The BBWAA Consists of the Foremost Expert Analysts

by R.J. Anderson on Sep 30, 2008 2:14 PM EDT

Mark Whicker is one of those. He proves it here.

American League MVP: It was Carlos Quentin's to lose, but he lost it, and now it's a scramble. Well over half the Angels' games were decided by one or two runs, and they were 61-28. They also won 19 one-run games on the road. The steward was Frankie Rodriguez, who also set a major league saves record. With an average closer, there is no Game 1 in Anaheim on Wednesday.

Gah.

AL Rookie: Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria wins it although some feel Alexei Ramirez of the White Sox will be better.

Who feels that way?

AL Executive: The Angels' Tony Reagins brought home Torii Hunter and Mark Teixeira. His fun begins in November.

Andrew Friedman has a 40 million dollar payroll, had his team win 31 more games, and won the American League East title....with a 40 million dollar payroll.

I'm hoping this was a sarcastic article.

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Anyone who picks a reliever as MVP

is an idiot and has no credibility. IMO

by staplemaniac on Sep 30, 2008 2:55 PM EDT reply actions

Reliever as MVP..

I think they fit better there than as a Cy Young.

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by WalrusMan on Sep 30, 2008 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Really, it's the 2008 Angels who set a save opportunity record....

But using Whicker’s “average closer” argument: the average AL closer saved 87.1% of save opps. [I limited this to pitchers with at least 20 save opps. since middle relievers can be handed blown saves in the 6th, plus it sets a nice cut-off between true closers and relievers pitching in a save situation.] So in the Angels 69 save opps. the average closer would have saved 60. [with their higher percentages, Rivera would have 67, Soria 64]. So if not for Rodriguez’s two extra saves [and two extra innings, likely] “there is no Game 1 in Anaheim on Wednesday”?! The Angels were in jeopardy of not winning their division? They won by 21 games!

"Lefty relievers are like the different Mountain Dew flavors. New ones keep appearing, and people are willing to buy, but in the end most of them suck." - Gallagher's Watermelons

by scatterbrian on Sep 30, 2008 4:59 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

nice. glad someone ran the numbers

now, it could certainly be that KRod had more than a typical share of 1-run saves, making his save-rate more impressive, but i think the burden’s on the KRod supporters to show that.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Sep 30, 2008 5:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Excellent.

by R.J. Anderson on Sep 30, 2008 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions

haha

that’s awesome!

but you are ignoring ‘clutch’ and ‘team chemistry’ and all that other garbage bbwaa writers have concluded are the important traits. traits which are the difference between bob wickman and brad lidge.

The internet's latest attempt at understanding the insides of baseball.

by bbdbrandon on Oct 20, 2008 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions

according to BP

Rodriguez ranks pretty high in Leverage, so you might be right about the 1-run thing. Regardless, I’ve always thought that an MVP doesn’t really need to be argued or proven, he just is. And you’re going to really have to argue to prove that the closer on a team that won their division by 21 games was the difference-maker.

"Lefty relievers are like the different Mountain Dew flavors. New ones keep appearing, and people are willing to buy, but in the end most of them suck." - Gallagher's Watermelons

by scatterbrian on Sep 30, 2008 5:24 PM EDT reply actions

part of the reason for KRod's high leverage

is that he put a lot of runners on base that he then stranded. all scoreless innings are worth the same in terms of WPA, but the average leverage is higher with runners on than empty.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Sep 30, 2008 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions