SB Nation User Blog: Randy Booth

SBN Baseball Awards: Most Valuable Player

Randy Booth — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:28:15 -0000

More photos » by Tom Olmscheid - AP

1 day ago: FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009 file photo, Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer takes a throw as Detroit Tigers' Don Kelly slides home safe during a baseball game in Minneapolis. Catcher Mauer won the 2009 American League Gold Glove Award for fielding excellence on Tuesday Nov. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)

Browse more photos »

The one you've all been waiting for..

...but is there much of a surprise?

Here's one hint to the results: BS.UF is going to be freaking out when he sees one name on this list. And no, his name is not Jed Lowrie.

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

Alex Gonzalez? YUP! A lot of Red Sox made this list, surprisingly. Not sure how that happened. OK, fine. E-Coli and I just ran the table. Not sure how my Nomar Garciaparra voted didn't end up here, though...

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

Pujols somehow pulled out the narrow victory. Solid. We should see the same when the real results are released next week.

My crazy, unbelievable, ridiculous story that even I don't believe

Randy Booth — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:32:56 -0000

I wish I knew where to start this story. I really do. It'd make telling the story that much easier. But telling this story won't be easy and I guess it won't have a beginning, to boot. The best I can offer is to throw out as much information (as I want to divulge) as possible and you can put the pieces together. That'll have to do.

Let's get this beginning-less story started.

Let's start by me telling you what this story is, generally, about. It's about my weight-loss goal. Or, to put it more simply, my challenge to lose weight. Y'all have heard stories like this, right? Well let me throw you a few twists to really spice it up.

I've always been overweight. I never, ever remember being skinny. I don't remember it because it never happened. I was always the big kid in class. Or if you'd prefer, the "fat" kid. I've never liked that term. I don't call other people fat either, for obvious reasons. But that was me and I can't deny it or hide it. Hell, I'm still the fat kid -- but I'm starting to shed that label day by day.

To give it all some context, I'm 22 years old and I just graduated from college in May. I drank a lot of beer in college, too, just like most college students. That was my thing every weekend. I wasn't as bad as a lot of buddies of mine, but I admit to binge drinking. Haven't we all done/do it?

But beer isn't really the story here. It's a factor, I guess, but the bottom line is I've been overweight my entire life. And no, I was not drinking Bud Light when I was 5 (well, maybe I was. My dad liked to give me beer, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't getting drunk on it every Friday night. No, I definitely wasn't).

I've always been a very determined guy. That probably stems from me being overweight as well, because people always doubted me. People never thought I could do anything. I would always tell people, "I am the most athletic big man you'll ever see." And I believed it. I still believe it. I could move, man. I played almost every sport and I was pretty good, too.

And when it came to the classroom? Eh. I wasn't the best student in middle school and high school. I just kind of sucked. Bottom line. No excuses. But in college I graduated cum laude. Something just clicked, I guess.

So what does this have to do with weight loss? Well, since I loved to prove people wrong, I did it all the time. But the only thing I couldn't prove people wrong was about losing weight.

I tried. I failed. I tried again and I failed again. I could do whatever I put my mind to, it seemed, except lose weight. I have been playing this failing game for years on end. Too many to count, really.

But that all changed in April ... and January, too.

Let's start with January. My friend Janet* (name changed to protect the innocently guilty) told me she was going to be a vegetarian. I laughed at her. I told her there was no way she could do it. She told me that she could. So I said something that would forever change my life: "I bet you I could be a vegetarian longer than you."

The birth of a bet. Isn't it a beautiful thing? Our friends put money down on who would last longer. Since we are both stubborn people, I knew this would go on for awhile. But "a while" was what I expected to be a couple of months. That was a severe understatement. To this day, I am still a vegetarian (the first meat I ate was Halloween weekend. It was two "insanely hot" chicken wings that I had to have).

Becoming a vegetarian -- something I want to keep up for the rest of my life -- was big event No. 1. Big event No. 2 came in April.

Four days after my 22nd birthday, my family came down to visit me at school. My whole family -- father, brothers, sisters in laws. Everyone except my mother. My father told me she died early that morning of a heart attack. At 57 years old.

My mother wasn't a very healthy woman. She was overweight and she had other health issues. But no one expected this. It came as a shock to me and everyone else. It's still a shock, actually. It's been more than six months and it's hard for me even to put the words together.

