1	60
10	Jason Bay	Boston Red Sox	-	1	-	4	2	-	-	1	-	2	54
11	Kendry Morales	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	4	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	39
12	Ichiro Suzuki	Seattle Mariners	-	-	1	-	2	-	1	2	2	3	37
13	Franklin Gutierrez	Seattle Mariners	-	-	-	1	1	1	3	-	1	2	34
14	Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	-	-	-	2	1	1	1	-	1	1	32
15	Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	3	2	-	31
16	Jason Bartlett	Tampa Bay Rays	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	22
17	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees	-	-	1	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	18
18	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	1	-	1	1	-	-	-	16
19	Adam Lind	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	4	16
20	Dustin Pedroia	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	4	1	13
21	Bobby Abreu	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	1	-	12
22	Aaron Hill	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	12
23	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	1	9
24	Torii Hunter	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
25	Brian Roberts	Baltimore Orioles	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	7
26	CC Sabathia	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	6
27	Carl Crawford	Tampa Bay Rays	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	6
28	J.D. Drew	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
29	Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
30	Jonathan Papelbon	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
31	Robinson Cano	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
32	Victor Martinez	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
33	Michael Cuddyer	Minnesota Twins	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
34	Shin-Soo Choo	Cleveland Indians	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
35	Michael Young	Texas Rangers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	3
36	Jacoby Ellsbury	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2
37	Jason Kubel	Minnesota Twins	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2
38	Alex Gonzalez	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
39	Nick Markakis	Baltimore Orioles	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

SB Nation NL MVP Award

Eric Stephen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:34 -0000

by Mark J. Terrill - AP

"So Joe, you aren't really going to walk me every time a runner is in scoring position, right? Right?"

View full size photo »

Albert Pujols unanimously won the 2009 SB Nation National League MVP award, easily defeating Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins. Dodgers who received votes were Matt Kemp (11th), Andre Ethier (15th) and Juan Pierre (24th). Here are the results:

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pts
1	Albert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	31	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	434
2	Hanley Ramirez	Florida Marlins	-	6	8	11	2	1	2	-	-	-	220
3	Chase Utley	Philadelphia Phillies	-	7	11	2	3	1	-	1	-	1	192
4	Prince Fielder	Milwaukee Brewers	-	5	4	4	7	7	1	-	-	-	186
5	Troy Tulowitzki	Colorado Rockies	-	4	1	5	2	3	3	4	1	2	134
6	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	-	4	1	-	1	2	2	3	1	-	79
7	Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	-	4	-	1	4	1	-	-	3	1	79
8	Ryan Zimmerman	Washington Nationals	-	-	1	3	3	3	3	1	-	2	79
9	Adrian Gonzalez	San Diego Padres	-	-	1	-	3	3	2	4	3	4	71
10	Pablo Sandoval	San Francisco Giants	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	3	4	3	57
11	Matt Kemp	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	1	1	1	1	5	3	-	1	56
12	Ryan Braun	Milwaukee Brewers	-	-	2	-	-	2	2	1	1	-	39
13	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	-	1	2	25
14	Derrek Lee	Chicago Cubs	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	3	2	25
15	Andre Ethier	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	-	-	-	24
16	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	1	4	1	23
17	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	1	16
18	Matt Holliday	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	12
19	Joey Votto	Cincinnati Reds	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	11
20	Mark Reynolds	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	10
21	Todd Helton	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	7
22	Jayson Werth	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	6
23	Adam Dunn	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	5
24	Juan Pierre	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
25	Justin Upton	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
26	Raul Ibanez	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
27	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
28	Brian McCann	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
29	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
30	Michael Bourn	Houston Astros	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
31	Yadier Molina	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
32	Nyjer Morgan	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
33	Yunel Escobar	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

Here are our ballots:

Eric: Pujols, Lincecum, Utley, Hanley, Zimmerman, Gonzalez, Fielder, Kemp, Vazquez, Tulo

Phil: Pujols, Hanley, Utley, Kemp, Tulo, Sandoval, Ethier, Werth, McCann, Escobar

Joe Mauer won the SB Nation AL MVP award.