Now what I'm going to tell you next is something I still don't believe.

Just 11 days after my mother died, my father died, too. Of a heart attack. At the age of 62.

No words.

My dad was a little overweight, but also unhealthy. He drank (not too much), he smoked (he cut back), he was a border-line diabetic and he didn't eat that well. When he was told by his doctors that he could become a diabetic, he started exercising and eating much better. It was too little, too late, unfortunately.

So now I stand here as an "orphan," as someone mentioned to me the other day. As weird as that sounds, I guess it is true. An orphan whose two parents died due to heart attacks at ages that are way too young.

How do you think I feel now?

Besides the obvious, I knew I had to get healthy. I had to lose weight and I had to get it off for good. This has led me on a great journey.

The weight loss really started when I became a vegetarian. I ate more salads, and just cutting out meat alone did wonders. I lost a good portion of weight pretty quickly. It was a great feeling. I wanted to push it more, but after I got home, I sort of stalled. I was still a vegetarian, but I wasn't working out. I was still losing weight, it just wasn't very significant.

In January, I weighed in around 318. That's the number I date my weight loss to. I was as high (I believe) as 345 a few years ago. I just looked at a photo of myself from back then and I can't believe it. It truly is unbelievable.

Now, I am proud to say, I have lost almost 73 pounds. I am at 246 now and shedding more fast. A lot of the 73 has come in the last two months or so, when I really buckled down. I cut down my intake of beer, I haven't had soda in more than a year now and I'm eating a lot of salad and brown rice-veggie combinations. Steady, consistent and boring, but it is working.

But I'm not nearly done. My goal is to lose 100 pounds in one year. If I go at my pace in the last two months, it's completely doable. My obstacles will be holidays, however (Thanskgiving and Christmas are killers on the stomach) and getting out to exercise. I do a damn good job in my tiny apartment, but being outside is definitely nice -- but not in a New Hampshire winter.

That's my goal. That's my challenge that lies ahead of me. This, for the first time, will be something that I will conquer. I am determined to do it.

And it's all for the right reasons: specifically two reasons that will forever influence my life.

Jason Varitek Exercises Player Option

Randy Booth — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:08:30 -0000

Now it's official: Jason Varitek will be back as a Red Sox next year:

Jason Varitek's 10-year run as the Red Sox's primary catcher is over. But his reign in Boston isn't.

Despite the club's decision to decline its $5 million option on Varitek this week and general manager Theo Epstein saying he expects Victor Martinez to be the everyday guy behind the plate, the Red Sox captain chose to exercise his $3 million player option on Wednesday afternoon and will thus return to Boston for a 14th season in 2010.

No shocker here (that sounds familar). Varitek will be back as the Sox's backup catcher in 2010.

SBN Baseball Awards: Cy Young

Randy Booth — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:26:05 -0000

by Tony Gutierrez - AP

7 months ago: Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Zack Greinke delivers to the Seattle Mariners in the second inning of a spring training baseball game in Peoria, Ariz., Sunday, March 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

View full size photo »

Now we're getting to the big boy awards.

We've given away our Manager and Rookie of the Year awards, but today we reveal the winner of the Cy Youngs.

Maybe there will be a shocker. Maybe us bloggers found out that Zack Greinke doesn't believe in Santa Claus. Or maybe Tim Lincecum's pot bust made us all revert our votes and give him 3rd placers.

Maybe, but probably not.

American League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Zack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	28	1	-	143
2	Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners	-	17	6	57
3	Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	-	8	9	33
4	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	1	2	11	22
5	C.C. Sabathia	New York Yankees	-	1	2	5
6	Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	-	-	1	1

Did I vote for Lester? Perhaps. I honestly can't remember. But hey! He was in the hunt!

National League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	18	13	-	129
2	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	9	4	7	64
3	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	4	4	10	42
4	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	5	7	22
5	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	3	4	13
6	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	1	1	4
7	Cliff Lee	Philadephia Phillies	-	-	1	1
8	Jair Jurrjens	Atlanta Braves	-	-	1	1

Marijuana does a body good, apparently.

Bill Belichick 'Doubts' LJ Will Land With Pats, But Will Take A Look Anyway

Randy Booth — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:50:54 -0000

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and his front office staff have had internal discussions regarding signing Larry Johnson, but nothing more than that:

On a conference call with area reporters, coach Bill Belichick and director of player personnel Nick Caserio both addressed Johnson, who was released by the Chiefs earlier this week, by saying that they will talk as an organization, and then come to a decision.

"We’ll discuss that organizationally this afternoon," Belichick said. "We’ll decide then if there’s anything we want to do. To be honest with you, we’ve just been focused on Indianapolis, and our pro people are figuring that out.

Belichick said earlier in the week he “doubts” the Patriots will sign Johnson:

"Well, I haven’t seen the wire but I assume he’ll be on there — I would doubt it," Belichick said of Johnson. "First of all, I think a player like that that’s on the wire, similar to [wide receiver] Chris Chambers who came on last week, somebody will get ahead of us. Even if we claim him, I doubt that we would get him. We have to decide whether we would want him or not. Maybe that’s something we’ll talk about, but I would think he’d be claimed before he would get to us."

Perhaps this means Belichick and the Pats will grab LJ and try to turn him around. The Patriots have gone that route before, most notably with Randy Moss. The Patriots acquired Moss for a 4th-round draft pick from the Raiders after Moss was seen as a distraction and past his prime. That trade has turned out to be one of the best the Patriots have ever made.

Texans The 'Favorites' To Snag Larry Johnson

Randy Booth — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:41:43 -0000

According to Jason La Canfora’s Twitter page -- and contrary to Adam Schefter's report earlier in the day -- the Houston Texans are first in line to sign Larry Johnson:

Houston making a good push for Larry Johnson. favorites to get him at this point. Washington and Patriots possibilities, too.

The Steelers, meanwhile, aren’t — nor do they want to be — in the running for LJ:

Some people spending/wasting time talking about LJ wanting to go to Steelers. But they have no interest in him. Moot point.

The Sox love their new Cuban shortstop, Jose Iglesias. Epstein said that as they search for a...

Randy Booth — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:21:53 -0000

The Sox love their new Cuban shortstop, Jose Iglesias. Epstein said that as they search for a shortstop for this season, it's with the knowledge that Iglesias is the shortstop of the future.

No answer yet from Varitek - Extra Bases - Red Sox blog

Change 'Dem Sox!: Jim Thome A Red Sox In 2010?

Randy Booth — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:57:16 -0000

by Mark Avery - AP

2 months ago: FILE - In this May 25, 2009 file photo, Chicago White Sox's Jim Thome watches the ball fly after hitting a three-run home run against the Los Angeles Angels in the third inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif. The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Thome from the Chicago White Sox on Monday night, Aug. 31, 2009. Also joining the Dodgers' lineup is right-hander Jon Garland, who came over from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The deals were announced in the top of the eighth inning of the Dodgers-Diamondbacks game, with both trades completed before the midnight EDT deadline required for postseason eligibility. (AP Photo/Mark Avery, File)

View full size photo »

There are so many things wrong with Jim Thome going to the Red Sox that as I propose the idea, I'm also going to talk myself out of it.

It sounds messed up -- and it is -- but follow me on the journey, won't you?

Let's just get the obvious out of the way in reasons why the Sox and Thome aren't a match:

Can't play defense. The only person that doesn't play defense on the Red Sox is David Ortiz. Do we need two Ortiz-like defenders? One is bad enough.
Might have better offers elsewhere. He could probably be the starting DH for a lot of American League teams, including the White Sox, who could bring the slugger back.
Lefties dominate him. OK, dominate is not the word for a player with 564 career home runs. Let's just say he's not as good against lefties as he is righties.

Randy, you made a good case against yourself. Good job. Now let's turn the page and talk about why Thome could be a fit with the Red Sox.

First of all, Thome is a slugger. Even at the age of 38 last season, Thome hit 23 home runs in 107 games with the White Sox. He had an .891 OPS before the All-Star break last year. It doesn't matter who the batter is, we'll take that. While his batting average might not be the prettiest, he can still put good wood on the ball.

Thome is also a perfect candidate for the Sox because he has a fantastic batting eye. His lifetime .404 OBP (with a .277 batting average) would make him fit right in with players like Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, J.D. Drew, Victor Martinez and, potentially, Jason Bay (and hopefully whoever our new shortstop is).

OK, he can hit for power and get on base. That's a good combo. What else? He's going to be cheap. He made $13 million last year in his time between the Dodgers and White Sox, but I will guarantee right now that Thome will not sign for more than $5M this offseason. There is no way. If he does, I will change my avatar to Evan Longoria for one month. And I hate Evan Longoria.

Signing Thome would be kind of like the Sox signing John Smoltz, Takashi Saito and Brad Penny last year. Three guys who are obviously past their primes, but Theo Epstein still sees that they can contribute somehow. Well, Penny did all right -- he wasn't a complete bust. Smoltz was a complete bust. And Saito was great. So if Thome's between Penny and Saito, I'll be happy.

Thome would be great insurance for the Sox if David Ortiz decided to hit like David Ortiz pre-June 2009. If Ortiz falters, we can stick Thome in the lineup on occasion and, hopefully, he doesn't falter. Thome is like the white version of David Ortiz ... and I really can't see many more differences than that, to be honest.

The only thing that would make Thome better is if a) he hit lefties better (that way, Ortiz smashes righties and Thome smashes lefties -- a great combo) and b) Thome could really play defense. But then again, if Thome could do both of those things, he would be going for more than $5M this offseason.

With Thome, the Sox would get a power hitter off the bench that has a great batting eye (not to mention a great clubhouse guy, from all reports). The downsides are the fact he's older and can't play defense, but he'd provide substantial pop off the bench and could help the Sox if anything happens to Ortiz in 2010.

Call me crazy, but I'm pulling for Randy to be right in this debate.

Poll

Who's right in this debate?

SBN Baseball Awards: Rookie Of The Year

Randy Booth — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:27:58 -0000

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

Could this guy win SBN's Rookie of the Year for the AL? Maybe.

Browse more photos »

With Manager of the Year out of the way, we turn our attention to Rookie of the Year awards voted on by SB Nation bloggers.

In the American League, will a late run by Rick Porcello give him the nod? Or will consistent Elvis Andrus earn enough votes to take the award? Andrew Bailey, anyone?

In the National League, Andrew McCutchen dazzled, but can he earn more votes than valuable arms in J.A. Happ or Tommy Hanson?

Results after the jump.

American League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Elvis Andrus	Texas Rangers	6	9	6	63
2	Andrew Bailey	Oakland Athletics	11	1	3	61
3	Jeff Niemann	Tampa Bay Rays	3	5	3	33
4	Rick Porcello	Detroit Tigers	2	7	2	33
5	Brett Anderson	Oakland Athletics	5	1	3	31
6	Gordon Beckham	Chicago White Sox	1	2	8	19
7	Nolan Reimold	Baltimore Orioles	1	-	1	6
8	Matt Wieters	Baltimore Orioles	-	1	3	6
9	Brad Bergesen	Baltimore Orioles	-	1	-	3
10	Ricky Romero	Toronto Blue Jays	-	1	-	3
11	Travis Snider	Toronto Blue Jays	-	1	-	3

No votes for Daniel Bard?! No way?! (As dirty as he was, that's sarcasm. He needed a little more work -- like Bailey -- to earn some votes). Interesting to see Andrew Bailey earn more first place votes than Elvis Andrus, but he comes in second by just two points.

National League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tommy Hanson	Atlanta Braves	9	9	6	78
2	J.A. Happ	Philadelphia Phillies	6	9	7	64
3	Andrew McCutchen	Pittsburgh Pirates	8	3	5	54
4	Chris Coghlan	Florida Marlins	7	5	4	54
5	Dexter Fowler	Colorado Rockies	-	3	1	10
6	Randy Wells	Chicago Cubs	-	-	6	6
7	Garrett Jones	Pittsburgh Pirates	1	-	-	5
8	Casey McGehee	Milwaukee Brewers	-	1	2	5
9	Seth Smith	Colorado Rockies	-	1	-	3

More interesting voting results: Andrew McCutchen and Chris Coghlan earn more first place votes than J.A. Happ, but he still takes second place. Tommy Hanson won this one pretty easily.

Tomorrow we will see results for the Cy Young.

Jason Varitek Player Option? REMIX!

Randy Booth — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:53:53 -0000

[Note by Randy Booth, 11/10/09 2:02 PM EST ] According to the NESN report, Varitek reported that he will pick up his option, not necessarily that he had picked up his player option. We could see Varitek officially pick up his option today.

OK, so maybe Jason Varitek isn't back in Boston yet:

Contrary to a report, Theo Epstein just said that Jason Varitek has not yet picked up his option . That could come tomorrow, however.